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Early morning fell quietly like a fleece blanket. Chloe rolled over. Her alarm clock was staring her in the face. 5:52 it read. Whew, eight more minutes. Her eyes closed as she adjusted the covers.
Beep, beep, beep!
Out goes one arm, slapping the snooze button.
Twenty minutes later, the alarm blares again. This time Chloe flips the off switch, and lays there quietly like a slug. Trying not to think of what the upcoming day will bring, she also remembers it's Friday. She rises to an upward position and hangs her legs and feet over the edge of the bed.
Where the heck are my slippers? As she tries to focus in the ambient light. Chloe carefully steps down onto the floor and reaches for the light switch. She is taken back from the bright light, and pauses briefly to regain her bearings.
She glides softly through the adjoining room, into the kitchen where the coffee maker awaits. She flips on the light switch near the sink, reaches into the cabinet, and grabs a mug. Chloe takes a big sigh as she pours her initial cup of coffee. She meanders back into the adjoining room where she sits down at her desk. She presses the on button to her laptop. While the laptop is warming up, a sudden chill comes over her. Chloe gets up and locates the thermostat. 68 degrees it registers inside. The chime from the laptop alerts her and she goes back over and sits down. She opens the browser and scrolls down to the local weather section. Cloudy with flurries and slight wind. She then reflects of when she used to commute to the office, but now she works out of her home.
Before the daunting task of perusing her emails, Chloe browses a favorite website containing daily inspirational quotes and other memes. This website helps her focus each day.
She grabs one more coffee refill. Now she is ready to start her day.
Chloe opens her email website. 60 new messages since yesterday. Close to 995 messages all together. One by one, she opens the important emails such as the ones from her employer, her family and friends, and her utilities. She opens up a workspace to copy and paste pertinent information from her employer. She prints off details about her utilities. As far as her personal emails from family and friends, one specifically caught her attention. It read:
From ScottSpeedwagon@mindful.com
To ChloeWilson@nutsandbolts.org
Subject: Remember me?
Hi Chloe! We grew up in the same neighborhood but went to different schools. You, if I recall correctly, went to Barnwell as I was enrolled in an academy. You and I went to my formal together. After I got out of the service, I settled down into my current position. I thought of you recently and wondered how you have been?
Sincerely, Scott
Chloe sat at her desk and flipped through her mental rolodex. She remembers her childhood neighborhood as quiet, safe, and where everybody looked out for one another. She, then, looked towards the shelves and focused on which photo album to select. Chloe grazes the labels on the bindings with her finger. Countless vacation albums and one titled New Baby, but another album stood out. This album wasn't titled. She selects it out of curiosity and thumbs through. Talk about a blast from the past and hairstyles to boot. She comes across a stately photograph of her and a young gentleman. Chloe studies the photo intently before replying to this email. It read:
From ChloeWilson@nutsandbolts.org
To ScottSpeedwagon@mindful.com
Subject RE: Remember me?
Hello Scott! Thank you for reaching out to me. I am doing well. I found the photograph of us when we were at the formal. How have you been?
Sincerely, Chloe
She presses the send command. The initial email sits in the back of her mind throughout the day as she periodically checks for new messages. One question arises. How did Scott find her email address? This caused Chloe to think further. She remembered both of them going separate ways after graduation. They kept in contact through acquaintances briefly until last that Chloe knew of when Scott was deployed over seas. Then Chloe met her ex-husband whom fathered her daughter.
Meanwhile, her daughter was spending the holiday with her dad. Chloe had mixed feelings about several things such as a temporary empty nest syndrome and reconnecting with the past.
While communicating with her employer, she noticed that a new message had arrived. Chloe finishes the immediate conversation with her employer. She then tabs over to see who sent the message. It read:
From ScottSpeedwagon@mindful.com
To ChloeWilson@nutsandbolts.org
Subject Hello Again
Chloe,
I am doing well myself. As for the photograph of us, I look pretty much the same. Clean cut and muscular. I do know the holidays have come around again and I was reaching out because I heard about you recently from another acquaintance. I hope you are in good spirits.
Scott
This kind of flattered Chloe as she studied the photograph again. She responded to his email and it read:
From ChloeWilson@nutsandbolts.org
To ScottSpeedwagon@mindful.com
Subject RE: Hello Again
Scott,
I am fairing with the holidays and taking care of a few things. Are you in town?
Chloe
She hits the send command, and just when she get up from the computer, she gets another message. It reads:
From ScottSpeedwagon@mindful.com
To ChloeWilson@nutsandbolts.org
Subject: RE: Hello Again
Chloe,
As a matter of fact, I relocated back to our hometown. Would you like to catch up in person some time?
Scott
Chloe mulled this newest email over and responded back.
From ChloeWilson@nutsandbolts.org
To ScottSpeedwagon@mindful.com
Subject RE: Hello Again
Scott,
I'm enclosing my phone number at the bottom of this email. By chance, if it goes to voicemail, please leave a message and I will respond. Thank you again!
Chloe
Later on that evening after supper, Chloe plops down on the sofa. Her phone alerted her. She glanced down at the screen and saw she had voicemail. She checks into her voicemail and listens intently. A perplexed smile forms on her face.
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