She Never Knew (2 page)

It was a
gloriously sunny day in September when Michael approached her. Kat had gone to
the other community pool instead of the one she regularly frequented to avoid
seeing anyone she knew. She was beginning her final year of her Master’s degree
program and had much work to do.

Kat was situated
comfortably in a padded chair, deep in thought, reading an article on the
ramifications of nationwide nursing shortages. Her head was bent, oblivious to
the handsome man standing before her.

“Kat?” Michael
had said softly.

She looked up
and wrinkled her nose, clearly distracted. After a few seconds, recognition
immediately took place in her eyes when she studied the attractive man smiling
at her. Her jaw nearly fell to the ground.

“Michael?” she
said incredulously, her face lighting up.

He laughed,
“Yep, it’s me. Your one and only!” As he stuck his hand out, he gave her a
lopsided grin.

Kat jumped up
from her chair and threw her arms around him, nearly knocking him down. “Are
you serious? Are you kidding me? Oh my goodness! Did I just step on your foot?”

“That’s okay,
I’ve got another one.” Michael teased.

Both of them had
laughed and slowly pulled away from their embrace, admiring each other. At thirty-five,
Michael was muscular and towered over her at six feet tall. He wore his thick
dark brown hair in a crew cut and was blessed with soulful eyes to match. Kat, twenty-six,
was five inches shorter and he liked that about her. She was slender and
barefoot, making her seem even shorter. Their online dating profiles had posted
pictures of each other, but to Kat and Michael, they looked much better in
person. It was an amazing feeling to meet for the first time face to face.

Kat suddenly
examined her surroundings, puzzled. Only residents and guests were permitted
access to the pool area. “How did you get in here?” she inquired. “How did you
find me? Are you here visiting a friend?”

Michael chuckled
at the barrage of questions and pretended to duck for cover. “Through the gate,
from the window, yes.”

When Kat looked
at him in amusement, Michael laughed again. “I live here, actually.” He grinned
at her, eyes sparkling. Kat thought she had died and gone to Heaven. The sun
reflected a deep tan against Michael’s face and toned body, making him look
like a model on the cover of a magazine. He was truly tall, dark, and handsome
in Kat’s eyes.

“You live here?
Seriously?” Her blue eyes widened as she wondered how this was possible.

Michael pointed
to the building behind Kat. “Do you see that open window up there, on the
second floor?”

Kat turned to
look. She held a hand up to her face to shield her eyes from the glaring sun.
She saw the window Michael was referring to as well as the potted plant resting
on the ledge. He must have seen her at the pool through his window. “The one
with the leaves dangling over the sides?”

“That’s the
one.” Michael said. “Remember after a few times of emailing back and forth when
you said that you lived in an apartment on the south side of the bridge?”

Kat nodded.

“Well, the only
apartment complex on the south side is this place, The Commons. We were just
starting to get to know each other and I didn’t want to scare you away by
telling you that I lived here too, as big as it is. He spread his arms wide and
beamed at her.

Kat pretended to
be miffed. “So, you’re stalking me now?” Kat placed her hands on her hips and
gave him a wicked stare. He could see a hint of a smile forming at the corner
of her mouth.

Forgive me?”
Joining his hands behind his back, he pretended to be sad and hung his head low
in mock shame. Then he quivered his lower lip and peered at her sheepishly.

Kat laughed and
clapped her hands. “Now it all makes sense! Never in a million years would I
have guessed we’d meet today, of all days.” Suddenly with a gasp, her hand flew
to her head and she started to smooth her blond hair with her fingers.

“You have a big
knot back there.” Michael teased, pointing to an imaginary area behind her
head.

Kat playfully swatted
his shoulder and laughed. “I can’t get over this! Is it fate or what?”

“It must be,
considering the name of our online dating service.” He winked at her, making
her heart flutter and stomach fill with butterflies.

Two months
earlier, Kat had been on her computer, typing an email to her sister when a
pop-up invaded her screen, advertising online dating services for single men
and women seeking friendship or long-term commitment. The One & Only
website had annoyingly appeared on her screen several times in the past and she
had always dismissed it. Normally, she wasn’t the type of person to get
involved in immature chat room discussions as she had heard horror stories
about people being abducted after meeting someone online. But there was
something about that particular advertisement that had nagged at her. She
looked at the banner more closely and had a good feeling about it.

Kat considered
herself to be an open-minded individual and decided to explore the new site.
She investigated it thoroughly, taking the time to read the frequently asked
questions. She was pleased to see that she could communicate with others
without even having to provide an email address. What would be the harm in
trying it out? Besides, all she did was work and take online classes. She had
virtually no social life so what did she have to lose?

In the end, Kat
paid fifty dollars for a three-month subscription. She told no one at work, nor
did she mention it to her family. Online dating was a relatively new concept
and she was tired of hearing people demean what appeared to be a popular method
of meeting new people.

At first Kat was
inundated with instant message requests to chat, but very quickly she realized
those were a complete waste of time. More often than not, those chats amounted
to nothing more than immature gibberish. Kat was very particular about with
whom she would chat.

One such
invitation she received had numerous spelling and grammatical errors. This
irritated her to no end.
How is it that people function in society without
being able to read and write properly?

Another instant
message Kat had received was a summons to meet at a hotel for a quick afternoon
romp. Kat was rather disgusted and immediately blocked the sender from
soliciting her again with any unwanted future invitations. Her online profile
clearly stated that she was looking for a long-term relationship but desired
friendship first.

After several
disappointing attempts of ever having a new relationship, Kat was about to
cancel her subscription when she “found” Michael, the one and only man of her
dreams.

Once she “found”
Michael, Kat no longer contacted anyone else, nor did she acknowledge requests
for conversation. Since then, she and Michael had emailed each other, talking
about their families, their jobs, and their dreams. What attracted them to each
other right away were the pictures of themselves they had posted. To Kat,
Michael looked so much better in person.

“Your picture
doesn’t do you justice.” she said.

“I could say the
same about you.” Michael believed Kat was the most beautiful woman he had ever
seen. He loved the tiny light freckles that dotted her nose. Her deep blue eyes
matched the color of the community pool water. Her skin was flawless and he
liked the fact that she hardly wore any makeup. To him, that meant Kat was
comfortable with herself and that she didn’t feel the need to be someone she
was not.

Kat blushed.
Looking at the man standing in front of her, she realized how comfortable she
was with him. After all, they had confided in each other for the last two
months. She felt as though she knew everything about him, yet wanted to learn
more. Michael seemed to have a way with words as he always wanted to talk about
her.

“Would you like
to sit down?” She motioned to a chair near the one she was using.

“I thought you’d
never ask.” Michael grinned. He waited for Kat to sit down before continuing
their conversation. When they were both seated, Kat asked Michael how he found
her at the pool.

“You found me,
remember?” Michael said, slyly.

Both of them
laughed. Kat protested, “I mean, how did you know to find me here?”

“I was watering
my plant when I noticed you sitting here. At first, I thought my eyes were
deceiving me, that there was no way it was really you.” He pretended to look
sheepish again.

Kat laughed.
“Yep, it’s really me!”

“But if you
don’t want to talk to me, I can leave.” He pretended to rise from his chair.

“No! Don’t you
dare!” she giggled. She loved the way he smiled at her. His teeth were so white
and perfect.

Michael said,
“There’s something you should know, Kat.” His face was no longer smiling and in
fact, he looked rather serious. Kat’s heart started beating fast. Was Michael
going to tell her he didn’t want to continue their online chats anymore
?

“The truth is,”
Michael began, “I didn’t want to wait until our first date on Friday.” He
winked at her.

Kat relaxed in
her chair and smiled back at Michael. “You had me going for a minute there. You
do realize that, don’t you?” She wagged her finger at him. They both laughed.

“Hey, Kat?”
Michael leaned over the table and locked eyes with her, mesmerizing her.

“Yes?” she
answered, blushing again.

“Do we really
have to wait until Friday to go out to dinner?”

Michael and Kat
became exclusive after their first date. They waited until that Friday as
scheduled so that Kat could finish her assignments. When she wasn’t studying,
she was with Michael. When he wasn’t working, he helped Kat with her
schoolwork. He was a self-employed financial advisor with flexible hours and he
always found time to be with Kat.

The couple dined
out frequently with people they knew from work. They attended each other’s
corporate parties, shared popcorn at the movies, and took long walks during the
evenings. They shared each other’s dreams and hopes for the future and spent
hours chatting by the fireplace in Kat’s apartment. Simply put, Kat loved
Michael and Michael loved her.

When Kat
completed her studies, she invited her parents to join her and Michael at her
graduation ceremony in Millstone, Arizona. Kat and Michael flew from Charltonville
to meet her parents, who flew from New York. The foursome had decided to make a
family vacation out of the trip and spent two weeks together, visiting Sedona,
Flagstaff, and Grand Canyon. As a graduation present, Michael had presented Kat
with a beautiful diamond necklace. Later that evening, he slid an engagement
ring on her finger and asked her to marry him.

Kat’s parents
were delighted with the thought of having Michael as their son-in-law and they
treated the happy couple to an elegant seafood dinner. By the end of the second
week, all four of them were ready to get back to their lives at home. Kat’s
parents’ return flight was a day earlier than hers and since she had badly
sprained her ankle the night before, she stayed behind at the hotel while Michael
drove her parents to the airport. Minutes later after exiting onto the highway,
a drunk driver had plowed into their car, killing them all.

Kat was
devastated. She had never felt so alone in her life. At first, she was in
disbelief and stubbornly refused to accept that three of her favorite people
were no longer a part of her life. But as the days passed, she realized that
she had to move on. She had to be strong and make a new life for herself. It
was what her parents and Michael would have wanted her to do.

Even though she
had a sister in New York, Michael had grown up in an orphanage and had no known
family. She had him cremated and spread his ashes into the bowels of the Grand
Canyon in remembrance of when he proposed. In honor of her fiancé, Kat had
legally hyphenated her last name to include Brennan. It was only a matter of
time before they were to be married, and she felt Michael would approve. It
gave her a sense of closure to know that she shared the last name of a man she
deeply loved and admired.

One month later,
she was raped.

It was raining outside.
In her kitchen, Kat had just taken the lasagna out of the oven when she heard
her son in his bedroom squeal with delight. She smiled when he did that as his
sounds of happiness had a way of soothing her soul. At five years old, Tyler
was a striking child. With blond hair and blue eyes, he exerted a sunny
disposition to all those who knew him. Resembling his mother in many ways,
Tyler also had light hair, fair skin, and a thirst for new knowledge. He liked
to ask questions about everything, it seemed. Lately, he had been asking
questions about who his father was. Kat dreaded those moments but had rehearsed
months before as to what she would tell her son. She couldn’t very well tell
Tyler that he was the product of rape, so she had told him his father died
before he was born. Oh, how she wished Michael and her parents were still alive.
By now, she and Michael would have had several children and her parents would
have been proud of their grandchildren.