Do You Remember Me?

Ellie POV "So, I'll call you tomorrow then?" You drop you shoulders and take a deep breath before turning around to look at... Nick? or was it Nate? Not that it matters, there won't be a second date. It's not that he isn't nice, or nice to look at for that matter. But yet again, you sat through dinner bored out of your mind and counting down the minutes until it was polite to leave. "Tonight has been great..." you start to say before he interrupts you. "But don't call me, I'll call you?" he jokes, but he can't quite hide his disappointment. You smile at him and shrug your shoulders. "Thank you for dinner" you say, as you wave and begin walking back to your car, grateful you decided to meet him at the restaurant. It's only a five minute drive home. You walk in the door, kicking off your shoes just in time before you hear the sound of paws racing towards you. Bending down, you meet your excited Golden Retriever Harry, taking the toy he's brought you and playing a quick game of tug of war before standing up and heading to the kitchen. Walking to the fridge, you grab a bottle of wine and a glass, before heading to the pantry and taking out a treat for Harry and your emergency packet of smokes. Picking up your laptop from the bench, you head out onto your deck to relax. Harry takes his treat and runs off into the yard to burn off the energy he's built up while being locked inside while you were at dinner while you start up your computer and mindlessly scroll through social media while drinking your wine and reflecting on what was your night. It's been almost a year since you moved back to your hometown after you and David broke up. You finally took your friends advice and tried to get back into the dating scene, between blind dates and dating apps. But every date seems to be getting worse and worse. You pour your third glass of wine and turn to Harry, who is looking up at you with his chin resting on your knee. "Am I being too picky boy?" you ask him. "Or is a decent conversation too much to ask for?" He looks at you and gives a quiet 'woof' before curling up on your feet and going to sleep. "I guess so" you laugh. Lighting a cigarette, you go back to scrolling on your laptop. As you scroll, an ad catches your eye and you quickly scroll back up. 'Good Conversation is Hard To Find' Your attention caught, you click the button to read more and discover it's an ad for a pen-pal program with deployed troops. You're not sure whether it's the fourth glass of wine you've just poured, or the disappointment of another failed date, but you click the link and start reading through the profiles of the troops looking for pen-pals. You have barely begun looking through them when one face catches your eye. It's been years since you've seen that face, but you'd recognise those blue eyes anywhere. Jack Gordon... the guy you were desperately and secretly in love with for almost the entire time you were in high school. He was always quiet and mainly kept to himself, but you always noticed him, although you never had the courage to do anything about it. You'd finally worked up the nerve and convinced yourself to make your move at your graduation party, only to find out he'd left straight after the ceremony to head to basic training and you'd lost your chance. Clicking on his profile, you see there's a box to send a short message introducing yourself to see if they are interested in chatting to you. With some liquid courage in your veins you click on the box and start typing... "Hi Jack, this might be a long shot, but do you remember me..."