Thank God It’s Frida!

The image began to blur, along with the rest of the world. Matt felt tears sliding down his cheeks. He attempted to suppress his deep sorrow, but the emotional dam inside him had already been breached. He wept openly, alone at the closet doorway.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Matt woke with a start. He hadn't remembered drifting off to sleep, but apparently he had, noting the lightening morning sky through the window. His phone was vibrating on the coffee table to an incoming call.

"Hello...?" he blinked, slowly regaining consciousness.

"Matt! Where are you?" it was his roommate, Tom. "I thought you said you were going to be home by now!"

Matt sighed. "I'm still in Arkansas."

"Arkansas? What the hell is in ARKANSAS?" Tom exclaimed over the phone.

"Nothing... I'm leaving today."

"Well, I didn't want to have to tell you this over the phone, bro, but... I have good news and bad news." said Tom.

"Good news, first... please!" Matt said in exasperation.

"The good news is: me and Trish are taking our relationship to the next level!"

"Okay, that's good... congrats."Matt replied. "And the bad?"

"Uhh... the 'next level' is me moving in with her." Tom said, hesitantly. "...at her place."

Matt clapped an open palm to his forehead. "...damn." he muttered. "Where am I going to find another roommate?"

"You won't have any problems finding someone, man!" Tom exclaimed. "I'll stick around until the end of October. That's plenty of time."

Matt heard a rustling of activity from within Frida's room.

"Listen, Tom. I gotta go." Matt said in a low voice. "We'll talk more about it when I get home in a couple days."

Matt was hanging up when Frida's door opened. She walked out into the living room wearing a thick, full length robe, closed up to her neck. Behind her, Matt's suitcase rolled on its casters, being pulled by her dainty hand. Her intent couldn't be clearer.

"Hello, Matthew." she said with a gentile, unattached voice.

"Frida... I just want to s-"

"It's time for you to go, Matthew." she interrupted in a tone saturated with as much impersonal coldness as her sweet personality could muster.

Matt fell silent, bowing his head in shame. "... alright, Frida. I'm going." he stood to his feet, still naked from the night before.

Frida looked flushed, averting her eyes as Matt gathered a change of clothes from the suitcase. Her gaze landed on the photograph of her smiling husband holding his young son as it rested on the side table.

Matt heard a gasp. "I... I've never seen this picture before!" she said, amazed, picking up the photograph and examining it closer. "Where did you find it?"

"It must have fallen out of the album you dropped last night." Matt replied, zipping up his jeans.

Frida covered her mouth as her eyes filled with tears. "...Oh, Matthew!" she sobbed.

Matt was taken aback when Frida crossed the room and embraced him, tightly. Her tear soaked cheek pressed to his neck.

"You deserved so much more." her shuddering voice spoke. "... so much more!"

"So did you, Frida." Matt said, softly. "You deserved more from me. I'm so sorry..."

"I forgive you, dearest..." Frida said, kissing his lips one last time. "but... but... "

"But, I still have to go." Matt nodded, accepting his sentence.

Frida agreed in the form of a sigh. "Come sit down with me, first," she said, taking his hand and leading him to a seat by the window. "I'd like to read your palm for you."

Matt had always been skeptical of the practice of divination. He avoided smirking when he sat down opposite of her.

"Show me your dominant hand." Frida said. "Let's see what you can possibly expect of the future."

"Okay, Frida." Matt said, trying not to scoff.

Looking at his outstretched hand, Frida's eyes grew wide with amazement. "Oh my goodness!" she exclaimed. "Your future looks... INCREDIBLE!"

Matt finally had to chuckle. "Frida... I know that you're just trying to make me feel better before I leave."

"No, Matthew!" she insisted. "Just look at this line here!" she traced a long, arcing crease on his palm with her fingertip. "Your trajectory is heading straight up!"

"Do you see anything like winning lottery numbers?" Matt asked, his eyebrows arching.

"No, it doesn't work like that, but I DO see a very fulfilling life for you... a life absolutely bursting with love, looks like!"

"Love..." Matt repeated, softly. "Do... do you see yourself in my future, Frida?"

She shook her head, gazing sorrowfully into his eyes. "This is your love line, here." she pointed to a different crease on his palm. "See how it branches off at this point?"

Matt nodded.

"Guess what that means." she smiled.

"I have no idea." Matt shrugged his shoulders.

"It means that you'll be a daddy yourself one day!" Frida said, the smile falling from her face before her eyes lowered. "It also means that it can't possibly be with me."

Understanding finally fell upon Matt regarding the reason why her and his father never had any children of their own.

"I'll tell you this... if it's true:" Matt said, resolutely. "My kid is NEVER going to have to guess whether their father cares about them or not! I promise!"

"I believe in you, Matthew." Frida replied, taking his hand and holding to her lips.

Matt blinked. "How will I know who is going to be the ONE for me?"

"I can't just give you a name or anything like that... but, I can see clues that may guide you... Let's see your passive hand." Frida spoke, scanning Matt's left palm with her eyes when he presented it to her.

"A.. cat!" she exclaimed, somewhat puzzled. "You should pay attention for cats... apparently."

Matt's brow furrowed as a smile finally cracked on his face. "...really?"

Frida shrugged. "I can only tell you what I see."

Matt nodded, taking his hand back to his lap. A pregnant moment of silence passed between the two. Their eyes barely capable of meeting.

"I'm going to miss you, Frida." Matt said, softly.

"I'll never forget you, dearest Matthew." she replied.

The moment of separation had arrived. They stood up together, guided by an unspoken prompt and walked to the front door.

"I think I'm going to try my luck with online dating." Frida said, following Matt to his idle sedan. "You ought to give it a shot too!"

"Maybe I will." Matt said, hoisting his luggage into the open trunk.

Frida silently held open Matt's driver side door for him, her eyes glistening with welling emotion.

"Goodbye, Jiggle Bear." Matt said, standing a few paces away from her.

She quickly closed the distance by rushing into his arms and squeezing him tightly. Matt felt his breath being pushed from his body by her forceful embrace. Just as suddenly as she had commenced the hug, so too did she disengage, turning around without another word and walking briskly back inside her house.

Matt stood alone for several moments beside his open door, staring towards Frida's humble cottage. Then, entering his vehicle, Matt turned the ignition key and rotated the steering wheel towards the East.

"So long, Marianne..." sang Leonard Cohen, resuming his song from Matt's playlist.

"It's time that we began

To laugh and cry, and cry and laugh

About it all again.. "

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Matt set the heavy suitcase upon his very own bed. The rest of the trip had passed by, unaffected by foul weather or traffic congestion. Familiarity of his own bedroom was returning to his mind after several months away. He unzipped the opening of the luggage and peeled it back.

An unfamiliar, folded sheet of paper had been placed inside with his clothes. Matt opened the paper to inspect, discovering a hand written note.

"'My dearest Matthew'..." the letter began. "'I hope that one day you'll be able to look back on our short time together with fondness. I know that I will always remember you and the beautiful moments we shared together. You LITERALLY expanded my horizons! lol

Keep practicing your Kissing Lessons! Never be satisfied with just being good enough and one day, some lucky girl is going to hand you a blue ribbon! Remember also, that having a big ding dong doesn't excuse you from being good in bed! Keep paying attention to your partner and she'll be screaming your name so loud, I'll be able to hear it all the way to my house!

Of course, my most heartfelt wish for you is that one day, you'll find a peace in your heart regarding your father. He loved you, Matthew, even though his love was kept secret from you.

My life will be forever enriched by your brief presence. I hope that your memory of me will persist with affection.

Yours, Frida

p.s. I love you too.'"

Matt's eyes were streaming with tears as he folded the paper once more and slipped it into his pocket.

Just then, a trilling alert sounded from his desktop computer. A new message had appeared on his new online dating profile that he had created days ago in his sleepless Nashville hotel room.

"Hi, handsome!" read the message from an unknown user. Matt clicked on the profile of the sender, revealing a photo of an astonishingly beautiful brunette woman named 'Pamela'.

"Wow!" Matt breathed, almost forgetting his tear stained face. He clicked on her digital photo album, each picture featuring her wearing various lovely outfits, looking as gorgeous and as glamorous as a bonafide fashion model. A photo featuring her in a small bikini revealed her thin, but toned physique. Her tiny breasts were easily covered by the small, multicolored top. Finally the last photo was of her at a costume event of some sort. Matt's eyes widened at her playful, feline disguise.

"The cat!" he gasped. "Could it be...?"

Matt recalled Frida's prediction with a renewed sense of respect as his fingers hesitantly reached out over the keyboard.

"Hello, beautiful!'" he typed. "'I'm Matt. Nice to meet you.'"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Epilogue:

Matt pulled the gas pump from its metal holster and inserted it into his fuel tank port of his sedan. The sun shone brightly over the distant Blue Ridge mountains behind him, the vehicle GPS programmed for the three hour drive home.

He hardly regarded the brown Range Rover that had pulled up to the pump opposite from where he stood, filling his gas tank.

"Take care of the gas, Alfrieda, please? I have to visit the restroom." came a man's voice.

Matt barely noticed a portly, older gentleman waddle past his view towards the small convenience store a few yards away.

The sound of activity at the nearby pump caused Matt to casually glance over. And suddenly there she was, standing before him...

Frida looked just as beautiful as she did the last time he saw her, nearly a year ago. Her hair was shorter, only reaching her shoulders. Her bosom seemed smaller looking to Matt, despite her measurements appearing to be the same as they were during their last meeting. A sparkling, diamond studded engagement band was visible on her left ring finger. Matt watched her eyes raise to meet his for the first time, becoming wide with sudden recognition. A gasp escaped her.

"Hey, Matty!!" came an excited female voice from the direction of the convenience store. "Watch this!"

From the sliding glass door, Janice and Tracy were approaching the vehicle, smiling excitedly. Janice was holding aloft a large hot dog, piled high with chili and cheese.

"Look what I can do now!" Janice exclaimed before opening her jaw as wide as she could and inserting the large hot dog in her maw.

"She so proud of herself, isn't she?" Tracy rolled her eyes as she entered the rear seat of Matt's car and closed the door.

Janice's cheeks were full as she chewed her enormous bite of food with a proud smile. Matt chuckled and wiped a dollop of errant chili from the corner of her mouth with his finger, licking it clean.

Janice choked down her mouthful and kissed him, tenderly. "Mwah!" she exclaimed, lovingly. "I could never do that before I met you! You're such a great teacher, baby!" she cooed. "I can't wait to get home and practice on YOUR hot dog!"

"Me too, babe!" Matt smiled at Janice as she took her seat in the front, passenger side of the car.

He briefly glanced up at Frida standing beside her gas pump. Her eyes sparkled as she stared silently at him with a warm smile. The smallest nod of her head was the only form of expression she offered.

The pump in Matt's hand suddenly disengaged with a startling snap, pulling his mind back from wistful memories.

Matt replaced the pump, giving a silent wink to Frida before walking out of view towards the driver's seat.

"Geeze, Matty." Tracy said as he pulled the vehicle onto the narrow road that led to their home. "We saw bears and deer out here in the woods... but you never mentioned COUGARS!"

"Hmm?" Matt pondered.

"I saw the way that older lady was looking at you back there!" she chuckled.

"Where?!" Matt exclaimed, hoping Tracy wouldn't detect his coy deception.

"At the gas pump! I thought she was going to burn a hole right through you with that intense stare you were getting!"

"Matty can't help it!" Janice chuckled. "He's THAT irresistible!"

Matt's eyes followed the yellow line of the road to the horizon line ahead. "Must have missed it." he said.

Author's note: 'Frida' is short for 'Alfrieda' which is Old German for 'magical counsel'.