The Lonely Girl - Epilogue

This is the Epilogue to The Lonely Girl. So it probably won't make sense unless you read that first.

The Lonely Girl - Epilogue

Claire bagged up the items, put the receipt in the bag, and handed it to the customer with a smile. Her smile was still objectively beautiful. The difference was that you could now see how beautiful the rest of her face was. Gone were the large glasses, replaced by small rectangular lensed ones that gave off a smart/sexy librarian vibe. Her hair was now shoulder length, which made it much more manageable to dry and style in the mornings. She was still petite, but gone were the baggy clothes and frumpy outfits that she used to try and hide behind. She didn't wear anything tight and revealing, she was still small and waif-like, so those type of clothes wouldn't have worked on her, but the outfits she wore now did just enough to show off her cute figure.

It was almost closing time, which ironically was also the busiest on most weekdays as folks heading home from work came in to grab some items for that evening's dinner. Ms. Scott, Claire, and Kyle had discussed staying open later, but decided that doing it five days a week would not be a good work/life balance for them or the staff. So they compromised and picked Tuesday as the day they would be open late.

Claire was starting to cover some of the display items when a woman walked in. Claire's eyes lingered on her for a moment as she tried to place her. She wrinkled her nose in thought and then it hit her...Kaitlyn. It had been nearly twelve years since she had seen her last, that fateful day at the pond, but she was still recognizable. They were both the same age, but Claire thought she looked quite a few years older than the approximate thirty she must be.

Claire pushed the thought aside as she thought it cruel to judge her that way. An outsider would think her more than justified in going much farther than that, but Claire held no grudges against her. Even back in high school, she never hated the people that tormented her. They perplexed her. She understood why Sam had picked on her that day in the hallway so many years before. He had been picked on as well and was lashing out because of how it hurt him. He couldn't do it to his tormenters, so he picked the easiest target he could: Claire. But that wasn't the case with Kaitlyn and some of the others. No one picked on them, heck it seemed like some in the school idolized them. It was a quandary Claire never had an answer to.

Kaitlyn perused the shelves as Claire and the other employees went about covering the items in the display case, casually watching her from the corner of her eye. Kaitlyn picked a few items from the shelves and headed to the checkout counter. One of the employees started to put down the tray she was wrapping when Claire stopped her with a touch on her arm, "I've got it Katie."

"Ok, Mrs. Scott."

Claire smirked to herself. Katie insisted on calling her "Mrs. Scott", even though Katie was only a few years younger than her. Whether she did it out of respect or humor, Claire could never work out, probably a bit of both, knowing Katie.

Kaitlyn put the items down on the counter and looked down into her wallet.

"Will there be anything else?" Claire asked.

Kaitlyn looked up at her and responded flatly, "No, just that."

Nothing. No recognition, not even a hint. Claire would ponder this much later and realize that it may have been that Kaitlyn never saw her as a person. Which would go a long way towards explaining how she could treat Claire the way she did. It wasn't like Claire had some type of extreme makeover. She still didn't wear makeup, her features were the same, if just more visible now due to the glasses and haircut. Kaitlyn and the other bullies just viewed her as an object. Something to kick around. They never viewed the person underneath. So why would she recognize her now if she had never truly seen her?

Kaitlyn was still objectively pretty, even if she did look older than Claire thought she should. It was just hidden by even more makeup than she wore in school.

Claire rang up and bagged the items. "That will be $42.76."

"Wow, that's expensive." Kaitlyn responded.

"It's all homemade, even the sauce."

Kaitlyn frowned a bit before responding, "Is Kyle Scott here? I heard he works here."

Later when Claire tried to reason why she responded the way she did, she could never come up with an answer, "My husband is at our distribution center. He works there most of the time."

"Oh, you're Kyle's wife?" Kaitlyn responded with a hint of disappointment on her voice.

"Yes Kaitlyn, we've been married about five years now."

Claire felt bad as soon as she said it. She almost felt like she was bullying Kaitlyn at this point and the thought made her a little queasy. For her part, Kaitlyn looked truly perplexed.

"Do I know you?"

Claire felt even worse now, there was no way to put the genie back in the bottle.

"Yes, we were in the same grade in school. I'm Claire Kelly...well, Claire Scott now."

Kaitlyn wouldn't have looked more surprised if Claire had slapped her.

A quiet "Oh." Was all Kaitlyn responded with. She looked down, pulled the money out of her wallet and handed it to Claire without looking at her. Claire handed her the change and looked up at Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn put the money back in her wallet without meeting her gaze, took the bag and walked from the store.

*****

Claire chewed on her lip the whole ride home. It was an innocent statement. It was also the truth. She was married to Kyle. So why should she feel bad about it? She knew the reason. Because she felt that the way it played out, she had bullied Kaitlyn. Albeit very slightly.

Later, after telling some friends about the encounter, they had relayed Kaitlyn's situation to her. She had dated and married a man that lived several towns away, moving in with him not long after graduating high school. They had a child and divorced a few years after that. Kaitlyn taking up with a new guy in the same town. They had a child together as well but never married. Kaitlyn grew tired of his drinking, having taken most the years since high school trying to kick the habit herself, and left him. Moving herself and two children back in with her parents.

This made Claire feel even worse about the situation. While her mental health had improved dramatically over the years since her and Kyle had gotten together, she could have let this eat at her and drag her down.

*****

It was a week after she found out about Kaitlyn's history. She was having a drink after work with Jen and lamenting about her treatment of Kaitlyn when Jen put her foot down.

"Claire, just stop it."

Claire paused, mid-sip. Jen was normally very gentle. Her change in demeanor made Claire take notice.

"What would have happened if you never said anything to Kaitlyn?"

"Nothing I suppose...she didn't seem to like our prices in the store, so I doubt she would have come back."

"Do you really think she was in your store for groceries Claire?"

"Yes, she bought some pasta and..."

"Claire! I talked to Lexi the other day..." the name made Claire frown. "...she's mellowed, by the way, which is the only reason I still talk to her."

Claire was still chewing on that bit of information when Jen continued, "She told me Kaitlyn is unemployed and her parents are doing ok, but they aren't rich."

If this information was supposed to be making her feel better, it wasn't working Claire thought. But she held back her comments and let Jen continue.

"Lexi had spoken to her recently. She said she got all excited when Lexi told her about how the pasta business had expanded and how you were shipping to grocery stores as well as your online business. Why do you think that is?"

"Umm, I guess she's happy for..."

"Claire, please..." Jen adored Claire's innocence, but she also realized that it could hurt her in the long run if kept unchecked. So Jen tried to open her eyes to situations that could hurt Claire when she could. Kyle had done the same over the years and Claire had gotten much better at spotting people's bullshit...but old habits die hard, and she wasn't seeing the bigger picture Jen was painting for her.

"...the only person Kaitlyn wants to be happy is Kaitlyn, and nothing would make Kaitlyn happier than to hook up with a successful, good looking, man that can take care of her and her two kids."

It took a moment for Claire to process it all, but when she did, she just responded with "Oh."

"Yeah, Oh." Jen then continued, "So say you didn't say anything to Kaitlyn, and she doesn't know your married to Kyle. You guys had a small, private wedding, so it's not like everyone in town knows...what happens then?" Jen didn't let Claire respond and continued, "She would just keep trying find Kyle, and how do you think that would go? You may have healed and moved on from what they did to you, but I saw Kyle the night he found out. If Kaitlyn had been in that bar, Kyle would have killed her, I have no doubt. Now I'm sure he's mellowed some over the years, and except for that night, I know Kyle would never lay a finger on a woman...but I still don't think that encounter would go well. Better she knows now and hopefully stays away from him."

Claire absorbed the information that Jen had given her and could not find any fault in her logic. Claire had also told Kyle about the encounter that evening. He bristled at first, but hearing how it went he mellowed. He later agreed with Jen's assessment when Claire had described the conversation to Kyle. Now that Kyle knew Kaitlyn was back in town, he mentally prepared himself in case there was ever an encounter. Regardless of Jen's take, he did not want to lose his temper, and definitely not over Kaitlyn. His life was now better than he could have imagined and there was no need to harbor the resentment he once felt.

*****

The journey of healing is one that can take many paths, but one thing they almost always have in common is that they are long and there are usually bumps along the way. Both Claire and Kyle's journey was no different.

The biggest hurdle they had to overcome was Claire's feeling of inferiority. Kyle was popular and good looking. He garnered attention wherever he went and while Claire was fine in her own skin, she still didn't feel his equal. It took convincing from Kyle and Claire's own realization that she was helping him heal just as much as he did for her. She balanced him.

She started taking him to her spot. Sometimes they would just sit and meditate on their day. Other times they would have active discussions the entire time they were there. Kyle opened up about his sister and about how her death made him feel helpless. He had always felt like he could protect her, right up to the point she needed it most. He felt like a failure after that. Claire helped him realize and believe that we cannot always protect those we love. That we can only help prepare them as best as possible for the challenges of life.

Kyle tried to do exactly that for Claire. He convinced Claire to go out more and interact with people, mostly with him at first, but over time by herself as well. She gained confidence in herself and was finally able to come to terms with her parents passing. While tragic she realized it was something that she had to deal with, lest it consume her. She helped Kyle realize the same thing about his sister.

*****

Claire walked into the mudroom and took off her shoes. She went into the kitchen and greeted Ms. Scott, "Hi Grandma!"

Claire insisted on calling her Ms. Scott for so long that she finally got exasperated and told her that since they were both Ms. Scott at that point, that they should both just address each other by their first names. Claire did for a while, but then decided it was more fun to call her Grandma after her daughter was born.

"Very funny! How was the store today?"

"It was good! Numbers were in line with a normal Thursday."

Ms. Scott didn't really care about the numbers much anymore. Claire's parents had been wealthy when they passed. They had made enough to easily retire in their thirties and continue the modest lifestyle they lived, but they continued working up until their passing. Between their investments in the market and Bitcoin, as well as their rather large life insurance policies, Claire was modestly wealthy.

She took some of the money and invested it into Ms. Scott's deli, becoming a third partner along with Kyle. They used the money Claire invested to build their warehouse where they would make, package, and ship their pasta on a much larger scale. It was still made with the love that Kyle would put into it when he used to make it in the back of the deli. The trio of Scott's would not have it any other way.

Once they had a reliable way to keep their pasta cool when shipped to individuals, the online store took off. The contracts with the grocery chains just added to their earnings.

"You know that's not what I meant, did any of the customers cause any drama?"

As with any retail business there was always the possibility of a customer causing a commotion. The most recent being a customer that had wanted a refund on their pasta because they said it went bad. After trying to get a refund for the second time they started questioning the customer. Evidently the instructions on the packaging that said "Keep Refrigerated" were ignored and they left the pasta in their car as they went to the gym and spa on an eighty-five-degree day. The next time they want to their friend's pool for an entire day. They had refunded her money the second time as well to not cause a scene but explained that would be the last time as she was not following the instructions and thus, they were not liable. They woman left in a huff and the staff wondered how many containers of milk she had tried to return in her life.

Claire considered her question for a moment and whether she should tell her about Kaitlyn. She was always open and honest with her mother-in-law and figured she would probably like to know.

"Kaitlyn came in the store today."

Her mother-in-law looked up and to the left while she considered the statement. Claire could see the meaning of the statement dawn on her.

"Oh! Was she the cheerleader?"

"Yes"

"Oh honey, are you ok?"

"Oh yes, I'm fine." Claire replied, and she was. She had long since come to terms with the incident as well as the bullying she had endured.

They talked for a moment more about the deli when Kyle walked in.

"Hi Baby, Hi Mom. Where's the little terror at?"

"Hi Sweetie, she's upstairs taking her nap. It's probably time to wake her up though."

"I'll go get her." Claire stated.

"I'll come with you" Kyle retorted, and they both headed up the stairs.

They opened the door with a brightly painted sign with a dolphin on it.

"Charlotte sweetie, it's time to wake up."