“Well, what would you like to know?”
“Where you come from, what made you the person you are today and what brought you to the big city?” I sipped on my hot cocoa.
“Well, it’s not a very long story and not really a very interesting one by all accounts, I have always been quite a reserved sort of girl,” Kendall replied.
At least you, not a Nun, that’s the good thing,” I replied with a chuckle.
“I actually thought about it at one point, I was in the choir and used to watch the sisters come into the church while we practiced, they always looked so serene and at one with themselves, so that is where a lot of who I’m comes from,” she explained.
“What about your parents? I’m sure they are proud of you,” I asked.
I could see the look in Kendall’s eyes change. It looked like I had hit a nerve or a touch subject with her. I decided not to push too much and let her just tell what she wanted to.
“Hum, my dad, I never knew, so I have just grown up with my mother who is pretty cool, yet she has strong opinions on some things, and she never pulls her punches when talking,” Kendall explained.
“Ah, I see, so, I take it you are an only child then?” I asked as she lightened up on the subject.
“In school, I was always top of the class, where we lived was quite a trek to school, so I didn’t have the chance to mingle much outside of school,” she explained more.
“Did you live on a farm,” I asked as I leaned forward to listen to her answer.
“Yes, sort of, I had a horse and all that, much like any other country girl. I just had a bigger area to ride him on,” she said as she pointed at the menu.
“I just want one of those giant burgers,” she replied as she pointed to the triple stack and smiled.
“Wow you are hungry,” I replied as I looked at what I wanted.
“I think I’ll just have the chicken salad,” I replied.
“Make me feel guilty and fat, why don’t you,” she said as she closed the menu. "Chocolate milkshake to go with it.”
“I think I’ll opt for the root beer,” I said as I waved at the waitress.
The waitress came and took our order, and we continued to chat some more.
“So, you had any other jobs before this one,” I asked
“Yes, but they were dead-end jobs and wouldn’t really have led anywhere, and to use all my skills, I had to move to the city, and that was basically how I ended up working for you,” Kendall explained.
“Tell me, what was it like leaving your mother back in the town where you came from, did you find it difficult?” I asked as the waitress returned with our lunch.
“It was to start, yet she understood I had to grow as a person and had always said I should make my own decisions and stick by them, rightly or wrongly,” she explained as she started to munch on her burger.
I sat and listened, as Kendall filled in some of the blanks about her childhood, and how she had moved to the city. I sensed I was changing as a person, even if I had not known what the old me was like. I could see Kendall was more than relaxed enough to open up to me about some subjects that she must have found difficult to talk about.
We finished lunch and replaced our dry closed ready to venture on the boat trips at the bottom of the falls. We reached the bottom of the falls and grabbed our place on the boat. I held onto the railings as Kendall gripped my arm tightly as the boat headed off toward where the water was crashing into itself.
The spray was horrendous, and we could hardly see each other, Kendall gripped me tightly, as I placed my arm over her shoulder and pulled her toward me.
“I’m a bit scared,” Kendall shouted over the din of the water.
“It’s OK, I have hold of you tight,” I shouted back.
“Don’t ever let me go, OK,” she shouted.
“I’ll never let you go, not today, tomorrow or the next day,” I replied.
“What did you say?” Kendall asked.