Delayed

Chapter 1

Dan Fogelberg's Same Old Lang Syne had been playing on repeat for the last half hour.  Two glasses of wine at dinner, followed by a Kir (or two) was just enough for me to throw my arm over my friend Kate's shoulder and coerce her into singing along loudly.

 "That has to be the most depressing song ever," Kate said as we erupted into laughter.

"I don't know what's more depressing: the song itself, or the fact I'm dating someone who knows all the words to the song," her boyfriend, Ben, teased from the barstool next to her.

"You better watch out; when you're gone in a couple weeks, I'm totally going to run into an old flame, who's going to invite me to sit in his car in the parking lot and reminisce, and it'll be all downhill from there."

Kate and I sang the last line at the top of our lungs.

The bartender glared at us.

"I leave for five minutes and you two are about to get us kicked out of the bar," my boyfriend Dave said with a wide smile as he took the seat next to me and gave a knowing shake of the head to the bartender, who shook his head back, then smiled.

"What would I do without you to smooth things over?" I teased.

He just smiled, pulled me towards him and kissed the top of my head. "I'm sure you'd be just fine. Perhaps less liked, but just fine."

I playfully pushed him away, then asked the group, "How is this place so quiet on New Year's Eve?"

"That's a small town for you," Ben responded.  He and Kate had rented a cabin in the mountains just a few hours outside of Richmond, where we lived, and they had invited Dave and I to spend the holiday with them.

"Weird," I commented.

"It's sort of awesome.  Like we're famous and have the place rented out just for our little exclusive party," Kate said.

"We should have security kick those interlopers down there out." Ben nodded his head to the only other couple in the restaurant, at the other end of the bar, ferociously making out.

"Speaking of which," Dave looked at his watch, "just five minutes to go."

Kate caught the bartender's eye and asked if he could turn up the volume on the TV showing the countdown from New York.  He did but left Dan Fogelberg crooning in the background, as well. 

Ben ordered a round of champagne and we readied ourselves for the big moment.  Watching the crowds in New York and looking around the empty, quiet restaurant, I felt like I was missing something.  Not specifically that I wanted to be crowded into stalls with thousands of people and no bathrooms.  And certainly not that I would change the friends I was celebrating with.  I'd spent the last three New Year's Eves with Dave and couldn't imagine spending this or any future holidays with anyone else.  I was here with my favorite people in the world, so there was nothing I could specifically pinpoint.  It was just this whisper of a feeling that things were too ...something.

"Earth to Carolyn ," Kate said, nudging her shoulder into mine and gesturing at the TV above us.

"10 ... 9 ... 8 ..." we all chanted in unison.  The couple at the end of the bar was still kissing.

"7 ... 6 ..." We reached for our champagne.  I took a deep breath in and looked at Dave.  Those big brown eyes.  He winked at me and my pulse quickened.  I winked back as a huge smile spread across both our faces.

"5 ... 4 ... 3 ..." I glanced at Kate, leaning on Ben's shoulder, holding her champagne glass slightly up and tilted toward his.  How crazy was it that she was back in my life?  What are the chances of moving to be closer to your fabulous long-distance boyfriend and finding out your next-door neighbor is your freshman year college roommate, who happens to be in the very beginning stages of a relationship with your boyfriend's best friend?  Yeah, that had been my year.  

"2 ..."

A pretty damn good one by all accounts.  

"1!"

We all raised our glasses to meet each other's, then I turned to kiss Dave before enveloping Kate and Ben in giant hugs.

In the background, just behind the revelry, Dan Fogelberg was still singing about reaching beyond the emptiness.

Author's Note:

I'm curious to know what you think is going on with Carolyn at this point? What could be missing in her life? Let me know in the comments.

Also, if you're enjoying the story so far - don't forget to vote for it and add it to your library! Also feel free to visit me at my website, marychrisescobar.com (link in my profile). Thank you so much for reading.