The drive back home was nothing short of agonizing. Ryan originally wanted to take the long way back and take a moment to calm down. He figured a nice, long drive would put his mind at ease after everything that had happened to him today. However, every turn he made had a mishap. Traffic jams, car accidents, or construction hindered his progress to even get that, forcing him to take detour after detour.

  What’s up with all of this lately?

  Blood boiled in his veins as he expressed a desire to rip his steering wheel off and toss it out the window. But he knew that wouldn’t do him any good. Not even the radio had anything good on today, so he couldn’t listen to music to take his mind off other things or distract him. It was either filled to the brim with songs he didn’t like or podcasts and news he didn’t care for. Ryan rested his forehead on the steering wheel and clutched his hair. Now he just wanted to go home and get the rest of the day over with.

  .-.-.-.

  Ryan dragged his feet over to bed and fell face-first onto it, not bothering to take his shoes off. Today had been exhausting for him, physically and mentally, as his muscles strained, even from pulling the pillow over his head. He flipped himself over and stared at the ceiling before letting out a long exhale.

  Sure, Ryan wasn’t particularly close with Carl, but remembering how helpless he looked back there made his heart sink. How had he not seen the signs earlier? He didn’t even try to help his co-worker, no matter how often he insisted on being all right.

  Maybe I am selfish. How am I going to face anyone after that?

  Ryan overlooked the time ticking away as he stayed in place, not moving a muscle. The sun was setting, and the bedroom got darker until the only light source was the moonlight reflecting off the windows.

  Ryan turned over, his body slumping and getting heavy, like snuggling bricks instead of bed covers. He was too tired to argue or complain anymore, even though he had no right to. But thoughts of Carl and Daisy still lingered in the back of his mind, preventing him from falling asleep peacefully.

  Ryan jolted awake from his nightmare. He kept panting as he clutched his chest. It was strange. He couldn’t remember the exact details of it, but it was enough to wake him up. Somehow, Ryan got up before the alarm clock went off.

  Of course, it would be on our day off.

  He rubbed his red eyes and yawned while stretching, barely getting much sleep last night. How could he, when he kept thinking about those two? Ryan checked the clock for the time, then stayed in bed for a little while longer. He thought about his actions from yesterday. It dawned on him, he did have a bad habit of acting before thinking, not caring about the consequences until after the events had already happened.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  There’s not much I can do about it now. Right?

  Eventually, Ryan mustered up enough strength to get out of bed. He made his way to the shower, and then went to make himself breakfast. He slumped on the couch and mindlessly flipped through the channels on TV. All he found were news broadcasts showcasing what was going on in the world.

  Isn’t there anything else on? I’m not in the mood for this.

  Ryan groaned as he shut off the TV and fell back in his seat, wanting nothing to do with it. His eyes glanced at his phone, which rested on the coffee table. He couldn’t talk to Carl; that was out of the question.

  A part of him wanted to know how Daisy was holding up since she was also there when that happened, but another part of him remembered the last time they had talked. Would she be willing to speak with him after that, or just want some space?

  Of course, they’d meet again at work in a few days anyway, but he still wanted to patch things up with her, or at least talk to her. Even if she didn’t forgive him, which she had every right to, it still wouldn’t hurt to try, since he had no way of knowing for sure.

  Ryan got up from his seat and walked over to pick up his phone. He stared at the screen as his thumb hovered over her contacts. His hand shook as he hesitated to press the button and make the call. Was he overstepping his boundaries? It had only been a day, so maybe it wasn’t the best time to do something like this. Maybe she was busy.

  He sighed, so many possibilities of it going wrong cycled through his mind. Ryan hadn’t recalled the last time he had to make a big decision like this, well, he considered it to be a big deal anyway. He swallowed the lump in his throat and decided to play it safe. He reached over to text her a quick message instead. Ryan thought about what to say but just went with the first thing that came to his head, then pressed send.

  Just call once and see what happens, right? Just speak from the heart, deep breaths…

  Ryan took a few deep breaths and pressed the call button. He placed it beside his ear as the phone kept ringing until it hit a beep. Just when he had his hopes up, the phone went straight to voicemail, and his shoulders slumped. Still, it wasn’t the end of the world. There was no need to throw a tantrum like a child; he could handle this like an adult. Ryan cleared his throat before talking after the beep.

  “Hey, how are you? Are you doing okay, I hope? I just wanted to check and see how things were going over there. I understand if you don’t want to talk right now—to me or anybody else. I don’t blame you, to be honest. But if you want to chat, I’m here. And I’m sorry—for everything.”

  He ended the call, lowering his arm and sighing as he closed his eyes. He looked up at the ceiling, the phone still in his grip. A loud sound rang through his ears, snapping Ryan from his thoughts as he nearly dropped his phone. He pressed the call button and placed the phone near his ear.

  “Hello? Oh, hi, Daisy. Did you get my voice message, by chance? Oh, so you just missed the call, then. That was unfortunate timing on my part then.” He let out a small chuckle before sighing. “Listen, about yesterday... huh? No, I don’t have any plans today. Really? I don’t mind at all. Yeah, sure, we can talk about it later today. Alright, talk to you soon. Goodbye.”

  Ryan hung up the call and looked at his reflection from the windows. So far, so good, but the day had just begun, and he needed to get ready.