Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 67211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 336(@200wpm)___ 269(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 336(@200wpm)___ 269(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
Today’s my day off from my day job. Marla put in a special order for me, and I told her I’d pick that up on my day off.
And Chandra will be there.
After getting dressed and grabbing a quick breakfast, I check my phone. I’ve got four messages. I sit at the bar in my kitchen, sipping coffee, and read a message from Tobias.
Tobias: Snow’s cleared. See you tonight?
Hell yes.
A second message is from Zack.
Zack: Morning. Tobias called me, says there’s concerning footage on the security feed from the night you were on as DM. Talk tonight?
I’ll be there.
But when I go to put my phone down, a message flashes across the screen from a number I don’t recognize.
Hi. Marla gave me your number. It’s Chandra.
My heartbeat quickens like a teenager’s, but I keep my shit together and reply.
Morning, Chandra. Did you sleep well?
Chandra: Yes, thank you. You?
I smirk at the phone. I slept like shit, tossing and turning with thoughts of her and our past, and woke this morning with morning wood so hard I could’ve cracked diamonds with it.
Yeah, it was alright. Heading to work soon?
Chandra: Yes. Hey, I just wanted to thank you for yesterday.
Thank me? What the hell is she talking about?
You don’t have anything to thank me for, but you’re welcome.
Chandra: Do you still drink your coffee black with two sugars?
I smile.
Yeah.
Chandra: Come meet me early at the shop, and I’ll make you a cup?
I grin.
See you soon.
I toss my cup in the sink, grab a coat, and head out the door before I even think about what I’m doing, and almost collide into a little ball of blonde-haired, blue-eyed energy standing right outside the door.
“Good morning, Mr. Rivet.” Kylie, the kindergartner next door, pirouettes right in front of me and nearly topples over with the weight of her bag.
“Kylie! Leave Mr. Rivet alone. You shouldn’t be doing your dance moves in the hallway. Wait until we’re outside.” Kylie’s mom Abigail corrects her. I give Abigail a smile to let her know it’s fine. Her mouse brown hair is pulled back into a thick braid, and she’s already dressed in her waitress uniform. She smiles back.
“Nah, she’s fine, Abigail. How are you?” I lock the door and pocket the key before turning to face them.
Leaning in to zip her daughter’s coat, she says, “Oh, I’m good.”
“Mama has a date tonight!” the little girl chirps.
“Hush, Kylie.” But Abigail’s cheek flush. She’s a pretty, young woman I’ve known for a few years now, since her daughter was only a toddler.
“Oh?”
“It’s nothing,” she says with a wave of her hand, but then her attention is drawn back to her daughter, who pirouettes so hard she crashes into me. I catch Kylie and right her.
“Kylie!”
I shake my head with a chuckle. “I haven’t had my coffee yet and need to wake up.” Then I give Kylie a hard look. “But maybe you ought to do what your mama says.”
Kylie grins, waves, and runs out the door to the bus stop.
Abigail shakes her head before she chases after her daughter.
“Bye, Axle!”
“Have a good date,” I yell after her, which earns me a groan before she leaves. There was a time when I was mildly interested in her. She’s always dating someone, though, and nothing ever developed between the two of us other than friendly camaraderie, but now I grow a little wistful as I go outside and see the kids and their parents waiting for the bus. Half a dozen of them stand outside. Two of them are giggling and sharing a package of those little muffins in a bag. One is holding some kind of game thing in his hand, fingers flying, his tongue sticking out in concentration. The parents stand around, sipping coffee out of travel mugs, and I wonder.
If Chandra and I had stayed together, would we have a little girl with Chandra’s bright eyes doing pirouettes in the hall? If we’d had a child back then, she or he would be about this age now, off to kindergarten or first grade. Learning to tie shoes and ride a bike, and for the first time in a really long time, the very notion pulls at my gut. I want that. A family.
We were young, and stupid, and had unprotected sex. We could’ve ended up just like this, raising a child together. Maybe then, we would’ve stayed together.
I shake my head to myself and put my head down. I never think about having kids. I never think about relationships. This is fucking with my head, and I have things to do. A gust of wind kicks up. I let the bitter cold whip at me, welcoming the sting so it clears my head.
None of that happened, so it doesn’t matter. It might never. It doesn’t do me a lick of good to focus on that now. I’ve got a girl to meet, and she’s making me coffee. I need to get to know her. Reacquaint myself with her and learn who she’s become. What makes her laugh, and what makes her cry. The kinds of books she writes and the kinds of books she reads. Who her friends are. What keeps her up at night and what puts a smile on her face. And how I can keep that smile there.