The Keymaster
A nice bottle of wine
A sultry New York afternoon
Smiles and nothing but time
Another beautiful afternoon with a special friend
One from another time
One who cares-
Who has the bandwidth to deal with it all
Like the vision I remember
She’s there
Smiling, joking, pleasant and fun
But keeping it real.
We made a bet
I won
Lunch or some other non-descript prize awaited the winner.
This was payday.
We lazed through the afternoon at a bistro
And then set off on a trip through the Village.
Shops with many goods for the monied set
She looked so terrific going from shop to shop
Looking, contemplating, shopping as women will do
I actually enjoyed watching.
She had sneaked out and bought our lunch-
It was the pay off on the bet.
I told her I was looking for something different
Something that was more lasting
A keepsake of what we had become
Friends for all time.
We stopped at an outdoor café
Another round of libations before our time together had to end.
As we shared a moment across the little café table
She reached around and took off her necklace.
On It was a small key with a heart in the center
She took the key off and handed it to me
She told me keys were her thing
And she wanted me to have this one
I was touched
I’m not sure I even understood in the moment how much it meant
Upon reflection it meant everything-
That was and wasn’t and never could be
But for a moment it was real
And special
For then, for now, for always.