Work Text:
Rilla Blythe has Powerpoint file that she updates every time she starts dating someone new. There are a lot of flowcharts. It's not that she expects all of her boyfriends to prepare for a pop quiz, but, well...
rilla1986: it's just
unadostres: Seriously?
rilla1986: it can be kind of confusing
rilla1986: also how do mary and miller have 2 kids already
rilla1986: isn't she still in grad school
unadostres: LOL
unadostres: Oh, you.
She's had three serious boyfriends since high school - guys she brought home to meet Mom and Dad - and one of them was serious enough that she took him with her to visit Walter's grave. None of them ever remembered that Dora's son was named after Great-Uncle Matthew or that Nan wasn't short for Nancy. (They did seem to remember that Shirley wasn't her sister, at least after they'd met him.)
There's only one guy she's never had to show the Powerpoint to.
rilla1986: there's always eharmony if I get really desperate
rilla1986: faith and jem are just, you know, sickening
rilla1986: like I'm happy for them but I get that feeling
rilla1986: like when you open a west elm catalogue and know you're going to be stuck with shitty coffee tables from ikea forever
unadostres: You are so not over Ken Ford.
unadostres: You're thinking about him right now, aren't you?
rilla1986: pot, kettle
unadostres: Stop harassing me about my thing for your dead brother
unadostres: that stopped being funny like eight years ago.
rilla1986: that started being funny like eight years ago
unadostres: Yeth
rilla1986: shut up
When Ken came home from his CUSO assignment, she'd thought something might really happen between them. Rilla had had a lot of ideas at 18 that hadn't really panned out. Here she was, 25, living with two roommates in a shoebox apartment in Toronto, fundraising for a nonprofit. On one hand, it was definitely way cooler than the future she'd dreamed of at 18; no kids underfoot, no furniture bedecked with heirloom Cuthbert doilies, and she was way the heck outside PEI. On the other hand, she missed PEI more than she ever could have imagined at 18. Dad was having back problems, her brothers and sisters were popping out kids what felt like every five minutes, and her hotline to home was Una Meredith of all people. Sure, she talked to Mom and Di on the phone every few days, but with Una she could be really honest.
Una didn't need the Powerpoint, either.
From: Kenneth Ford <kenneth.ford@archive.pe.ca>
To: Rilla Blythe <rilla1986@gmail.com>
Subject: fundraising?Rilla,
I was talking to Jem last night and he suggested I email you; I hope you don't mind. The Archive is starting a fundraising campaign for the new building in the spring. I was wondering if you knew anyone who might be interested in the job. There's no rush or obligation.
Hope you're doing well in Toronto!
Thanks in advance,
KenKenneth Ford
phone: 1.902.463.9210
fax: 1.902.463.9211
Prince Edward Island Archive
Keeping History Alive Since 1908
From: Rilla Blythe <rilla1986@gmail.com>
To: unadostres <unadostres@gmail.com>
Subject: FWD: fundraising?(show trimmed content)
unadostres: Rilla!
unadostres: You can't send me an email like that and go invisible on gchat.
unadostres: MARILLA BLYTHE!
unadostres: I KNOW YOU ARE THERE!
unadostres: DON'T MAKE ME CALL YOUR MOTHER.
rilla1986: jesus christ una I was in the bathroom
unadostres: My point stands.
She wasn't lying to Una. Rilla had gone into the bathroom and stared into the mirror. Sometimes she couldn't remember what it had been like to be the girl who'd danced with Kenneth at the party they'd held before he and Walter went off to volunteer with CUSO. The world which had had Walter in it often felt like a beautiful dream that she was still waking up from, over and over. Less frequently, eight years out, but hey. It was another one of those things she couldn't talk about with Mom.
In the mirror, Rilla looked the same. Sure, her faced had changed in that subtle way that everyone's did between 15 and 25: tightened up everywhere, lost that softness around the chin and the eyes. But her hair was still long and wavy, falling to the middle of her back, same as it had been when she was 15. She wasn't so different from that girl who'd waited, wanted.
Rilla hated admitting when Una was right, even when it was just about buying stretch jeans.
"Is it Rilla-my-Rilla?" Ken had asked, and, despite years of speech therapy, she'd said earnestly, "Yeth."
And for a summer, yeah, the world had been complete. Her world.
But Rilla was returning to college at Queen's and Ken was beginning the MLIS program at Dalhousie that fall. It happened, Mom had said to her one teary night during winter break, stroking her hair. Not every relationship was meant for forever. Even when it was someone you loved.
It hurt, though, so much. She'd kept faith while Ken had been away, written to him, sent him hats to keep the Semarang sun off his face. And when Walter - Rilla had prayed, "keep him safe, keep him safe, I just want this one thing." After those two long years, to have Ken and let go of him again felt like losing Walter all over again. At least they'd broken up after exams.
The last thing Ken Ford had said to her was, "I love you, Rilla, but we're both in such different places right now-"
"I understand," Rilla had said to him, right before she hung up the phone. It was the last thing she said to him for nearly seven years.
rilla1986: you're right, una
rilla1986: and I have this idea
rilla1986: it's a terrible idea
rilla1986: by which I mean amazing
rilla1986: and when you wake up in three hours and see this
rilla1986: you're going to pot kettle me for the next century
From: Rilla Blythe <rilla1986@gmail.com>
To: Kenneth Ford <kenneth.ford@archive.pe.ca>
Subject: RE: fundraising?
Attached: RBLYTHE_RESUME.PDFKen,
Hey, it's good to hear from you. Weird, but good.
Actually, I've been thinking about moving home a lot lately. I'm not sure if you'd be interested in hiring me, but I've attached my resume. Let me know if I should go ahead and send it to HR.
Olive branch?
Rilla
From: Kenneth Ford <kenneth.ford@archive.pe.ca>
To: Rilla Blythe <rilla1986@gmail.com>
Subject: RE: RE: fundraising?Rilla,
Olive branch eagerly accepted. I went ahead and forwarded your resume, so no need to send it over.
Maybe you'd like to grab a cup of coffee the next time you're in town?
Ken
Kenneth Ford
phone: 1.902.463.9210
fax: 1.902.463.9211
Prince Edward Island Archive
Keeping History Alive Since 1908
unadostres: MARILLA BLYTHE!
unadostres: STOP FORWARDING ME THESE EMAILS AND LEAVING ME IN SUSPENSE.
unadostres: YOU KNOW I HATE SUSPENSE.
unadostres: Be kind to me. You know I've lost my only chance at love.
rilla1986: eharmony
unadostres: I don't know why I talk to you.
rilla1986: I charm all the ladies
Sitting on the couch, craned over her laptop, Rilla Blythe touches her lips and feels the ghost of a kiss.