Moving On!!!

The room was a brown maze of cardboard boxes. They were stacked all over the floor and on every piece of furniture in the living room. Nora wrestled to close yet another one containing some of her possessions she had acquired since moving to Llanview. The whole process was bittersweet, but she was now a woman determined—determined to move on with her life.

She decided late one night, while lying alone in the darkness of her bedroom, that her life was no longer on the path she had planned. She decided at that moment that it was time to grab the reigns and regain control.

The talk, or argument (depending on how you looked at it), that she had with Sam was long overdue. He had once again turned into the controlling, overbearing man she remembered leaving in Chicago. She couldn’t figure out how she allowed herself to trust him again, but she had and she needed to repair the damage. It was this conversation along with her annoying habit of dwelling on the past, that spurred her to make the decision. Deep down she knew she’d need to make it when she realized that what she and Bo had had ended.

The sound of tape being pulled from a roll echoed through the room as Nora placed the strip across the opening of the box. “It’s a good time for a move,” she said to herself as she ran her hand along the length of the tape, pushing it down to seal it shut. Pulling the cap off of the pen with her teeth, she quickly scribbled, “living room” on the box and returned the pen to the cap as she straightened to survey her progress.

It was the knock on the door that broke her thought and she made her way through the boxes to the foyer landing. Her momentary pause as she looked through the glass in the door did not go unnoticed by her visitor. Pulling the pen from her mouth, she forced her best welcoming smile to her lips and tried to still the beating of her heart.

”Hi Bo!” she said with more glee than she had intended as she pulled the door open wide. “What brings you out this way?”

He wasn’t as successful as she at forcing a smile and the tone in his voice would have proven it’s falsehood anyway. “Hank told me you were leaving town,” he said as he stepped inside the house uninvited. The scene in front of his eyes caused his heart to drop even lower as he looked around her living room. “I see it’s true.”

Taking a deep breath and reluctantly closing the front door, Nora stepped to stand beside him as they both looked out into the room. “I am leaving, Bo,” she said, running her hand through her hair as she stepped off the landing. “I just wish Hank had let me tell you the news.”

”And when were you planning on doing that?” he tried unsuccessfully to suppress the hurt he felt.

”Soon…” was all she could think to say.

She had hoped to delay this until the very last moment. She had said her goodbyes to most, but each and every time she thought to speak to Bo, she couldn’t go through with it. Damn that Hank, she thought as she turned to face Bo, again forcing a smile.

“You know all the details involved in planning a move, Bo,” she laughed and then turned serious, “I wouldn’t have left without saying goodbye.”

”Well that’s nice to know,” his irritation still present in his voice. “I’ve gotta tell you, this one knocked me for a loop,” he said as he ran his hands through his hair and then shoved them in his pockets. “All I can think to ask is… Why?” Nora paused as if unable to come up with a quick answer.

Oh Damn, she had practiced this speech a thousand times and now her mind went blank. Bo walked up to stand in front of her, “Can you answer that question, Red? Why move away from Llanview?”

“Oh Bo, for so many reasons,” she said as she chose to put some distance between them. “I guess when it gets right down to it, I’m leaving Llanview for the same reason I came here…” She paused as she looked into Bo’s confused expression and then continued, “For Rachel… For my family…” raising her eyebrows and shrugging her shoulders, “For ME.”

She reached for the roll of tape she had laid on the box, she needed to have something in her hands so she wouldn’t start wringing them.

“Is Rachel having problems?” Bo asked with sincere concern.

“No, no she’s great. It’s just I miss her and Matthew is missing out on getting to know his big sister,” sighing as she continued “It’s just time to make a change.” Nora turned away from him and grabbed another empty box as she prepared to continue packing.

”When are you leaving?” he asked as his eyes followed her every movement.

”The movers come in two days,” smiling and swinging her arms out wide, “and I’ve still got tons of packing to do.” Picking up some papers and placing them in the box. “Who would have thought I could have accumulated so much stuff in such a short period of time.”

Bo glanced around the room and something caught his eye. He reached over and picked up a scrapbook that was lying on top of a pile to be packed. The fear quickly came to Nora’s face as she tried to make her way to him before he opened it.

“Here, let me take that,” she said as she reached for the treasured book. Bo just as quickly pulled it out of her reach.

“Wait a minute,” he said as he looked down at the cover. “What’s this, huh?” Smiling mischievously as he stepped away from her and started to open the cover.

“Don’t Bo!” she practically yelled as she followed him. Bo stretched out his arm to keep her from advancing any closer as he sat the book on a box and opened the cover.

“What’s this…” he said with a puzzled look. “A movie ticket stub?” Nora’s heart started to pound in her chest as he continued to look through the book. He glances up with a knowing look. “Is this the stub from our drive-in movie date?” She didn’t answer.

He started flipping through the pages as each one brought back a wonderful memory. He was overwhelmed by the feeling that these simple mementos were bringing back. He picked up a box from the chair and moved it to the floor as he sank down into its softness, pulling the scrapbook with him. She had saved their dance number from the dance contest they won. He ran his fingers across the “13” and sighed, “Old lucky number 13,” he said as if to himself. He now slowly, almost reverently turned the pages. When his eyes were caught by the old, yellowed putt-putt golf score card, he got a lump in his throat. He stared at the markings on the card, suddenly transported back to the day he took her golfing.

His gaze looked so far off as his fingers touched the card. Nora couldn’t stand it any longer and she reached over and grabbed the book from his hands and gently closed the cover, quickly turning and depositing it in the empty box.

“It’s silly stuff, Bo,” feeling suddenly exposed, “You know what a sentimental packrat I can be.” Bo watched the crimson creep up her face and he could feel his own face warm from all the memories suddenly flooding back to him.

Nora looked down into the box and gently caressed the book’s cover before she finally forced herself to look into Bo’s eyes. Something caught in the glimpse they shared, a knowing look that left them both feeling warmed yet troubled.

Shaking off the feeling, Nora sighed and turned serious again. “I really was planning on telling you goodbye before I left.” Smiling brightly as the moisture flooded into her eyes. “How could I leave without telling my best friend goodbye,” her smile lingered.

Bo pushed himself up from the chair and slowly began to pace as he looked at all the packed boxes but didn’t really see anything. “You know, Red, I couldn’t figure that out either,” shaking his head and raising his eyebrows, struggling with his own moisture in his eyes. “When Hank told me, my heart sank.”

Looking concerned, “Oh Bo, I…”

Bo raised his hand to halt her and continued, “My first thought was that he was just pulling my chain again, but I could see it in his eyes. It’s the same look I see in my own eyes now whenever I look in a mirror. It’s as if a flame has been extinguished.”

Nora couldn’t believe she was having to deal with all these feelings right now, Not NOW. It was too late to even start having this discussion with Bo… It was, right??? Too much time had passed, too many things left unspoken, unresolved. Shaking her head and thinking, “Oh no, no, no, no,” she wasn’t going to let him do this to her, Not now.

“Bo, listen,” she continued to place things in the box until it was finally full, closing the flaps on the top. “So much time has passed and I keep finding myself thinking about my past instead of my future.” She pulled the tape off the roll with such force that the sound even startled Bo. “I’m not going to do that anymore,” she smoothed the tape on the box and took a deep breath.

“I want to rediscover the woman who came to this town so many years ago. She’s lost somewhere, Bo.” Waving her arms around, “At times I thought I could find her in what’s in these boxes,” shaking her head as she continues, “but the familiar feelings are fleeting and I just can’t get my arms around her,” she hugs herself.

Bo stepped up to stand across from the box she just packed. “She’s right here, Red,” slightly laughing, “She’s in these boxes, she’s standing in front of me," pausing before continuing, "and she’s in my heart,” his voice cracked as he placed his hand over his heart.

”Bo…” Nora sighed as she briefly closed her eyes, unable to look at the sincerity in his face, “Please Bo. I have so much to do.” She quickly turns away from him as his hand falls from his chest, a look of desperation on his face. Nora stepped up to the landing, intending to show Bo out so that she could continue packing.

“I love you, Red!” he said quickly. Nora’s step immediately halted with one foot on the step of the landing. Bo’s heart skipped a beat as she paused and dropped her head. She didn’t turn around and she took a moment to gather her resolve as she began to take another step toward the door.

Bo took a step forward and repeated, his tone softer, “I really love you, Red.”

This time it was too much to ignore and Nora slowly turned to look into his face. The smile and look in his eyes erased so many years. She stood there totally speechless as Bo slowly closed the distance, peeling tape off of boxes as he crossed the room. By the time he reached her on the landing, he had a large wad of tape in his hands.

He stood only inches from her, never taking his eyes off of her face, tears slowly streamed down her face, but she made no attempt to wipe them away. He stood there, looking so incredibly handsome as he held out the ball of tape.

“Please don’t leave, Red…”

She looked from his hand to his eyes and back again, finally she takes the crumpled ball of tape from his hands and examines it, glancing back into his eyes as her fist tightened around the tape.

Pleadingly he looks at her, “Please Red… Stay… Stay for me… Stay for you,” taking a deep breath and continuing, “Stay for US.”

Time seemed to stand still as he waited for her response. A smile slowly began to creep across her face and she looked lovingly into his eyes as she wiped away her tears with the back of her hand. Smiling and tossing the tape over her shoulder, it hit the rim of the trashcan in the corner and dropped inside. They both briefly gazed at the miraculous feat and then turned back to one another. She slowly placed her hand in his outstretched palm and sighed, “Are you going to help me unpack all this?”

The End!!!