Phone Call

“Michael, it’s Aisha.”

“Aisha. It’s been twenty-three years.”

“Quick response. Have you been keeping track?”

“No … Yes… I mean …”

“I’ve been keeping track too. I saw you on Facebook this morning and had an impulse to call. Not the first impulse.”

“Wow. I… I’m… Where are you?”

“New York. Twenty-three years older. Married. Three kids. Program manager. You?”

“Still in San Francisco. Married. Two kids. Still a software engineer … So, you’re … Well, are you happy? Everything good?”

“Everything good.”

“Same here … Although you know, I’ve only felt like we felt, just that one stretch of time in my life. When we were together.”

“Yes. Once in a lifetime. True love. But it’s not a feeling that lasts. We both knew that.”

“Romance. An illusion. It would never have worked. But still, that feeling. My God.”

“Pain and exultation. Seeing you on Facebook, I had a sudden flashback …”

“Pain and exaltation. Me for you.”

“That’s you and your words.”

“Seeing me on Facebook, though, old and haggard. Embarrassing.”

“Baloney. Forty-five and still good-looking. Promise you’ll never google me.”

“You’re beautiful as ever. More so, with the wisdom of age.”

“You have googled me … Should we keep in touch, a little more than that?”

“This is hard but also kind of wonderful. I don’t know.”

“Talk to your wife about it. It is hard but I’m glad I called.”

“Me too.”

For Sunday Writing Prompt