Can't Wait Forever

It has been nearly two years since that day when Nicole watched Jonathan board the plane and take off to explore the world. Anxiously, she glanced at the watch on her wrist, wondering when the mailman would stop by to drop off the mail. She was hoping that there would be a letter from him mixed in.

He kept his promise to her, writing every two weeks. She normally wouldn’t be this anxious to receive a letter, but it’s been nearly a month since his last letter, and she was getting really paranoid.

“Has he forgotten about me? Or what if something horrible happened to him?” were just a couple of the thoughts that drifted in and out of her head throughout the day.

The sharp ringing of the customer bell snapped Nicole out of her thoughts. Looking over the counter, there was an elderly lady standing there, peering out through glasses with thick black frames that were too big for her face.

“Thinking about Johnny again, weren’t ye lass?” said Mrs. Finnegan in her thick Irish accent with a knowing smile on her face. Mrs. Finnegan had moved with her husband to the states back in the 1960’s, and fortunately they never lost their accents.

“You know me too well Mrs. Finnegan,” Nicole smiled back at the old woman. “So, what can I get for you today? A fresh cookie, loaf of bread?”

Nicole worked and owned the local town bakery that had once belonged to her grandmother. When her grandmother passed away a year ago, it was left to her mother, but her mother wanted nothing to do with it, so it was left in Nicole’s care. Since Nicole basically grew up in the bakery, she didn’t hesitate to run it.

That bakery meant everything in the world to Nicole. So many special memories had occurred in the old bakery, like her first actual job. The bakery became like her second home.

“It just smells so wonderful in here,” Mrs. Finnegan commented as she inhaled the aroma of all the fresh goods in the shop. “Your grandmum was a mighty fine lady. She was one of the very first people to make Homer and I feel right at home here. I’m so glad that you’re now running this shop. Now let me see,” she said as she looked through the glass at all of the freshly baked goods. “I’ll take a loaf of bread and a blueberry muffin.”

“Coming right up Mrs. Finnegan,” Nicole said with a warm smile.

Nicole opened up the case and took out a freshly baked loaf of bread, carefully wrapping it and putting it in a bag.

“You know dearie, you should stop worrying about him so much,” Mrs. Finnegan went on as Nicole was getting her the muffin. “I’m sure that Johnny will come back to you soon. Who would want to stay away from such a bonnie lass such as ye? Aye, there be nothing to worry about. All will work out in time, just trust me,” she said with a wink.

“Thanks for the encouragement Mrs. Finnegan. Here’s your bread and muffin. That’ll be four dollars please,” Nicole said while handing the bag over to her.

“Thank you dear. Here is five dollars. Please, keep the change,” Mrs. Finnegan said as she put a crisp five dollar bill into Nicole’s hand.

“Thank you very much Mrs. Finnegan. I hope that you have a splendid day, and come back soon,” Nicole said as she leaned over the counter to give the old woman a hug.

“You’ll definitely see me soon dearie. And trust me about Johnny, an elderly woman’s instincts about these things are never wrong. Good day Nicole,” she said with a warm smile and headed outside to where her husband Homer was most likely waiting in the car.

Nicole leaned on the counter and sighed, wishing that she could find a love like Mr. and Mrs. Finnegan shared. Of course, she would have that if Jonathan hadn’t left.

“I wish what Mrs. Finnegan said about Johnny would come true,” she said aloud to herself as she wiped down the counters.

Shifting her wrist slightly while bringing it up to her face, she glance at the watch that lay upon it. She was anxiously counting down the minutes until her lunch break when she could go next door to the post office to collect her mail. She did a double take when she saw the time.

“Huh, it’s 11:11. I haven’t made a wish on that in a long time,” she said while giving a short laugh. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to make one wish, would it?”

Closing her eyes tightly, she thought of exactly what she wanted. “I wish that I would hear some new about Johnny. Any kind of news really would do,” she thought to herself.

Chimes ringing signaled that someone had entered the bakery. Nicole quickly regained her composure and saw that it was Matthew Boggs who had entered the town’s postal service worker. He was carrying a satchel with him which hung over his shoulder.

“Good morning Matt,” she greeted as he slowly sauntered over to the counter. “Anything I can do for you?”

“Not really,” he said while he dug in the sack. “I just thought that I would drop your mail off to you personally, so you wouldn’t have to waste your time during your lunch break.” He brought a pile of envelopes out of the bag and handed it over to her.

Her eyes greedily eyed the envelopes, hoping that there was one in there from a special someone. Carefully, she took the stack from his hand, but soon she was quickly scanning through them. After double checking all of them, her shoulders hunched in defeat; there was no envelope that had his handwriting on it.

“Still no word from Johnny, eh?” he asked while shaking his head in disappointment.

“No,” Nicole replied sadly while wiping at her eyes. A slight mist had formed in the corners, but she wasn’t going to cry; not in front of Matthew anyways. “So, is there any new news going around the town?” she asked, trying to change the subject.

“Come to think of it,” he said while rubbing the slight stubble that was on his chin, “there actually was some gossip going around. It concerns the old house on Kroner Street.”

“What about it?” she asked, curious to know what could be going on. Like the bakery, the old house on Kroner Street held a lot of memories for her.

“Rumor has it that some guy bought it,” he said while leaning on the counter, his eyes holding excitement, for he too grew up in this town and that house was one of the most popular places to hang out. Matthew was only a few years older than Nicole.

“Do we know who this guy is that bought the house?” she asked curiously, hoping she could gather some information on what he would do with the building.

“Sadly, no,” he said shaking his head. “It’s some rich guy from out of town. It’s said that he wants to renovate the house so that he can live in it.”

Nicole made a face while sticking out her tongue. “Eh, a rich guy. I bet that once he comes here, he’s going to expect that all of us bow down to him. At least he’s not tearing the house down. If he was, I was going to petition him to go live somewhere else.”

“It definitely would not be cool if the house was torn down. Even though, I don’t think a petition would stop the guy from living there,” he said with a laugh.

“I wonder when this new guy is supposed to move in,” Nicole said more to herself than to Matt as she started thinking.

“Well, the house is supposed to be done in about two weeks. So, it’s rumored that he was going to move in when it’s done. I can’t wait to meet this guy,” Matthew said while getting lost in his own thoughts.

“You had better not think of being mean to this new guy,” Nicole scolded, knowing how Matthew and the other guys got when a new guy rolled into town. They did various “experiments” to test out if they were strong or brave enough to hang out with the rest of them, and some of the things they did were quite dangerous.

“Fine Nicole, the guys and I will take it easy on him, just for you,” he said slightly pouting, but Nicole could still see the mischievous glint in his eyes.

“That’s nice of you,” she said while giggling and putting a hand on his shoulder, “but I wouldn’t do it for me. I mean, the man is supposed to be rich, right?” She paused as he nodded his head in agreement. “Well, since he’s supposed to be rich and all, being nice to him would really benefit you guys. He would be more likely to support everybody’s business and all.”

“You’re right,” he said, understanding lighting his eyes. “I’m glad that I talked to you before he moved in. I’ll have to tell this to the guys,” he said sheepishly.

“It’s no problem, I’m always glad to help,” she said with a warm smile.

“You know, if you ever get lonely, you’re welcome to hang out with me and the guys,” he said, trying to persuade her to hang out with them.

“Thanks for the offer Matt, but I’m going to have to decline,” she said politely, trying to let him down easily.

Matt and all of his friends were always trying to get Nicole to hang out with them. As much as she would like the company, she knew that they only invited her because they all liked her, and wanted to get to know her better. One time she joined them, and they were always constantly hitting on her. She wanted to stay true to Johnny, so she doesn’t hang out with them anymore.

“I get it,” he said casting his eyes downward. “You’re still waiting for Johnny to come back. I just hope you don’t wait forever, because such a pretty lady like yourself shouldn’t be alone. The offer will still be there if you ever change your mind.”

“I’ll remember that,” Nicole said while tapping her index finger to her forehead.

“Well, I guess that I’d better get going. After all, I do have to deliver the mail,” he laughed as he made his way towards the door.

“That would be the smart thing to do,” she laughed.

“Hey, I forgot one thing. Tomorrow we’re having a party for Maggie, since it’s her birthday. I wanted to ask you if you would make the cake for her party,” he said as he went back up to the counter.

“Sure, this is a bakery after all,” she said shrugging her shoulders. “So, what kind of cake do you want, and how big?”

“Half chocolate and half vanilla, if you can do that,” he said hopefully. “And then, the cake should be able to serve like… I think 40 to 50 people would be enough. Oh yeah, and white frosting would be best,” he said while wearing a goofy smile.

“Alrighty, this will be done tomorrow when you stop by to get it. Do you want any designs or words on it?” she asked while writing it down on a pad.

“Well,” he thought while tapping his finger to his chin in thought, “I don’t know what kind of decorations she would like. Maybe just the normal flowers and stuff. As for writing, I think ‘Happy 22nd Birthday Maggie!’ will be fine.”

“Great! That’s all I need. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow when you come to pick up the cake,” she said while studying the order on her pad.

“Thanks so much Nicole, you’re a life saver. You know, you’re welcome to come and join the party tomorrow if you want to. It’s at 5:30 at my parent’s house in the old barn. I hope to see you there,” he winked as he walked out of the bakery.

Nicole smiled to herself as she watched Matthew walk out of the store and hop into his old beat up truck. Matthew has always been a sweetheart to her, so she figured that she could at least stop by the party for a few minutes. After all, she and Maggie graduated together, and even though they weren’t best friends, they were still good friends.

“I guess that it couldn’t hurt to go out just this once,” she thought aloud to herself while walking to the back to start on the cake. “I just hope that the guys will actually leave me alone this time.”

With a giant smile on her face, she hummed along with the radio blaring out a random country song while setting to work on the cake.