Regrets II

Brayden

It's early but I always love getting up before the rest of the family to have some time to myself before going into work. I grab a cup of coffee, sit down on the couch and open my email as I do every morning. As I'm scrolling, junk, junk, junk... I stop in my tracks when I see a semi familiar name pop up. The last name is different but there's no mistaking that first name. It's timestamped 10:07 pm.

I take a deep breath and slowly let it out as I click the email:

"Hey! So I know this is totally random but every few years, you creep into my thoughts and I just wanted to say hey and I hope you are doing well. For some reason you were in my mind all day today. I know it has been many years since we've spoken and I can't explain why or what made me think of you.

If you want to talk, I'd love to hear from you. You can either shoot me an email or call/ text sometime, my number is the same as it's always been, 803-552-1457. I hope you are doing well and life is everything you hoped it would be!

Love,

Savannah Grace"

Wow. I just sit back and soak it in. I can't count the number of times over the years that she's crept into my mind. I look at the time, it's just now 6:00. I really want to talk to her but I don't want to call too early.

I finish getting ready for work and silently kiss the kids goodbye. The older two will be starting back to school in a week or so. It's been a long hot singer but I do admit, I'll enjoy seeing them in the mornings before they go off to school even if it's just for a little bit.

I grab all my stuff for work and head out the door. Since I last spoke with Savannah Grace, a lot has changed, obviously. One nice change is that I get to go in a little later which is nice. I left a few minutes early, get into my truck and pull out of the driveway looking at the clock. 7:36, maybe it won't be too early now. When I reach the stop sign, I pull out my phone and dial the number in the email. I lost my phone as well as all my contacts a few years back so she was no longer saved in my phone. I changed that right away.

It rang for what seemed like forever before I heard a familiar voice, "You have reached Savannah Grace and Bentley. We can't pick up the phone right now but if you'll leave us a message, we'll get back to you as soon as we can" followed by a beep.

"Hey! It's Brayden. I just got your email and thought I'd give you a call. It was nice to hear from you! Feel free to give me a call back whenever you get a chance. Bye."

I wonder if Bentley is her husband. But why would they share one phone? She said both of their names on her voicemail. I know it's not a landline otherwise she wouldn't have told me to send her a text. Maybe I'll find out if she calls me back. I hope she calls me back...

It's a pretty normal day at work. I spend all day thinking about that email. Why now? My phone doesn't work in the building so I have no way of knowing if she returned my call or not. I think about her on and off every once in a while and of course I always wonder what could have been. I can't complain, I have three wonderful kids and a wife that I adore, I don't even mind going to my job most days. I travel a lot for work which I like but sometimes it's hard on the kids. I try to make up for lost time as often as I can.

Finally time for my lunch break. Nothing special, just a sandwhich, chips and a drink but I take the opportunity to go out in the sunshine. It's summer in the south which means it's pretty hot but I don't really mind, I've been in worse places before. As soon as I get out of the building, I hear a 'ding' indicating that my phone now has service and that I have a message waiting for me. Could it be her? I pull my phone out and tap on the voicemail icon.

"Hey Brayden! Sorry I missed you this morning. It seems we have been playing phone tag. I hope you're doing well. I have an appointment this afternoon so if you call back, that's where I may be but I hope I'll get to actually talk to you at some point! I hope you're having a great day!."

I sigh, I figured I'd miss her call while I was in the building. I decided I'd call her back after work when I had a little more time to talk. I have a bit of a drive to get home so that will make the time pass faster if I can get a hold of her finally. I'm glad she called, I'm interested to see how her life has been these past 15 or so years.