Election Day

It’s Tuesday evening, and I’m sitting in traffic on the way home from work, heading to the polls to cast my vote in the general elections. I still haven’t heard from David, and I’m starting to think that maybe he just changed his mind about us.

My phone blares from its resting place in the car door and I grab it. The caller ID reads “Unknown.” I stare at the phone. This is a risk. It could either be David, or it could be his crazy ex-girlfriend. Should I answer it?

I decide that I should, and I’m rewarded for my choice with David’s sexy voice on the other end of the line. He’s calling from a payphone at the bar around the corner from his house.

“I miss you so much,” I blurt out. So much for playing it cool.

“I miss you too,” he replies. “I miss talking to you…and I miss seeing you.”

Deep breath. He hasn’t changed his mind after all. Happiness floods over me. “When can I see you again?”

“As soon as possible. Tomorrow night?”

“Yeah,” I answer. “What do you want to do? Grab a bite to eat, go to the movies?”

“Anything, as long as I’m with you. We could go to the moon and I’d be okay with it…actually, that would be pretty cool,” he teases.

I laugh, and it feels so good to let out all the tension I’ve felt for the past week. “Okay, we’ll figure something out for tomorrow night.” I pause, then quickly add, “I was wondering if you’d be interested in going on a little road trip with me on Saturday, if you’re free…if you’re not working a side job with your brother. I was thinking about going out to the outlets in Lancaster. I know it’s probably not the most exciting thing for you, but if you want to go, I’d love to have you with me. And we would have all day together.” I hold my breath, waiting for his response.

“Yeah, absolutely,” he says enthusiastically. “That would be great. I haven’t been there in forever.”

“Good! We can talk about the details tomorrow night, then.” That dizzying sensation of buoyancy returns to me, full-force. “So what happened with Christine?”

He brings me up to date on the events of the past week, how he left his girlfriend and moved back into his mom’s house. I congratulate him because I know how miserable he’s been, but secretly I suspect that sooner or later he’ll wind up back together with her.

“You need to find someone who will treat you right,” I tell him, keeping the last part of my thought to myself: and I wish it could be me. Because I don’t think we’d do well together exclusively. We tried it for three years and it didn’t work then; why would it be any different now? My trust level is very low, and I just am not prepared to put my heart on the line with him again like I did before. I feel safer this way.

“Did you get my message?” he asks me. He’s trying to gauge my reaction to his “I love you” without actually coming out and saying it.

“Yes. And I’ve listened to it about six hundred and fifty times since yesterday.”

His laughter warms me. “Good. Listen to it one more time after we get off the phone tonight.”

I pull into the parking lot of the municipal building and turn off the car. We chat for another fifteen minutes about our days. Then I ask him about his sister in New York, who is pregnant for the first time and is about to give birth. He tells me that if she doesn’t have the baby by next week, she’ll have to be hooked up to a monitor. “I forget the actual due date, though.”

“It’s November twelfth,” I inform him.

He cracks up laughing. “You’re amazing! You have the best memory. How in the world did you remember that?”

“Because I was on her gift registry online and it has her due date there. I was thinking of maybe sending her a gift for the baby, but I don’t know...I’m not sure it would be appropriate for me to do that.”

“Nah, don’t sweat it,” he reassures me. “You’ll see her at Christmas.”

What is he talking about???

Before I can respond, the words pour out of him. “Because you’ll be back in my arms by then...back where you belong.” I hear him take a deep breath. “I never should have let you go. I love you, Lori. I’ve always loved you...and I will love you for the rest of my life. I’ll never stop loving you.”

I am stunned. I never expected to hear anything like this from him again. And nothing I could say to him seems like a sufficient response to such a naked display of emotions.

“I love you,” I reply slowly. “I’ve always loved you, and I will always love you, too.”