Sophie

Sophie loves her grandma, but when she finds out a secret from her grandma's past, she takes it upon herself to change the future.

Sophie stirred the tea, just how her grandmother liked it; one teaspoon of sugar and one teaspoon of honey. She then carried it, along with her coffee, into the family room. There seated in a green and gold damask armchair, Isabelle was nestled in comfortably, blanket on her lap. Sophie sat in a duplicate chair after placing their drinks on the small glass table between them.

“Here Grandma, I brought you some tea.”

“Oh, thank you, dear.”

Sophie loved her grandmother, and how easily she could just sit there in silence. That’s how her grandmother usually was. She kept to herself, didn’t truly enjoy telling much about her past. The mysteriousness of it always intrigued Sophie. She could tell that Isabelle was always content; never happy, but never upset. It was as if something bothered her, broke her, years ago, and she never truly got over it, but understood that nothing could be changed about the situation. Sophie tried several times to think of how to approach this conversation with her grandmother, but never thought of the right question to ask.

“Sophie, dear, why so perplexed?”

“Grandma, how come you never talk about when you were little? Or about anything before Mom was born?”

“Well, Sophie, your mother, and the rest of my children, were amazing things that happened to me, so why bother with life before?”

This really irked Sophie. She was about to be married, and she wanted to know if it meant life as her grandmother, or if she could truly always be ecstatic every moment in her adult life, like her mother. Isabelle had reason to be somber lately, seeing as Jacob, her husband, died several years earlier. Sophie watched her grandma out of the corner of her eye. The wrinkles around her eyes were present these days, just like crows feet; three lines coming gently out of the outside corners. She had a book on her lap, as usual, and she closed her eyes as she sipped her tea. Her manicured fingers, perfectly painted a shade of lipstick red, scratched her forehead as if lost in thought.

“Are you happy Sophie? I mean, truly happy?”

“Yes, Grandma, why do you ask?” Sophie responded with both curiosity and excitement.

“I just want you to have the best life possible. To love and be loved until the end.”

Now, Sophie has great insight, and knew that there was more to this than just pre-wedding advice.

“Did you not feel loved, Grandma?”

“I did, Sophie. I did. But it wasn’t receiving the love that was my struggle in life. It was knowing who to give it to. I fell in love Sophie, long before I knew what love really was. Then, since I didn’t know, I let it go.”

“But you married Grandpa, didn’t you love him?”

“Oh yes, sweetheart, I loved him very much. But I believe in something bigger. I believe that each of us only has half of a soul. I believe that whoever we are meant for, doesn’t have a matching soul, but the rest of ours. The completion of ours. I met that boy when we were too young to understand that, and life and timing got in the way. You see, Soph, I was only a little girl. Maybe around the age of ten or eleven. I knew that Bradley was a special boy. We instantly took to each other, but as friends. Back then it was shyness that stopped most things. We were young, and back then, we only wanted someone to understand us, as a friend. It wasn’t until we were teenagers that we admitted to feelings, but by then it was too late. He had moved away and there was nothing we could do about it. We wrote each other letters for several years, but as friends. We started dating other people, and before you knew it, I was with Jake, uh �" Grandpa. Brad had his own girlfriend too, but your grandpa and I were about to be married. Timing was never in our favor, and there was nothing to do but stay as friends. It’s not that I didn’t want you to know, it’s that he’s too painful to talk about. Don’t get me wrong though, I loved… love, your grandfather very much. I miss him, and wish that he was still here with us today. But I needed you to know this. I don’t want you to have regrets in life. I want you to be happy.”

Sophie was taken aback. She couldn’t believe that her grandmother just confessed to basically settling for her grandfather, and always being in love with another man. She thought about it that night when she lay in bed. Having souls that belong together really was different from having souls that complete each other. That’s how she felt about her fiancé; that he completed her. She couldn’t imagine living her life without that feeling. Now she understood what puzzled her all those years about her grandma. She was settling in her life. Sophie thought about how she might feel differently if Grandpa Jake were still alive. But she also thought her grandma might not have shared that story if he were. She loved her grandma, looked up to her as long as she could remember, so she wanted to do something.

The next day, Isabelle had a doctor’s appointment. Sophie found this as the perfect opportunity to go exploring. She wasn’t new to the house, it’s the same house they lived in Sophie’s whole life. She knew her way around her grandparent’s house pretty well. She wasn’t exploring rooms, she wanted to explore objects. First Sophie checked the attic. She was looking for anything that could give her Brad’s last name, a sign of how to see what happened to him. The attack had no result. No letters, no yearbook; nothing. She then checked her grandma’s office. The drawers and bookcases had the same result. Lastly, she decided to check out her grandmother’s bed room. She walked into the walk in closet and saw on the shelf to the right, slightly hidden in the back, was a small red box. It was hand decorated with ribbon, a delicate bow, and a painted design. When she looked inside she found dozens of letters. They were all old. It looked as if the last one dated about 17 years ago.

“Grandma kept them”, she said aloud without realizing, startling herself with the sound of her voice. She stared at the letters. Bradley Gold. Bingo.

“Crap”, she shouted as she started at the clock, realizing that her grandmother would be home any minute.

It was two days later and it was time for Sophie to head back home. She went to visit for Rosh Hashanah, but had to head home to return to work. Upon her departure, she thought to herself how she could help. After all, she just wanted her grandmother to be happy. It was her grandparents anniversary next month, and she decided she would come spend the weekend with Isabelle, to keep her company and possibly cheer her up.

One month later, Isabelle was waiting for Sophie to arrive. About two hours late, the doorbell finally rang. She was relieved when she answered the door, having begun to worry that Sophie was taking so long.

“Soph, what took you so �"”. She couldn’t even finish her sentence. There in front of her was not Sophie. It was him. It was Brad.

When Isabelle asked him what he was doing there, all he could say was “Sophie”.

Author's Note

I appreciate any feedback!