The Fork in the Road

Present Day

Kendra was now thirty years old.

It had been almost 10 years since she had last seen Luke, and about 8 years since they last texted.

Her life was adequate and well enough. She had married Henry five years ago and they had a daughter together who was now four.

They weren't well off by any means but Henry did well enough that after Mat leave, Kendra was able to only work part time. This meant they would save on childcare costs if she could work around Henry's schedule. Once their daughter Cali was in school, Kendra thought her relationship with Henry would improve more.

It didn't.

Kendra hoped Henry would leave work early here and there to spend some along time with her during the day before school pick up. She had even talked to him about this before, but instead she was met with him working late more often than not. He never once came home early to see just her.

Kendra still loved him but she knew she wanted more. She was constantly disappointed when Henry never picked up on hints, no matter how obvious. He never planned their date nights or made any decisions, it was always up to her and added to her mental load.

She was sick and tired of explaining to him what she needed and wanted in a relationship. She couldn't understand how someone who claimed to love her wouldn't want to fulfill her needs and want to make her happy. Any time he had ever expressed his feelings on the rare occasion, she took it to heart. Kendra had made some changes for her partner and always opened the floor for him to make any critiques. She wanted to make him happy and make this work but he never seemed interested in making sure she felt the same way.

She felt as though he no longer really wanted her. Henry had been rejecting Kendra almost nightly. She couldn't help but hate herself for it. Eventually she just stopped trying altogether. She shut down. Drifting through each day only half present, constantly daydreaming of a better life. A more fulfilling love.

More and more Kendra was drifting to sleep thinking about her once amazing fling. The one who treated her best. Of course she felt guilty thinking about Luke after all these years had passed but she couldn't help but wonder.

That choice was turning into her biggest regret. The fork in the road of her life, where she would always wonder where the other side would have led.

That morning Kendra woke up at 8am. She walked to the kitchen and started to get Cali's school lunch ready and packed. She heated up some leftover chicken, in addition to some apples, strawberries and cut up grapes.

Once she was done packing the lunch she set it on the dining table near Cali's backpack.

Next it was time to wake up Cali. Kendra woke her gently, and placed her tablet and a snack on her night stand. Then Kendra went and got herself ready for the day. This was one of her days off work so she didn't need to worry to much about what to wear. She grabbed some leggings that were still on the floor from the day before and pulled them on. Then she pulled a grey t-shirt from her dresser to throw on.

Soon she was brushing her hair and telling Cali she had to get dressed in a few minutes. once all was said and done, they were out the door at 9am to head to school.

Kendra enjoyed taking Cali to school. It gave them a few minutes each morning to chat and catch up and they walked. Kendra always waiting till Cali was in the class out of sight before turning to head home.

Once home, Kendra made a coffee and started to scroll on her phone. She didn't have an agenda for today, there wasn't any cleaning or chores to do. It was a day she could do whatever she wanted. While nice, she never felt productive. She always ended up on her phone scrolling social media or having a nap because there wasn't much else to do.

She did plan to have a shower and that always helped her feel a bit refreshed.

Kendra grabbed her Bluetooth speaker and qued up some songs in her playlist. This was her time and she always picked a few Taylor Swift songs that perfectly described how she was feeling.

- Wildest Dreams

- Coney Island

- Tolerate it

- High Infedelity

- All too Well

She flicked on some soft lighting, she didn't want the bright fluorescence on for this shower. She wanted it dim for this shower, that she'd be fully feeling her thoughts and emotions in. She'd have to let out whatever she could before having to put on a happy face when her daughter and husband arrived home later.

Kendra and Henry had been having issues for long time, but they were affecting her more now than ever before. She tried telling him what she needed but he just shut down and never bothered to put in any effort to change. She had even confided in him the week prior that she was struggling. She was feeling depressed and in a downward spiral. Instead of being supportive and comforting, he nitpicked how her actions didn't make sense to what she was saying and completely dismissed her. He just chose to ignore her which just made it so much worse.

After coasting through the evening, Kendra decided to go to bed early. She needed to escape through sleep.

She plugged in her phone, set her alarms and got under the covers. She closed her eyes and tried to picture his face. She replayed her favourite date with him in her mind as she went to sleep. She knew in her heart that Luke would have never made her feel this way. She hated herself for letting him get away.