Rose Garden

After weeks more of touring and attending parties for the release of her new album, Andrea found herself back home in suburban Toronto. Spending time in her childhood home with her parents and Taylor just down the block brought back a slew of memories. Some were too painful to bear, and so she spent a lot of time out of the house. Sometimes she would make the half hour drive into Toronto and just walk around, meeting fans and enjoying the freedom she never managed to find in New York City.

On her 4th day home, Andrea found herself running again. She had given herself a few days’ rest in order to recoup from the strains tour had put on her body, but she knew that if she didn’t start back up again soon, she never would.

And so on that Friday morning, Andrea forced herself up out of bed and out of the house. She knew this neighborhood like the back of her hand and soon her feet were carrying her down the street, past Taylor’s house, past the corner where they had all waited for the bus for so many years, down past her middle school, and into a small park that she had spent many summer afternoons in. The foot paths were still as green as she remembered and it was comforting to know that much had not changed.

She had music playing and the breeze coming off of the lake to her left was almost enough to transport her back to her teenage years. Andrea didn’t always like revisiting those days, but sometimes, when she was running, it was nice to imagine things a little less…crazy.

A loud barking caused Andrea’s head to jerk around, her ear buds flying away from her. What had that been?

Stopping slowly, she listened. Not hearing it again, she put her music back on, continuing on her circuit around the lake.

But there it was again. A loud WOOF! and the sound of feet thudding behind. It was much closer this time. Although her better judgment was telling her to stop, Andrea kept moving, determined to finish her run in record time.

But in a few seconds, paws were scratching at her feet. With a yelp, Andrea jumped away, teetering on the edge of the water. It was a small, yellow lab puppy, less than a year old.

“Rosie?!” a frantic male voice called out. Again, thudding footsteps and another woof. This time, a chocolate colored puppy and a tall man were coming towards them.

Deciding she was feeling nicer than on some mornings, Andrea bent and picked up the dog’s leash, ready to hand it back to its owner.

“Thanks,” he said, not really meeting her eyes. Instead, he was preoccupied with the dogs jumping at his feet. “She got away from me.” His face looked at hers for the first time.

Tyler.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Andrea.

She was sweaty and her face was flushed. No doubt she had been running for a while. As their eyes locked, her mouth hung open a little bit.

“Hey,” he smiled just a little bit, ready to break the tension. “Funny running into you.”

“Yeah,” her voice was monotone. “Hilarious.”

Tension hung in the air, thicker than pea soup. He wanted to jump her right then and there, make up for everything that had happened. He wanted to take back that night at the club in New York. But most of all, Tyler wanted to take back letting her get away. He had been lucky to find someone like her, and in the end, he had fucked up.

“Can we talk?” he asked, afraid of the answer he would get.

Andrea’s face morphed into a I-can’t-fucking-believe-you face before shaking her head.

“Not after last time you can’t,” she said.

“Please?” Tyler raised his hands, to show they weren’t going anywhere. He wasn’t making any mistakes today.

His face must have been pleading and honest, because Andrea hesitated a moment before meeting his gaze.

“Okay,” her answer was quiet and low. “But not here.”

It certainly wasn’t the place to be having a quiet conversation, Tyler noticed. For two celebrities, the green park was beginning to become too crowded.

“I’m not far from here,” he pointed to a row of condos a little ways away down the lakeside. “I’m renting.”

Wordlessly, Andrea nodded and motioned for him to lead the way. As they walked, he couldn’t help but pick out all the ways she had changed.

That night at the club, their time together had been so short and rushed, there wasn’t much time to take all her little qualities back in. Now, he could see that she walked with a certain sort of proud; the kind that could only come from knowing you had people cheering for you. Tyler knew that kind of pride and experienced it firsthand. Passing groups of people, she would brush her hair down and out of its ponytail, shielding her face. Thought she loved her fans, she didn’t want to deal with the questions at that particular moment.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Stepping up onto his back porch, he began unlocking the door, but instead, Andrea planted herself on the back steps. After a moment, Tyler joined her, letting the dogs off their leashes to jump about his small yard. The silence was still thick and neither of them knew how to break it.

“So another dog?” Andrea asked after a while. She’d seen the pictures of another Labrador on his Twitter-yes, she still followed him too- but no name was ever attached.

“Yeah, I-uh- got her a while ago. Thought Marshall was getting lonely,” he explained. In all honesty, he had adopted the yellow lab to try and convince himself that he could still have some of Andrea in his life. It hadn’t worked.

“What’s her name?” Andrea let the dog in question nuzzle her leg before settling on her feet.

“You won’t believe it, but, Rosie.”

“Seriously? Like, after my CD?” Andrea almost laughed.

“No, not quite. I actually named her before I found out about your album. I thought it was a little funny too,” Tyler agreed.

“I like it,” she sighed. It seemed like Tyler had tried to move on.

Silence seeped in again, taking over. Even Rosie felt uncomfortable, getting up and prancing over to where Marshall laid by the water and settling with her head on his back.

“Some love birds, you got there,” Andrea observed.

“Yeah, we were,” Tyler said, not taking his eyes off Andrea. “Uh, I mean, yeah, they are.”

But Andrea had caught his slip-up. Had he really just said that?

Instead of putting on her snarky attitude or making a smart-ass comeback, she decided to cut him some slack.

“What exactly happened that night?” Okay, so maybe she wasn’t cutting him that much slack.

She didn’t specify a night or a certain time, but Tyler knew instantly what she referred to. New York.

“I don’t really know,” he admitted. “I saw you, on stage and at the club, and I spent so much time thinking about you, about what we had and how I had let it all get away. Something in me snapped and I know that’s no excuse for what happened, but it’s all I’ve got.”

“It’s a pretty shitty excuse,” Andrea agreed. “But I’m kind of glad I saw you.”

“You-you what?” Tyler certainly hadn’t expected that.

“Yeah,” she shrugged. “I’ll admit, I had been thinking about you a lot and seeing you kind of… stopped it. I don’t know.”

“Oh, so you’re glad you saw me because it reminded you why you ended things?” disappointment seeped into his voice.

“Not quite,” Andrea shook her head. “It reminded me that there was still a little passion left in the world.”

The bewildered look on Tyler’s face must have been amusing, as Andrea let out a laugh. It was the first time he’d heard it in so long and he instantly remembered why it was one of his favorite sounds, right at the top of the list with the sound of his name on her lips and the goal horn.

“I’ve felt so lost the past few weeks,” she explained. “And seeing you… I don’t know. It just kind of… sparked something.” She talked slowly. “Does that make any sense?”

“It does,” he nodded. “At least, I think so.” Tyler took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, you know, for what I did. I never meant to do something like that. But it’s kind of like what you said, passion and all that.”

Even though she nodded, Andrea had a comment. “Is that your excuse?”

“There is no excuse for hurting you,” he insisted. “You’ll never know how sorry I am.”

“I know.”

Once again, silence overtook them. This time, they watched a few boats meander past them on the lake, filled with young people or families, all enjoying the summer heat. It was early June and Tyler desperately wanted to be playing hockey. The Bruins’ Cup run had been cut short, right after Tyler had seen Andrea. There was little consolation knowing that the Rangers were knocked out in the next round by Pittsburgh.

“Go out with me tonight,” Tyler blurted. “Let me make it up to you.”

“I don’t think so,” her answer was careful, hesitant. In all honesty, she wanted to say yes. In fact, if he hadn’t said something, she might have.

“Please, A.”

“Let’s not rush into anything here,” Andrea advised. “We need to think this through.”

“Like we did a whole lot of that in Biel?” Tyler asked, recalling their first kiss. “But okay, Taylor. I’ll let you call the shots.” In reality, Tyler would let Andrea do anything she wanted if it meant having the chance of making it up to her. “What did you have in mind?”

“We’re going to get to know each other again,” she decided. “On my terms.”

And once Andrea Darling had made her mind up, there was no going back.