Day 4

Second Chances

"Steven, is that you?"

I looked up in the direction of the voice. It was Jennifer, an ex-fiance I hadn't seen in  a couple of years.

"Hey, Jen," I said. "It's been a long time."

"I meant to call," Jennifer said, walking closer to my table at the coffee shop. "It just happened so fast."

"What happened so fast? The wedding had been planned for over a year."

She dropped her head, quietly looking at the floor, as if she wanted it to open up and swallow her. The long, brown hair that I'd loved so much covered her face.

"I was scared," she whispered. "It seemed like you were too good to be true."

Jennifer slid into the booth across the table from me. She looked up at me, tears forming in the corners of her jade green eyes.

"You could have at least sent me a postcard," I said. "When I called your apartment, your roommate said you'd left and didn't say where you were going." I closed my laptop, having lost interest in the news I'd been reading about.

"I'm sorry," she sighed. "I didn't tell anyone where I was going because I wasn't sure myself."

"And when you got there?"

"I figured you'd never want to speak to me again."

"Well, this conversation proves that wasn't true." I picked up the laptop and put it down on the seat next to me.

She giggled a little, then sniffled a bit before picking up a napkin to wipe her nose. When she was done, she reached her hands across the table toward me.

"Do you believe in second chances?" she said, quietly.

I'd never been able to resist Jennifer when she wanted to hold hands.

"You know I do," I said. I took her hands in mine and smiled at her. "How did you even know I'd be here?"

"You're a creature of habit, my dear boy," she said as she smiled. "I remember the manager calling me one day when you didn't show up at your regular time."

"As I recall, you were taking care of me because I was on my couch, sick with the flu."

"Your memory is as sharp as I remember."

I chuckled a little. It had been one of the few times I'd gotten sick in the four years we had been together.

Jennifer said, "You know, I told my sister I was going to come down here."

"What did Susan say?" Susan was the member of Jennifer's family I'd gotten along with the best. We constantly gave each other a hard time about the writing projects we were each working on.

"She said, 'Be prepared for the worst, but I'll hope for the best.'"

"Good philosophy to live by." I started to pack up my laptop. "You want to go get dinner? I haven't eaten."

"Sure," she smiled. "The all-night diner down by the river?"

"You know me too well."

We got up and she waited while I put on my jacket. After I put my computer bag over my shoulder, she grabbed my other hand and started leading me toward the door. Sometimes, second chances come when you least expect them.