26. Callie
Chapter 26
Callie
June 2023
I randomly think back to something going on at work. I forgot to make note of a patient’s change in diet after our visit, so I pull out my phone to let her nurse know.
Me : Hey! I forgot to add Ms. Powell's change in diet to my chart earlier today. I'm adding it in now!
Thankfully I brought my work tablet home, and I can also add that to Ms. Powell’s chart before I head out to dinner with Mason tonight.I open her file up and add "Her daughter mentioned that she no longer wants lunch. She’ll eat a small breakfast and a small dinner, but anything offered in the middle of the day is met with refusal. Again, sorry for not including that in my documentation."
I head into the bathroom to take a shower and put on some mascara and eyeliner. Hanging the towel up I walk from the bathroom to my closet, picking out a pair of black jean shorts and a cream-colored tank. I make it almost to my bedroom door when I turn to grab my cardigan just in case I get cold tonight.
As I’m walking to the living room to grab my shoes the doorbell chimes.
Opening the door to him standing on my doorstep, I can’t get over how much he has changed. Not in a bad way, either. His hair is a little shorter now with a more mature cut. His clothing style hasn’t changed too much, aside from the fact he’s no longer seen in football attire. I think what’s changed the most is his personality and way of carrying himself.
When I first met him he was shy and would barely talk to me. Then he grew into a prankster, the class clown. Lawyer Mason is a complete one eighty of the Mason I knew. He is open to his feelings, open to discussing his feelings, and an active listener now. Which is by far my favorite part of this new Mason.
We’ve had a lot of fun the last few days and I don’t want him to go back to his parent’s farm, but I know they need the help. So, I have to be okay with it. We are planning on seeing each other again before he heads back to New York.
We decided for our last night together we would check out a diner that had been recommended to me a lot. We are seated at a table in the back corner, an intimate setting for the two of us. After placing our orders, we began discussing what this would look like. We had already talked about staying in contact and working on rebuilding not only our trust in each other but also the foundation that we will need if we do decide to give a relationship another try.
“I think the best way to go into this is mapping out exactly what our expectations are - from ourselves and each other. We don’t know each other as adults. We only know those high school sweethearts we once were. I’m willing to put in the work if you are. This won’t be an overnight fix and it’s going to take a lot of work on both of our parts.” I say to break the silence. I don’t think either one of us knows how to navigate this conversation but I’m hoping we will have some sort of plan figured out before we say goodbye tomorrow morning.
Mason looks up at me and says “I agree. I know where I would like this to end up, but I also know that it’s going to take more than a few days together to get back to that. My expectations are just honesty and open communication, keeping us in line with where we’re at to help us stay on the same page. If we stay open and honest with each other then I do not doubt that we can make this work.”
Seriously. Where was this communication before? If he stays communicating like this, I have no doubts either, but I do have to keep my walls up to make sure that I’m protecting myself.
“My expectations are honesty, communication, and grace. Honesty and communication for the same reasons you mentioned, grace because this will take some time. I'm going to need space while working through this - my emotions, my mental health, everything. We’re both busy with work and I don’t want to make any concrete plans but being that we are across the country from one another I think weekly FaceTime calls will make things easier on us, especially in the beginning when we are working through those initial emotions and feelings.”
“The reason that we are even here is because of me. I have no room to not give you what you want if I want this to work. Especially considering you’re not asking for much. I’d love to have you come up to New York to visit for a weekend… eventually. I think seeing my world and how I live will give you a better idea of who I am today, which is totally different from who I was in high school.”
“I think that would benefit both of us, honestly. Let’s plan a weekend for me to come up. I don’t know when I’ll be able to make it happen, but we can work through that later.”
I've been enjoying the time I've spent with Mason. Conversation is still just as easy as it was before. Probably even easier now since we're older and have more going on in life. So we've got more to talk about.
Talking about the time we’ve been apart and the dating we’ve tried, but failed at, was humorous. I can’t believe both of us had such trouble finding a new partner yet neither of us reached out to the other to see if it was worth talking things over. Ugh, what is wrong with us?
We’re at the same park we had our last picnic at before Mason broke up with me. Looking out over the same pond and watching the birds swim around. It’s wild how different today is, though.
“I was at the point where I just thought I’d always be single.” I laugh. Because now it’s funny.
“Yeah, me too. There was one girl who I probably could have made work but I kept comparing everyone to you. Or randomly thinking of you when we’d be out and I knew it wasn’t fair to her. Truly one of the moments when it’s not you, it’s me was true. Because it was a me problem.”
“Ugh, yeah. It seems like everything I did reminded me of something you did or something we did together. I figured it would be easier for you since you weren’t living in the same area we dated. Guess I was wrong. Look, I’m glad you’re back though. I’m glad one of us finally reached out. Lord knows it could have gone on much longer if you hadn’t talked to Jo Ellen about me.”
“I wasn’t expecting her to know you. But when I said your name I knew by the look that flashed on her face that she knew exactly who I was talking about. I got this gut feeling things would be okay. So I hope I’m right.”
I look over to find Mason smiling at me. His eyes give away every emotion he’s feeling. “If I have my way you will be.” I’m confident this time we’ll make it work.