Once Upon...

Moving On

She was trying to move on, in only the one sense in which she could. There was still a part of her heart which ached whenever she thought of him. It still hurt to think of him. She had wanted to marry him, have a family with him.

That seemed to be a different life. She wasn't even sure what she wanted anymore. She'd let herself get caught up in the hopes for an end to this nightmare. That once those monsters had been caught, life would suddenly seem bright and good again.

Life wasn't always about happily ever afters. They rarely happened, especially as long as it had been with her parents. Nearly six years and there was about as much evidence now as there was then. So, she'd sacrificed her dignity and self respect for the cause, but wouldn't any child?

Naomi opened the back door to the deck and leaned against the railing. Sam followed her and found his dog bed over in the corner and curled up on it and lightly dozed.

What was this that she was honestly debating with herself? Did she really want to move on with her life? Maybe do as Louise had suggested? She and Frank were the only people in the world she trusted. They were the only ones who seemed to understand, maybe Louise more than Frank. She understood, her story was different, but she still understood the guilt and the shame.

She had moved on with Frank and had three wonderful kids. She lived.

Wouldn't it shock the town if suddenly she turned "normal"? She nearly snorted. It might almost make it worth it.

There was her business to consider, she might actually garner some business from the town. That would never hurt. It would be extra money in her pockets, something she desperately needed. Her car was going to need an overhaul to pass the next inspection. She almost considered going into the city and buying a newer car, but didn't know if she could afford the extra payment, though considering the overhaul she was about to endure, that looked a lot more promising.

It seemed almost instantly, there was a weight off of her shoulders and she wondered what her parents might be thinking of her right now. If they could...think. She hoped they weren't disappointed in her. At least she didn't waste her whole life away. She was almost twenty-eight. She could still have a life if she wanted.

Dear God.

She was thinking about the future. Naomi Bronson, the local town crazy.

"What do you think is happening to me, Sam?"

The dog opened his eyes and looked up at her and then closed them again.

"You're supposed to be my support, Sam. I was there for you when you had that sliver in your paw."

Sam still kept his eyes closed and she only rolled her eyes.

"I'm talking to a dog, hoping for a response. Maybe I am crazy."

Maybe she'd do something she never thought of doing, or hadn't ever in the last six years. She'd go to town because she wanted to. Maybe she'd stop by Frank's. It was almost dinner time, she could actually eat-in and enjoy herself. Give a bunch of the locals an eyeful. Could be more entertaining than sitting around here with a dog who'd rather sleep.

"I'm going out, Sam. No other dogs or parties."

She was feeling...different. She wished she had a word for it, maybe an euphoria. She definitely felt different. How could that have been so easy? Nothing had ever been so easy.

As she drove into town, the town wasn't as romantic as she used to think, it was...better, somehow.

It wasn't as if she'd forgotten the pain it was just that maybe it wasn't necessary to keep it inside, to punish herself. Maybe it was time to be realistic. Didn't mean she was going to go get married or involve herself in things, it just meant maybe it was time to take a step outside and enjoy the sunshine and feel it on her skin.

She parked her car a few blocks up from Frank's and walked in. It was busy, nearly packed. Louise was fluttering around, helping the waitresses bring out the food. When she spotted Naomi she let out a little sound and bustled over to envelop her into a hug.

"Oh Naomi! You're...you're...what are you doing here? Is everything alright?"

Naomi let out a little laugh. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just thought maybe I'd have some dinner?"

Louise nearly giggled. "Of course! There's a booth open in the back, let me take you."

Quite a few heads turned in their direction. She could feel their eyes boring holes into her back. Did they think she was going to flip right in the restaurant? Probably.

She slid into the booth and looked through the menu Louise had handed her and ordered herself a water before Louise hurried off into the kitchen.

As she looked at the menu, she thought about the many times she'd been here, especially with her parents. They used to come in once a week for dinner and they'd chat with both Frank and Louise and often their daughter, Samantha, was there and they'd hang out for the couple of hours they were there. Sammy had been one of her closest friends growing up and she hated how it had deteriorated. She'd received an invitation to her wedding, but hadn't gone. She didn't want to be the one to ruin the wedding or the after party with gossip and sneering. She did call and ask for pictures though.

Naomi also remembered her crush on Daniel. He was nearly three years older than her and Sammy and he seemed so adult to her. It also didn't help that he was really smart on top of being incredibly cute, but he always seemed to have a girlfriend. Of course then there was Jackson for her and Daniel was all but a distant memory for her.

She really needed to not think of Jackson.

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After Frank's, Jackson debated on what to do next. He almost wanted to go Naomi's, to talk to her. Instead, he headed over to the building which would soon be his restaurant. He walked inside and saw the captain, as he liked to be called, standing by a pillar. His name was Tom Gravis and he'd gone to school with Jackson. Jackson had been happy to hire them to gut and remodel the whole building, which was two stories high.

"Hey Tom." Jackson walked over with his hands on his hips. "How's it going?"

"It's going. We've completely gutted it and today I had an electrician in here to redo all of the wiring. Most of the old stuff was shot and what wasn't looked pretty shoddy, so I figured a clean overhaul would be best. Don't need any stoppages because it didn't pass inspection."

Tom led Jackson to what would be bathrooms. "We removed the old toilets and sinks and the plumbing looks solid; because of the electrical work, I brought in a second guy, just to be on the safe side and he also concurs with the first guy, so we'll leave that be and just install the new stuff you've bought. We're going to be installing new sheet rock this week, so at least this won't look like a cave in here and there won't be so much echo."

"It looks good..for what it is." Jackson could picture his restaurant already and couldn't wait to see it complete. It would be a more conservative version of his New York City restaurant. He wanted it to be a nice place to eat, but not a grand place. It wasn't New York City where grand would work. Everyone here worked hard for their paycheck at the end of the week. This would be a relaxing and comforting place to eat and he wanted this place to reflect that. He hoped he had chosen well. "Is everything on schedule?"

"Yeah, we haven't encountered anything really bad, everything so far was figured into the planning." Tom leaned his clipboard onto his hip and looked at Jackson. "How are things going so far?"

"Good so far. The rest of my stuff is coming out tomorrow. So I'll have everything and I'll probably spend most of my time making sure everything is where it's supposed to be. I went over to Frank's and they did a great job remodeling that place."

Tom grinned. "Of course they did, I did it."

Jackson laughed. "I should have guessed. You did a great job remodeling that place."

"Thanks." There was a short beat of silence. "Have you talked to Naomi yet?"

He should have guessed. "No, not yet. I don't know how to approach her."

Tom shrugged. "No one does. She went a tad bit...crazy after her parents died. You can't really blame her, but still."

"It's hard to judge someone when none of us have experienced what she went through. I can't really talk as I did and I left this place, but I shouldn't have. Even when she drove me crazy back then. That was what all of her energy was spent on, making sure the bastards that murdered her parents got put in prison." There was an itch beginning to form between his shoulder blades.

Tom just shrugged again. "I'm going to finish up these last few things before closing down for the night. Is there anything else you wanted to see?"

They were at an impasse on Naomi and as long as he didn't lose Tom's friendship over it, he was fine. It seemed funny he was ready to jump on Naomi's bandwagon after not wanting to know about her for six years, but he'd nearly married her. There were still feelings, feelings he'd locked away when he'd left. He thought it was the best, had thought it was the best. Now he wasn't entirely sure. He was proud of what he'd been able to do in the past six years. He had put in a lot of hard work, a lot of sweat and heart had gone into his restaurant, building it up from nothing and being a nobody in the cooking world.

As he headed out, he realized he was hungry. Glancing down at his watch, he realized it was nearly six. He'd spent more time in there than he had planned. He almost debated going into Frank's and having dinner, but decided he'd rather cook himself something. It seemed like forever since he'd cooked anything worth cooking. Toast and eggs didn't count. Not to him anyway.

He got into his car and his mouth watered at the thought of some stuffed chicken breast and garlic mashed potatoes. Well, that's what he was going to have for dinner. He turned the corner and as he was driving by Frank's, something caught his eye. He turned and his heart nearly stopped in his chest, there getting ready to cross the street was Naomi. She'd let her dark brown hair grow out to nearly the mid part of her back and her gray eyes were large and wide. She saw him too and stared as he stared. When a horn honked he quickly glanced straight ahead and noticed he was dangerously close to crossing the center line and swerved back. Looking back, he saw she'd already run across the street and around the corner.