Sue and Tom by Buffy Andrews

grab a bite before I headed over to Sue’s. There wasn’t a lot to eat in the house. Because I was out of town, I hadn’t gone to the store. But I did find some eggs and fried up a few.
    I was eating my last bite when Mike called. “How’s it going?
    “Been better.”
    “Yeah, that Rachel’s a real piece of work.”
    “Tell me about it. I really thought that when she started seeing that surgeon she’d leave me alone.”
    “Yeah,” Mike said. “I remember the time she sent you the box of dead roses.”
    “And what about the time I found that nasty note on the windshield of my car and the air left out of my tires?”
    “I’d forgotten about the flat tires,” Mike said. “Well, you know what they say about a woman scorned.”
    “Yeah. I just hope she’s had enough now. I threatened that if she comes near me again, she’ll be hearing from my attorney.”
    “And I just happen to know a very good one,” Mike said.
    I laughed. “Me, too.”
    “So what are you going to do about Sue?” Mike asked.
    “I was planning to head over to her place in a bit. Try to talk to her face to face. Get this whole mess straightened out.”
    “Good luck, buddy. I hope it works out. I know that Gina does, too.”
    “How’s things going between you and Gina?”
    “Good. We talked to Jack about moving into Gina’s house and he’s good with that, as long as his room is as far away from the baby as he can get.”
    I laughed.
    “He’s had enough of listening to his baby sister cry in the middle of the night at his mom’s. That was really his only request. Well, besides the request that the baby be a boy.”
    “Do you care if it’s a boy or a girl?” I asked.
    “Are you kidding me? Absolutely not. I just can’t believe that Gina and I are actually having a child together. I mean, this is like a dream come true. I’m still pinching myself just to make sure it’s all real.”
    “I’m happy for you, man. You guys are proof that sometimes things do work out. It might take awhile, but eventually it does.”
    “Go talk to Sue, Tom. And I hope things work out for you, too.”
     
    ***
     
    Sue
     
    I noticed my yearbook on the desk in the kitchen. I guess I never put it away after the reunion. I grabbed it. I figured I’d look at it while I ate.
    I was paging through it when I came to the Senior Man of the Year pages. The yearbook staff had chosen eight guys and the senior class voted on the nominees. The winner was announced at the Winter Sports Pep Rally. The nominees were Mike and Keith, Jeremy and Eric, Brad, J.R., Tom, and Frank. And Tom had won. I had forgotten about this.
    Tom looked so young. I guess we all did. Back then, who knew how our lives would unfold, where we’d end up. I could have guessed Tom would be a pharmacist, given his love of chemistry and science. And that Jeremy would follow in his dad’s footsteps and become a dentist. But I would never had imagined that Gina would end up being a prosecutor or that Karen, who got pregnant in high school, would end up falling in love with another woman and having her child. I guess that’s the thing about life. Sometimes it takes you down unexpected roads.
    I closed my yearbook and grabbed my keys.
     
    ***
     
    Tom
     
    I jumped in my car and realized I wasn’t going to get too far unless I got gas. So, I stopped at the gas station next to the Interstate on-ramp. It was faster taking the highway and getting off at the Queen Street exit to get to Sue’s than snaking through town.
    I was heading south on the Interstate feeling life. I kept rehearsing what I was going to say to Sue. How I was going to handle the conversation. I needed to make her see how much I cared for her.
    By the time I got there, I felt prepared. I felt good. But then I knocked on the door and she didn’t answer. I thought maybe she knew it was me and wasn’t answering the door on purpose, so I peeked in her garage windows to see if her car was there. No car. Shit! I guess she’s