After the Rain

Can we talk?

Hope saw the message come in and knew it was from Joe before she even checked the sender. For the two hours since she had walked away from Joe and with him, the life she might have had, Hope had sat at the kitchen counter staring blankly down at its marble patterning, tracing the smooth surface with her fingertips.

Picking up her phone, she slowly and numbly unlocked it and stared down at the text. She knew that he would know she had read the text, so she seriously considered her reply.

I think we’ve already said it all.

The response was immediate: I want to know that you’re alright.

Hope sighed. I’m not. And nothing we could say would improve things.

Not wanting to read his next words, Hope got up from the counter, leaving her phone on the surface. She swallowed the tears hard as she left the room, ignoring the amplified vibration of her phone against the hard surface as Joe’s response came through.