She’d added a funny emoji face to emphasise the point.
Me too. Is your dad still on the road to recovery?
He’s doing fine, thanks. Still a while to go before the cast comes off his wrist but the bruises are on the mend and he’s feeling more like himself again.
Glad to hear it. Okay with you if we set off at noon tomorrow for the wedding?
The three flashing dots appeared again, lingering for a long beat before vanishing again. The reply box remained empty for what felt like ages before another message finally arrived.
This one was just a single emoji, the thumbs-up sign.
Tom waited, wondering if Carole would say anything else. But that was all he got, just that one solitary thumbs-up. When the microwave pinged, he set aside his phone and dug a fork into the reheated leftovers that would have to do as far as a late dinner was concerned.
As he tucked into his meal while leaning against the kitchen counter, he considered sending another message to Carole. He liked messaging her and liked talking to her even more.
He’d missed doing both during the long week at work when he’d scarcely had time to do anything except focus on the gargantuan sales tasks he was responsible for steering through to a successful conclusion.
And yet part of him knew there hadn’t really been anything stopping him from sending a quick message to her. It was the work of moments, after all.
But the heated look they’d shared in her kitchen over a week ago had made Tom throw on the brakes, because that was the sensible thing to do.
Tom was all in favour of being sensible.
Being sensible right now meant eating his reheated leftovers, decompressing for a while after the hectic work week, and then catching up on some sleep. He’d see plenty of Carole tomorrow at the wedding anyway.
They’d complete part-two of their wedding plus-one arrangement and then get back to life as usual.
Tom set aside the unfinished food, his appetite gone, wondering why the idea of life as usual suddenly left him feeling so empty.
