“It just goes to show that we don’t always have tomorrow to tell those we love that we love them.”
“I know.”
“Talk soon.”
“Bye.”
I didn’t move to start my Jeep and drive home. My chest ached. The pain so intense that my muscles wouldn’t function properly. All I could do was sit there, looking out the windshield as the birds flew from tree to tree outside the parking lot and wiping my tears as they fell down my cheeks.
Noah.I’d never see him again.
It was a beautiful day in Charleston, not too warm but not yet cool. Adorable fluffy clouds floated in the sky above me. The kind where you would lie in the grass and try to find animals or shapes in as a kid.
But the sunny atmosphere no longer matched my heart. How dare the weather be so perfect when Noah could never see the sunshine again.
Somehow, thirty minutes had passed by as I simply stared into the sky. Elijah’s car was still next to mine. He was notorious for working late. I’d have plenty of time to get home and prepare dinner, but now I’d have to combat the traffic on the connectors.
As I drove out and sat in bumper-to-bumper traffic, where the lovely people of Charleston couldn’t figure out the zipper method to merge on Maybank Highway, I felt completely detached. Sorrow lingered around me.
Stuck in some sort of time vortex, everything around me moved both fast and slow.
When Elijah opened the door, I was surprised to see him and yet wondered what had taken him so long.
“Hey.” He walked into the kitchen and kissed me on the cheek.
I was breaking up the ground beef for our spaghetti as I looked up at him and tried to smile. “Hey. How was work today?”
Even though we were both employed at Powell Enterprises, we rarely saw each other. Elijah worked up on the top floor alongside his family, while I stayed down on the second floor of the four-story building with the rest of the peons.
“It was fine. Busy as usual. I swear I can never catch a break. I have to log on tonight and do a little work. You don’t mind, do you?”
“No, I don’t mind. I do need to talk to you about something, though.”
Elijah frowned as he leaned against the counter next to me. “Everything okay?”
“Not really. Do you remember my childhood friend, Noah Richey? He was killed.”
“Killed? How?”
“He was deployed to the Middle East.”
“Ah.”
“I’d like to go home for the funeral. It’s on Tuesday. You’re welcome to come with me if you want.”
Elijah’s brows furrowed as he crossed his arms. “I’ve been to that hometown of yours once already. I have no desire to return.”
“Elijah—”
“And frankly, I don’t want you to go either. We have the compliance inspection starting on Monday. We can’t afford to not have you there.”
“But everything is ready for the inspection. I’ve already prepared all the documents this week. Plus, it’s Friday night. If it isn’t done now, it’s not going to get done.”
“If something needs to be done, you can do it this weekend. Which is why you don’t have time to go to Fayetteville for a funeral for someone you haven’t seen in years.”
“I haven’t seen him in years because he joined the military and I moved away.”
“If he was that important to you, why don’t you talk about him? Why haven’t I met him?”
