Three

Reid turned around on bed trying to hug her. An empty space woke him up bringing him back to reality. She was gone, together with all his hope of happiness. He looked at his Casio watch and understood he wasn´t going to sleep anymore. It was four in the morning, the time he used to wake up to prepare a hot bath and a warm breakfast for her. She had long work shifts and he did everything he could to help her rest a little longer. Five years of routine don´t disappear from your system during one night. Not even in a couple of months. Although she wasn´t there, her memories filled every space of that house! He missed her so hard he could barely breath. Jake was right. He wasn´t over it; but as usual, he was also unable to talk about it.

He did everything the same way he was used to; just to find out a lot of time was left to remind him of his loneliness. The computer screen turned on around seven thirty making him know someone emailed him:

From: jeanie.d@gmail.com

To: r333@gmail.com

Good morning. I´m sorry I write so early, but I needed to let you know I´ll be off the whole weekend. I know I told you I was gonna be here anytime, but I have to go to my grandma´s farm and there´s no phone signal there. I promise you´ll be the first person I´ll write to as soon as I come back. Try not to over think and have a nice weekend. See you,

J.

A smile came up to his face when the first sunshine came in through the window. She had already given him his picture back and had no need to explain him anything. She could had just vanished, but she didn´t. She wanted him to know although she couldn´t be there to chat with him, he wasn´t alone. He did the best he could not to let her down:

From: r333@gmail.com

To: jeanie.d@gmail.com

You don´t need to worry about me and you owe me no explanations. I hope you spend a nice weekend at your granny´s.

Reid left his house to go to work. His usual walk became a little less boring that morning. He looked around and appreciated the cuteness of the trail that separated his house from what was now another escape from his empty reality. A short walk could get him to his office in a few minutes and the sunrise was a nice company to let his thoughts fly away. Surprisingly, during that walk, Denisse wasn’t the only thing in them. He was imagining Jeanie´s travel. He would love to get a time out in a farm sometime.

- There you are! – Jake said hello to him – I thought you weren´t coming today.

- Why wouldn´t I? – he hesitated.

- Because you´re never late and it´s already a quarter past eight.

- Really? – he got surprised – Maybe I just walked slower this morning. I was… - he looked away – Distracted.

- That´s so deep! – Jake mocked at him – I have to go out and you owe me from the last time, so please, cover for me.

- Where are you going?

- Don´t worry about it. Enjoy this lovely Friday.

- So you´re not coming back – he guessed.

- That´s why you´ll cover for me. If anyone asks, say I had a migraine and had to go home.

- Ok sick guy. Get better soon – Reid laughed.

- Thank you, I will. Later.

Reid turned on his office computer and started the server to the rest of them. He liked his job, but nothing was enough to fill the void he was feeling. No matter what he did, everything felt different knowing she wasn´t going to be there at the end of the day. Once again, his email icon popped up:

From: jeanie.d@gmail.com

To: r333@gmail.com

Thanks, but I will be bored! Countryside is not my thing! My hands are too weak to plow, I don´t know how to ride a horse and I definitely cannot milk a cow! There´s no phone signal and no Internet where I´m going! It´s gonna be a torture! Luckily, this only happens once in a year. I´ll miss chatting with you though. But anyway, thanks for your good wishes. I´ll tell you my adventure as soon as I come back. Already on the road,

J.

She was a little box of surprises. Reid smiled again to the screen and tried to picture her doing any of the things she said on that email. She was a funny cartoon in those thoughts, although she would look sexy riding a horse. And that was the moment when he realized she was distracting him from his sorrow.