"I'm so sorry," the man said, bending down to help her.

"Oh, it's OK," Holly replied politely, not wanting to turn around to see the smug look on the old man's face that was burning into her back.

"Ah, it's you! The chocoholic!" the voice said, and Holly looked up startled.

It was the friendly customer with the odd green eyes who had helped her before.

Holly giggled, "We meet again."

"Holly, isn't it?" he asked, handing her the king-size chocolate bars.

"That's right, Rob, isn't it?" she replied.

"You've a good memory," he laughed.

"As do you," she grinned. She piled everything back into her bag, lost in thought, and got back onto her feet.

"Well, I'm sure I'll b.u.mp into you again soon." Rob smiled and made his way over to the queue.

Holly stared after him still in a daze. Finally she walked over to him. "Rob, is there any chance you would like to go for that coffee today? If you can't, that's fine..." She bit her lip.

He smiled and glanced down nervously at the ring on her finger.

"Oh, don't worry about that," she held her hand out. "It only represents a lifetime of happy memories these days."

He nodded his head understandingly. "Well, in that case I would love to."

They crossed the road and headed over to the Greasy Spoon. "By the way, I'm sorry for running off on you the last time," he apologized, looking into her eyes.

"Oh, don't worry; I usually escape out the toilet window after the first drink," Holly teased.

He laughed.

Holly smiled to herself as she sat at the table waiting for him to bring back the drinks. He seemed nice. She relaxed back in her chair and gazed out of the window to the cold January day that caused the trees to dance wildly in the wind. She thought about what she had learned, who she once was and who she had now become. She was a woman who had been given advice from a man she loved, who had taken it and tried her hardest to help heal herself. She now had a job that she loved and felt confidence within herself to reach for what she wanted.

She was a woman who made mistakes, who sometimes cried on a Monday morning or at night alone in bed. She was a woman who often became bored with her life and found it hard to get up for work in the morning. She was a woman who more often than not had a bad hair day, who looked in the mirror and wondered why she couldn't just drag herself to the gym more often, she was a woman who had sometimes hated her job and questioned what reason she had to live on this planet. She was a woman who sometimes just got things wrong.

On the other hand, she was a woman with a million happy memories, who knew what it was like to experience true love and who was ready to experience more life, more love and make new memories. Whether it happened in ten months or ten years, Holly would obey Gerry's final message. Whatever lay ahead, she knew she would open her heart and follow where it led her.

In the meantime, she would just live.

THE END.