Summer of '07

Hopeless Love

Chapter 15

February 2019

~TRAVIS~

I wake up in the morning only to have a massive panic attack. I'm missing my phone and literally have no time to look for it because I'm already late for work as it is. I head to the law firm and from there I make a phone call to Elijah, assuming that I left my cell phone there at some point during the party last night. The first time I call I'm sent to voicemail and I decide to leave a message informing him of my situation and to call me back. About fifteen minutes later, I get a callback from Michelle surprisingly who, I guess has his cellphone?

"Hey, Travis, this is Michelle. I've found your phone buried in the couch cushions."

"Thank god. Had me worried for a sec."

"Yeah, I'll be home all day today if you wanna stop by and pick it up or..."

"Yeah, that'd be great! I get off at five, so I'll by there around seven?"

"Sounds good. I'll be here."

"Just a quick question, where's Elijah? This is his phone number?" Can't help but be curious as to why she's calling me back on his phone. That's a bit odd.

"Oh, he's still asleep. I saw your message and wanted to get back to you ASAP so you weren't freaking out about your phone." Interesting. A wife that checks her husband's messages?

"Oh, well thanks! I appreciate it." For some reason, I feel greatly uncomfortable that she checks his messages... makes me wonder what their marriage is actually like behind closed doors.

I head over back over to Sacramento and arrive just about when I told Michelle I would. I knock on their front door and expect Michelle to answer since she said she would be at home all day, but instead I get what I came for. Elijah opens the door and I couldn't be happier to see him over her. I don't know why, but seeing Elijah brings me so much relief for some odd reason. Had it been Michelle answering the door, I probably wouldn't have gotten the chance to speak or even see Elijah; I would have just taken my phone and left, with no way of knowing whether I'd see Elijah again.

"Hey, what's up, man?" He says to me, with a smile, pulling me into an unexpected hug. I guess our last conversation never happened... or maybe he just wasn't taking any hard feelings towards it?

"I left my phone here last night," I tell him, despite the fact that I assume that he should already know.

"Yeah, come in." Well I mean, you could just hand it to me and I'll be on my way, but if you insist on inviting me in.

I step back into his house and follow him to wherever he's leading me. As we reach the living room, I see Michelle sitting on the couch, reading a magazine. She waves at me and flashes me a smile as Elijah grabs my phone from the kitchen counter and hands it to me. "Thanks, man."

"No problem." He walks me towards my car and as we walk, he says, "I never got the chance to tell you this, but thanks for coming to my party yesterday. I hope you had a relatively good time." He smiles at me, and I just can't resist smiling back because he's so damn cute, even now that he's older. Fucking hate him for having that effect on me.

"It was pretty nice. I'm just glad I got to hangout with you again." Shit, I wasn't supposed to say that last part aloud.

"You are?" He sounds so surprised.

"Yeah. It was fun... reminded me of sophomore year." Back when we were inseparable.

"Ah, the good 'ole days..."

"You know it." I then awkwardly look down at my shoes, waiting for him to say something to keep our conversation going because I'm dreading the moment when I will have to drive back home all by myself... thinking about him the entire drive back.

"What's wrong?" It's like he can just tell that I'm not too thrilled about leaving so soon.

"Nothing. I'll see ya, I guess," I reply with hints of sorrow in my voice.

Before I get into my car however, he stops me. "Hey, wait!"

I quickly turn my head in his direction, as if excited to hear what he has to say next. "Yeah?"

"Do you wanna... hangout?" He asks me, and it feels like he literally just read my mind. It's like he knows that I don't want to go back home and could spend the rest of my night just catching up on each other's lives.

"Sure... when?" I hope to god he's talking about tonight.

"Right now... if you're down?" He says with barely any confidence. As if he were scared I was gonna reject him.

"Fuck yeah!" I reply with a little too much enthusiasm.

"Cool. Leave your car here, I'll drive us."

"Alright."

"Hold up, I gotta let Michelle know... I'll be right back!" For some reason that last statement quickly turned my smile upside down. I gotta fucking remember that he has a wife and a life of his own now. Just because I don't really have either of those things doesn't mean that he doesn't either like when we were teenagers. Things have changed and just because it suddenly feels like the good 'ole days for the first time in forever doesn't mean things are going to stay that way. I want us to be friends like we used to be... I want us to make up for lost time... but deep down I know that that may not be possible.

When he comes back, he leads me to his car in the garage and before I know it, we're heading down the highway towards San Francisco. "Where are we going in San Francisco?" I ask him, completely unaware of where this man is taking me.

"It's a surprise," he answers, smugly.

"Oh fuck! I swear if you're driving me to the middle of nowhere to murder me, I'll fucking hate you forever," I joke with him as if the twelve year gap in our friendship didn't even exist. I suddenly started to feel like I was back in the tenth grade again, cruising in the car with my best friend right after he first got his license. It was such a great time and it felt so amazing to be back.

"You can trust me," he winks at me with a smirk on his face. "Oh and by the way, Michelle wants me back by midnight so we'll have to start heading back by ten." Fucking hell, his wife just has to ruin our fun. What is she, his mother for fuck's sake?

"What, why does she want you back so soon?"

"She wants to go to sleep early and doesn't like having to wait up for me."

"Why?"

"She's just worried about me. Though I'm sure she has some reasons of her own too." Interesting. First she checks his messages, now she can't sleep unless he's there. It's a bit curious... though of course that could just be my jealousy speaking. Alas, I'm such a hopeless romantic!