"Who is that
goofy guy with the santa hat?" Laura wondered as
she strained to focus.
"That can't
possibly be... no, it is. That's Adam."
It had been well
over 10 years, but it seemed hardly surprising that
they'd meet again in an airport in Chicago. Their
relationship had always borrowed from different movie
scripts, so "When Harry Met Sally" seemed about
right.
She walked closer,
now confident it was him and didn't need to say a word
before he turned to look at her and immediately turned
his head and closed his eyes. She could only imagine
what he must be thinking. She had the advantage of
being able to peek in on his life over the past decade
because of his video blog -- he had no such access. He
mouthed "wha" repeatedly as he stood up, until finally
a coherrent sentence formed...
"Of course
you're on this flight." he said as deadpanned as
she remembered his humor.
They embraced and
started the small talk which quickly moved to the
birth of her first child earlier this year. Adam knew
of the baby from an email from her in April. It was
their first correspondence since a small three
sentence email he received when she left Pat in
2007:
So.. thought
you'd might find this interesting. After 12 years,
I finally did it. This is just to let you know that
your words weren't forgotten, they just took a long
time to register.
She remarried
quickly and had her baby in April. She never ceased to
tell him what his words from 1998 meant to her, but he
never stopped feeling guilty that his interference may
have kept her involved with Patrick for a few too many
years.
"You can't
possibly have just had a baby a few months ago!" He
proclaimed as he noticed her identical
figure.
"Thank you..."
she smiled.
"Do you have
any pictures?"
She went to grab
her iphone and Adam had a moment to catch his breath.
Pride. So, so, so proud that this woman had a great
position at the bank she worked at, had a beautiful
family, and was everything he knew she could be when
he met her all those years ago. When she returned with
the iphone he noticed how badly her hands were shaking
as she flicked through the pictures. God how he
remembered those endearing nerves. It really was her.
Palaur, the mythical name that since spawned his
entire video blog, was right there and it was as if
not a moment had passed...
...but of course
several moments had. He smiled at the pictures of her
family and they sat down and tried to piece together
the last decade. What finally made her leave him was
heart-wrenching to Adam as the stories of Pat's utter
inability to consider her feelings could've been
ripped from the pages of Palaur. He never changed. It
just wasn't "in him" as he wrote in so many songs from
the period.
When the story
shifted to Adam's life, it was one heartbreak after
another. He tried to explain how he felt he was a
positive influence on every woman he met... but as he
explained it through her eyes, he felt slightly
pathetic. It certainly wasn't the life he envisioned
when they knew each other before. Even the career
successes were followed by heartbreaks more
devastating than the last and summing it up in a few
minutes couldn't help but be depressing.
But Palaur was
really never about Adam. You always knew he'd be fine.
He followed his heart and had the talent and work
ethic to make it through any pitfalls his romantic
spirit might lead him into. Laura was the one that
seemed stuck. Laura had potential for so much more,
but simply didn't have the support to make the
decisions she needed to at the time. Now however, the
story comes full circle. An incredibly considerate and
loving husband who is in every sense a partner. She
beemed as she spoke of him. She reveled in just how
"easy" the relationship was. And as they passed
an hour talking, Adam realized she was actually
inspiring him. He was actually stunned at how
she described their relationship. He found himself
thinking: "Jesus, this actually
happens?".
On the plane they
were too far apart to talk and it was such a crammed
little commuter jobbie that it was difficult to even
switch seats. For the hour-long flight to Columbus, it
never left his mind. The top of that head back there
was Palaur. A woman that inadvertently started "The
Journey" when he couldn't figure out how to release
the material their 9 1/2 week romance produced. The
journal entries, the songs, the videos, the in-studio
radio clips, the instant messages. Incredibly the last
time he saw her was November 3rd, 1998 -- the night he
thought of the concept of 4tvs which would push him to
start The Journey to LA a year later.
Adam knew this was
"Entry-Worthy" but that also meant a video and he
wanted to respect her privacy. So as they walked off
the plane, he took out his pocket camera and simply
turned it on. He wasn't going to use the conversation,
but he knew he needed something -- however abstract --
to document the moment. As they walked they both joked
about the scene in "When Harry Met Sally" where
the two were on the conveyor belt having a
conversation about being friends. Adam and Laura
already knew the answer to this, and it was an
emphatic "of course not". Hell, the only way they
could have even met long enough to catch up was
something this random as making an actual date could
never have been rationalized. No, this was exactly as
it should be. Should we expect anything less from
Palaur? Even the sequel?
They hugged one
last time and she was off to relieve her husband from
"sick baby" duty while she was on the business
trip. Adam turned the camera, already running, toward
her as she walked away. When he loaded the footage, it
literally took his breath away...
A shot of her
wedding ring so obvious you'd swear it was planned.
Nothing he could've captured in his camera would have
had the power of that shot. Literally the
symbol of Palaur. A symbol that a decade before caused
sleepless nights, untold heartache and guilt for
years. It was now a source of pride for both of them.
Sometimes there is
a fairy-tale ending... just not how you would've
written it in your 20s.
