What if I had not gone back to the States the second time? Would I have found (and got to keep) my real love? Would I have seen more of the world? Would I have gone through less pain?
No point in asking myself that, I know. Still, I wonder. If I had not gone back, would I still be exactly where I am today? You know, some people believe that you can walk the straight line or you can walk in circles, but eventually you reach the point where you should be, no matter how long it took you to get there…
My second time in the States was very different from my first one. As different as the winter is from the summer, literally, as I went back to Petoskey in the month of January. And the Chef was not there.
It’s not that I didn’t know what real winter was about. I did, having grown up in Eastern Europe. I just never knew what it meant to spend a winter in Michigan. Luckily enough I had the perfect job for the season – working in a bakery shop. The smell of freshly baked bread and cookies and the aroma of freshly brewed coffee was just what I needed to forget 3 feet of snow outside. I loved working there. The customers were always happy and grateful for a delicious bite to eat. I was happy decorating endless trays of smiley face cookies. Our neighbors were happy with a half a dozen or so donuts I’d bring home to them at the end of the day… When I grow up, I’d like to have a bakery shop just like that.
My man with the brown eyes had moved down south, where his mom was living at the time. I couldn’t follow him straight away after arriving, I had to stay in Petoskey for a little while. I missed him a lot, but we frequently talked on the phone and I knew that soon enough I’d get to see him. In the meantime, I got to experience the joys of winter with a bunch of local boys. Cinema at the mall, movie nights in, riding snowmobiles out in the fields.
I was having loads of fun, but the time came when I couldn’t, I just couldn’t be without my Chef any longer. I bought a bus ticket from Petoskey, MI to Savannah, GA, and said goodbye to my friends. I boarded the bus to unknown, yearning to get there as fast as I could.
He was waiting at the bus terminal, just like he said he would be.