Twenty-six year old Michael had just gotten off work and walked through his front door when his mobile rang. He sighed and put his keys on the island in the center of his kitchen.
"Can't they give me any bloody peace?" he said as he pulled his mobile from his pocket. To his surprise, however, it wasn't work calling him like they usually did when he walked through the door. There was no contact information for the number, but he recognized it anyway. "Good afternoon, Nicole," he said as he answered the phone. Nicole was his ex-girlfriend who worked in an office on the other side of town. They had broke up over a year previously, just before Christmas. Since then, his life had turned around completely and he was doing quite well for himself. Last he had heard, she was not. In fact, this is the first time he had heard from her in any form since they had broken up.
"Hey Michael, how are you?" Her tone was casual, but she couldn't hide the nervousness in her voice. Michael could tell she wasn't sure how he'd react to her calling him out of the blue.
"I'm fine. How about yourself?"
"I'm okay." There was a long pause on the other end of the mobile. The kind of pause somehow does when they're trying to think of the best way to say something. "Listen, I know this is sudden, and you probably will say no, but would you mind grabbing a coffee with me or something? I just... I really need to talk to someone and you're the only person I could think of." Michael was silent for a long time. What the hell could she possibly want to talk to him about after forgetting he even existed for nearly fifteen months?
"I actually just walked through the door after working all day. Was going to put on dinner and relax."
"Oh," Nicole said. The disappoint in her voice was clear. "Okay, well, I just thought..."
"But if you want to come over, I can make some extra and we can talk about whatever you'd like." He wasn't sure why he said it. He wanted to see her, regardless of what had happened in their past. His biggest flaw was that he was too nice, too forgiving. His friends had always told him that.
"Sure," she said another long pause. "I'd like that." Michael gave her his address, one of the only things that had changed since they had broken up. "You live there? Wow, that's incredible."
"Just give my name to the guard at the gate; I'll let him know that you're coming and he should let you in without any trouble."
"Okay," Nicole said, a hint of anticipation in her voice. "I'll see you in about an hour, okay? I just need to finish up a few things at work." Michael held his mobile to the side of his head for several minutes after she had hung up. Her voice had been the same as ever, sounding just like she had when she was a teenager. He had missed those days.
Nicole and Michael had met when they were fourteen years old. At the time, Nicole had been dating one of Michael's friends, but they had never even kissed. They'd broken up shortly after and Michael's friend had introduced them. They hit it off nearly instantly, but didn't start "officially" dating until Michael's homecoming his freshman year of high school. They spent the next ten years together, through high school, his college education, and most of hers. Then, two Christmases prior, she had suddenly decided she didn't want to date him anymore and had simply told him that she was done and left. He hadn't heard anything from her, even by proxy, since.
Michael put the mobile next to his keys on the island and walked towards the master bathroom on the eastern wing of his house, just off the master suite. He had wanted to get a smaller house, but since the president of the company he worked for had given it to him as a work perk, he didn't complain too much. Sure, it was expensive to maintain and the taxes were higher than he would have liked, but he made more than enough to manage it. Thoughts of his time spent with Nicole flowed through his mind like an ocean in a storm as he stripped naked and stepped into his shower, hoping the hot water would soothe away the weariness and trepidation. As steam filled the shower and the hot droplets cascaded down his back, Michael lost himself into memory.
He was jarred out of his memories by the sound of the doorbell ringing. It was a deep, two-note sound that echoed throughout the empty house, reaching Michael in his solace. He turned the water off and held his breath, wondering if he actually heard it or if it was just his thoughts running wild. The bell sounded again, sounding louder now that the water wasn't running.
