THE MISTAKE

The following day after Nathan had been dropped off to school, Alex found herself sat at home, it was her day off from work. Her eyes flicker around the room, settling on the desk. She walks over and opens one of the drawers, flicking through various envelopes sat inside.

She takes out one, the handwriting read Dear Alex. She opens it up and takes out the folded piece of lined paper. She unfolds it, her eyes starting to water. She reads through the letter over and over. This letter had been sent to her parents address 5 years ago, just after Nathan turned 1.

Dear Alex,

I hope you're well. I'm thinking of quitting Uni. Leeds Uni is great and all, but...its just not for me. Its not my thing. I'm not the one for this. I don't want this. I want to pursue the career of dreams, the YouTube thing my mate JJ does. Honestly I want to move to London. But I don't understand why you're not here with me yet. Its...its hard not seeing you everyday. Its hard not seeing your smile or hearing that laugh you have. I miss our conversations. I miss spinning that globe, and closing our eyes, and jabbing our fingers onto a spot, and then saying 'this is where we're going to visit'. I miss us.

- simon minter

By the time Alex had read through it for the 5th time after the tears started, she placed it down on the desk and wiped her eyes. She looked at the bottom of the letter, reading a phone number off the bottom. She wondered if he still had that number.

She takes out her phone and types the numbers out, scanning it a few times to ensure it was the right one. Alex's finger hovers over the dial button, her eyes look up at the cork board above the desk. Her eyes scan over the photos of her and Nathan, Nathan and his best friends, Nathan and his grandparents, Nathan on his own. Nathan was her life, he had filled the gap Simon had left and more. Simon had once been a candle of light, but Nathan was like a chandelier.

She breathes in, her eyes looking round. She lowers her thumb, ringing the number. It rings out for about 10 seconds before it stops.

"Hello?" She hears and she gulps.

"Hi," She replies and she hears a mutter of words.

"Who is this?"

"Its...Wait...Do I have the right number?"

"I'm Simon?" He answers and her throat clenches up.

Of course he'd keep the same number.

"Its...Alex...Alex Hughes," She stutters, standing up and looking round.

Her eyes lock onto the drawing Nathan made, the one hanging on her fridge.

"Alex Hughes? No way! Thats mad, how are you?!" He asks, a evident smile on his face.

"I'm...Okay...How are you?" She asks and he chuckles.

"I'm good, I do that YouTube thing I wanted to do, where are you now? What're you doing with yourself?" He asks, his excitement taking over him as he sat at his desk in his bedroom.

"I'm...I'm still at home, I don't live with my parents anymore, thats all thats new really, I mean, I hate that I never followed after you...God knows where I'd be now, probably not here," Alex sighs and Simon does too.

"But you're happy?" Simon asks and Alex looks back over her shoulder at the photos on the board.

"Definitely, are you?" She retorts.

"I am, I'm getting married," He says and Alex breathes in, the air catching in her throat and she coughs, choking on the pulled back air.

She coughs, moving the phone away and quickly grabbing a glass of juice and gulping it down.

"Married? What?" Alex asks and she blinks away the tears formed from the choking.

"Yeah," He laughs, "The girl I'm marrying is called Katie, she's amazing, I bet you'd love her," 

"I'm sure I would," Alex says, attempting to swallow the lump in her throat. 

"Right, I actually have to go, I'm meeting Katie for lunch...Can I call you later or something?" He asks and Alex breathes in deeply. 

"Sure, why not?" She says and she hears the smile in his voice when he speaks again. 

"Great! Well, you'll have to come to London one day, and you'll for sure have to come to the wedding!" He says and Alex closes her eyes, the tears sliding softly down her cheeks.

"Of course," She says, "Wouldn't miss it for the world," 

"I've missed you, Alex," He whispers and she swallows thickly. 

"I've missed you too, Simon," She says.

"Right, I best be off, I'll speak to you soon, bye Alex!" He says. 

"Bye Simon," She mumbles seconds before he hangs up the phone. 

She pulls her phone away from her ear and places it gently onto the desk. Her shaking hands pull back, eyes blinking- she was in some kind of shock. 

She turns on her heel and walks towards the hallway. She heads into her bedroom and walks straight to her chest of drawers, her hands rummaging through the socks and underwear till her finger runs over a small box. She shoves everything to one end of the drawer and pulls out the little box. She opens it up and looks at the necklace that sat inside. She runs her thumb over the locket, her tears still streaming down her cheeks. 

She closes the box, placing it back inside the drawer. She needed to get out. She slams the drawer shut and heads for the stairs. She grabs her keys before heading down the narrow slightly curved staircase into the downstairs hall. She pulls on her coat and slides her feet into a pair of already laced Vans. 

After heading out, locking the door and walking down the path she heads across the road, her cheeks still stained with tears. 

"Afternoon," Someone smiles to her and she smiles back, eyes still puffy and red. 

"Afternoon," She says and she heads through the sand dunes onto the beach. 

She didn't bother taking off her shoes, they were practically filled with sand already anyway. Alex walks down towards the water, her hands stuffed into her coat pockets. 

She looks out across the sea, her hair flying out behind her due to the wind. She loved standing there, looking out at the soft waves that pummelled each other with every turn. She loved the view here, in her little seaside town, and she loved the people, and the atmosphere. But there was nothing here for her, there was nothing holding her down except her son and parents. Nathan would adapt to a new school, he was confident and easygoing, he'd make it look easy. Her parents always willed her to follow her dreams, so they would have no issues. She didn't like her job that much to stay here for that. So what was holding her back? Alex had nothing to lose, and everything to gain. London was on her mind, and she would not force it from her mind, for a very long time. 

___________________

Woiiiii! 

What do we think so far lads? 

I hope you're enjoying it! 

Hows about it eh? Simon engaged to be wed, bit of curve ball idea I had, just to complicate things that little bit more, and to make it all the more emotional and different. 

Thank you for reading! 

~KatnissBajanCanadian<3