Unexpected Chance

by Joanne Schwehm

  “Oh, I am sorry. Yes, the black little computer. What does it do?”

  Hmm, it’s black. I didn’t know that. “It’s a braille tablet. It works like a normal tablet, except it has raised characters so I can read it with my fingers.”

  “That is interesting. I have never seen anything like it. I mean I have seen tablets before, but nothing like that. Where did you get it?”

  This guy was full of questions. “A friend of mine gave it to me.” I smiled at the memory of Alex. Then that fateful image of Alex and Leah popped in my head, and I dropped my head a little.”

  “This friend is a boyfriend, yes? You are too beautiful to be single.”

  There it was again, that word: beautiful. I felt tears and shook my head to try to contain them. “It’s from an ex-boyfriend.” A tear slipped. I quickly tried to wipe it away. I prayed he didn’t notice.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up an unhappy time for you. I just went through a break-up not too long ago, so I understand.”

  He had noticed. “I’m not unhappy, not really. I wouldn’t be good for him. I don’t think I was ever good enough for him, and now that I’m blind, he would feel obligated to take care of me. I don’t want to be anyone’s obligation. ” I hated that I felt that way and worse that I just blurted that out. I shook my head. “Anyway, how is it that you speak English so well?” I needed to get off the subject of my ex.

  “I bought Rosetta Stone.” He laughed. “I kid you. I spent time in America after I graduated school.”

  “Well, your English is very good. I studied English in college. It was my major, so I can assure you that your translations are up to par.”

  “Up to par? Like golf?”

  I laughed and realized I hadn’t done that lately. “Something like that. I might have to teach you some American idioms.”

  “I look forward to it. Well, I should be going. I will be back tomorrow at the same time if you would like to join me.” I heard his chair back up. “I would like it if you did. It was nice meeting you.”

  “You too. Bye.”

  I stayed a little while longer and listened to my audio book. I wasn’t really concentrating. I was thinking about Chance and what a nice surprise that was. I hadn’t spent any time with a guy since Alex. Chance was nice. I felt comfortable with him, and his accent was amazing. I realized that I had no idea what he looked like. Was he older than I was? Younger? This no sight thing was a bitch! The things we take for granted. Like my reading . . . I missed reading the words.

  I went outside, and Frank met me at the door. It was such a weird feeling being dependent on someone. I was going to ask Frank if he noticed any creepy guys walk into the café, but he would either think I was nuts or he would be accompanying me every time I went there. I didn’t want that, so I kept my question to myself.

  He drove me home, and I was greeted by my doting mother. “You’re just in time for dinner. Did you have a good time at the café?”

  I knew that she would be worried and probably called Frank a hundred times to check on me. “Yes, Mom, it was very nice. Frank helped me get around, and I listened to a book while having coffee. It was relaxing. I almost felt like a normal person.” I didn’t bother telling her about Chance. She would have grilled me.

  “Honey, you are normal. You just have a hurdle to get over. And you never know; your sight may return. We’re going to see Dr. Beaumont tomorrow. Let’s see what he has to say.”

  Dr. Beaumont was apparently the top-rated ophthalmologist in Paris, and my mom was thoroughly excited that she was able to secure an appointment with him for me. “Okay, Mom, we’ll see what he says.” I knew my mom held out hope that I would regain my vision. It wasn’t that I’d lost all hope, but I didn’t want to get too excited. The last time I’d gotten excited about something it all went to hell, and I couldn’t endure that let down again.

  We had dinner, and I decided to relax with my parents in the sunroom. They would normally be watching a movie before bed, but as soon as I walked in, the television went off. “Please don’t do that. There is no need to change your routine for me. I like listening to the television.” It went back on.

  “I’m not going to stay up too much longer anyway. I have a braille lesson at eight in the morning and then my doctor’s appointment after that.” I loved my tablet and wanted to finish listening to the book I had started earlier that day before I was pleasantly interrupted by Chance.

  Chapter 23

  He wanted to meet again at the café. I’d told him I could probably go there after my doctor’s appointment. Did I want to see him again? I realized I did. It was nice and comforting to sit with someone who didn’t treat me with kid gloves. I didn’t have to worry about any romantic feelings since my heart was completely shattered and still devoted to someone else: a man who I would never have or see again. I wondered what he was doing or, worse yet, who he was with. I thought about emailing Julie, but I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to know. I wish I didn’t care about him, but I do. My anger had subsided a tad, but I still had that clear picture of him locking lips with that tramp in my head. Ugh! Would that ever go away?

  My braille teacher told me I was her star pupil and that I was catching on quickly. Apparently, having the tablet helped me to excel in braille letters. I was waiting for Frank to pick me up to take me to the doctor’s office. I knew he had to get my mom first, so I had some time. I decided to audio text Julie.

  9:16 a.m.—Hey, Jules! I just wanted to say I miss you! Say “hi” to Brett for me. Love you.

  I put my tablet away in my tote bag and heard my mom call out to me. Before I knew it, Frank was at my side. “Hello, Miss Aubrey, did you have a good lesson?”

  “Hi, Frank, yes I did. Thank you.” I was hoping to hear good news from the doctor too.

  My mom walked me into Dr. Beaumont’s office. It smelled clean and sterile. I didn’t hear many voices in the room, so I assumed not a lot of people were there. We only waited a few minutes before we were called into the back. I was glad my mom came in the examination room with me. It’s weird not knowing what is going on around you.

  “Good morning, ladies. I am Dr. Beaumont.” There was that thick French accent. His didn’t sound as sexy as Chance’s, but it was still pleasant. “I’ve looked over your chart that was sent to me from Dr. Griffin, and according to this, you have commotio retinae. Do you know what that means, Aubrey?”

  “Not really. I mean Dr. Griffin explained it to me a little, but to be honest, I was so out of it that another explanation would be helpful.”

  “Commotio retinae. In layman’s terms it means your retina suffered a concussion. I would like to do an MRI to determine whether there are changes in the retina since your last scan.”

  “Okay, will I ever regain my sight? Sometimes I see flashes of light, but they don’t last long.” I knew my mom would be surprised to hear that. I’d never mentioned it before because I was starting to accept my predicament, while she was still grieving for me.

  “I cannot say either way. It has been known that people who have suffered a concussion to their retina have recovered their vision in days or weeks after the trauma occurred, but that does not mean that just because this happened to you over a month ago you won’t regain your sight. The flashes of light that you see are a good sign; I just don’t want to give you false hope. Why don’t we schedule the MRI and go from there?”

  “Okay. Thank you.”

  “My receptionist will schedule your appointment on your way out. Plan to see me two days after your MRI. In the meantime, if you have any questions or there are any changes to your vision, please call me.”

  We thanked him and made the appointment for the next Monday. I had the entire weekend to dwell on what they would or would not find. My mom and I headed to the car. “Why didn’t you tell me you were seeing flashes of light?”

  “I didn’t want you to get excited if it didn’t mean anything.” I heard her exhale. “I promise from now on I’ll tell
you everything.”

  My mom patted my hand. “Let’s go do some shopping and go to lunch. How does that sound?”

  “Mom, what does my hair look like? I usually get it trimmed every six weeks, and it’s been over two months.”

  “It looks good, but maybe it could use some shaping up. Would you like to go to a salon and then lunch? We can go shopping another day or after lunch if you want.”

  “How about we go to the salon and then lunch? After that, I think I want to go to that café that Frank brought me to yesterday. It was relaxing and I enjoyed being there.” Not to mention I was hoping Chance would be there.

  “Sounds lovely.”

  The salon took longer than expected since we didn’t have an appointment, but it was worth the wait. At least I knew my hair looked good. I was keeping it in a ponytail most days because I couldn’t style it, and I didn’t want my mom to do it every day.

  We ate alfresco at a bistro. It was a lovely day out; the air was crisp and refreshing. I loved it. The food in Paris was always delicious. I now knew why my mom thought she was gaining weight daily. “Thanks for everything, Mom. I know this isn’t easy on you and Dad.”

  “Don’t be silly. You don’t have to thank me. I love you, honey, and I only want the best for you.”

  “Thanks, are you ready to go?”

  “Yes, let me call Frank to bring the car around. I’ll have him drop me off first and then take you to the café since the house is closer.”

  I walked into the café and tried to remember Frank’s clock description. I walked to the counter and ordered my coffee. The barista told me she would bring it to me. It suddenly dawned on me that I didn’t know if there were any available seats.

  “Can you please tell me if there is an empty table I can sit at?”

  “Yes, there is. Turn to your left and go five paces. There is an empty table that will be on your right.”

  I smiled at her and was appreciative that she described where I was to go rather than wanting to guide me there. Getting used to someone always assuming I needed help was going to send me off the deep end. I didn’t want to be a burden. I appreciated the gesture, but I’d rather do it on my own. I sat down after thanking her. I felt good. It was nice to be able to feel a little sense of independence.

  “Bonjour, Belle. L'esprit si je peux m'asseoir?” I laughed at the recognizable voice.

  “Hi, Chance. I have no idea what you said aside from hello, but it sounded so good it really doesn’t matter. Have a seat.”

  “I said, ‘Hello, beautiful, mind if I sit down?’”

  “Oh.” I blushed. “I really should learn how to speak French. You could have said that I was ugly or something like that, and it still would have sounded amazing.”

  “I would never lie to you, much less say you were ugly.”

  God, his accent! I could never get enough. It was weird how comfortable I was with him. “Thank you for the compliment.”

  “How was your doctor’s appointment?”

  Wow, he remembered. “It was good. Thank you. I have to get some tests done next week, but I’m not getting my hopes up.”

  “There is nothing wrong with hope is there? Without hope, what do we have? Life would be stagnant; we always need to hope for something. I hope that you regain your eyesight, but even if you do not, I hope that you find happiness.” He stressed the word “hope” every time he said it. It was sweet.

  “You’re a good guy, Chance.” I took a sip of my coffee. “How is it that you’re available every afternoon? Don’t you work?” I was hoping that I didn’t sound rude.

  “In France, we take as you would say ‘breaks’ in the afternoon, and I am on holiday. I am taking a break for a while. I had the time coming to me, so I took it. I am glad that I did, or I would not be here with you.”

  “Well, I’m glad you took it too. I miss my friends from back home. I would love to talk to my best friend. Her name is Julie. It’s just very hard to connect with the time difference. When I wake up, she’s still sleeping, and when she’s home from work, I’m usually sleeping. Even if I woke up at four in the morning, she would be hard to reach because she would most likely be with her boyfriend, Brett, at the club. I lowered my head and started playing with my coffee cup. Just saying “club” brought the thought of Alex back. “We text each other, but it’s not the same. Then there’s Mark, but I would run into the same time challenges.” I shrugged my shoulders. “It is what it is, right?”

  “Ahh, Mark, the ex-boyfriend, yes?”

  “No, Mark is not my ex-boyfriend; he is a close friend of mine. Alex is my ex-boyfriend.” I exhaled and squirmed in my chair. I could feel tears threatening. I hated that even saying his name affected me so deeply.

  “I am sorry; I did not mean to upset you.”

  “You didn’t upset me, not really. It’s just hard sometimes. That’s all.”

  “Do you still have feelings for this man, Alex? Do you not want to meet other men to possibly make you happy again?”

  Was he referring to himself?

  “To be honest, I guess I’ll always have feelings for him. He was and I guess will always be my one and only love. I don’t want to meet men and pursue a relationship right now, but I do like hanging out with you. I would be a burden anyway, but if you can put up with my occasional mood swings, it would make me happy to be your friend.”

  “I would like to be your friend and spend time with you. How about tomorrow we go to the park and have a picnic? I will pack the basket myself and everything.”

  The waitress came to our table to ask if we wanted refills. I couldn’t resist. “Excuse me, miss, can you please tell me if this gentleman sitting across from me looks like a kidnapper?”

  Chance and I both laughed. I didn’t expect her to respond, but she did. “No, he doesn’t, but I would definitely let him kidnap me.”

  I think my mouth was hanging open.

  Chance said, “Merci,” and she walked away.

  “Did you just thank her for wanting to be your kidnapping victim?” I was shaking my head, grinning.

  “Okay, what are you thinking? You shake your head and have that cute grin on your face. What does that mean?”

  “Oh, I was just thinking that it is totally my luck that I apparently have this good-looking man with me and I can’t see him. Can you describe yourself?”

  “I guess I can. I am about six feet tall, I am twenty-nine years old, and apparently, I don’t look like a kidnapper. So how about that picnic tomorrow? I can pick you up at your place.”

  “Well, that wasn’t very descriptive.”

  “I’d rather wait for you to regain your vision and see for yourself. Now may I pick you up?”

  I hoped I could see him someday. “No, that’s okay. I’ll meet you at the park. Just tell me the time and place. My parents hired a driver for me, so I can get to wherever I need to go.” No way was I going to let him come and pick me up. My mom would have a field day. She would flip out if she knew I was meeting him for coffee. Knowing her, she would have Frank run a background check.

  “As long as you can get there, I will meet you at the rotunda in Parc Monceau at noon. If your driver is from Paris, he will know where it is located.”

  I unfolded my walking stick and stood. “Thanks, Chance, I look forward to tomorrow.”

  “Adieu, belle dame.” He took my wrist and kissed my hand.

  Man, he was sexy as hell, and I couldn’t even see him or understand him sometimes. It almost made me wonder what it would be like to date again, not now, of course, but someday. I needed to make sure that I was not holding Chance back from meeting someone. It couldn’t be much fun hanging out with a blind woman who doesn’t speak your language, is still in love with her ex-boyfriend, and didn’t trust that a man wouldn’t hurt her again.

  Frank brought me home and told me my parents were sitting on the back patio. I made my way outside. I loved the smells that surrounded the chateau: roses, wisteria and other flowers that I couldn
’t identify. It was autumn, and the air was crisp and clean. If I were to guess the temperature, I would say that it had to be in the high sixties. It was very pleasant out. It reminded me of New York, except there were no sirens and loud horns blaring at my parents’ place.

  “Hi, guys, I’m home.” I wish I felt as if I were home. Where was home really? Some people say it is where you hang your hat or where your heart is. Well, for me that was two totally different places. My hat was hanging upstairs, but my heart was back in New York. I really tried not to think about it too much; it was too hard. I was happy that I had a new friend to talk to.

  “How was your afternoon, dear? Did you have any more flashes?”

  And that was exactly why I didn’t want to tell my mom that I was having them to begin with. That would now be her daily question. I understood that she was concerned, but sometimes I didn’t want to think about it, not that I ever forgot that I couldn’t see anything. “No, Mom, I haven’t. How about we make a deal? I promise to tell you if it happens again, and you promise not to ask about it, okay?”

  “You don’t have to get upset about it. I was just asking. You’ll understand someday, when you have kids, that parents worry about their children no matter what their age and that all they want is for their kids to be happy.”

  Kids . . . Would I ever have kids? Every day something else came up that may be out of my reach. “I’m sorry, Mom. I know you’re concerned. Truth be told so am I. I will let you know, okay? I’m going to go lie down before dinner. Oh, and I’m meeting a friend at Parc Monceau tomorrow for lunch.”

  “That’s a lovely park. Who is this friend, and where did you meet her?”

  Here goes. “She’s a he and I met him at the café. I don’t want you to worry. The waitress vouched for him, Frank saw him, and he seems like a decent guy. It’s nice to have a friend, and he’s really my only one here who is close to my age.”

  “That sounds wonderful, sweetheart. I’m sure you’ll have fun. Just be careful.”