Tom looked down at his phone, then sighed. He had been putting this off most of the afternoon, but Kate and Theo were right. He did feel like he owed Pierre an apology. Not that Pierre didn’t have anything to apologize for himself, but that was the same sort of loop he’d been stuck in.
Maybe I don’t even have his number anymore, Tom thought, but sure enough, it was still there in his contacts.
The phone rang. Once. Twice. Three times. Leave a message? Or call again? Maybe he’d just send an email. That’d be fine. Then the call connected.
“Hello.” Pierre’s voice was flat.
“Hi, Pierre. It’s Tom Callum.”
“Tom Callum.” There was a pause. Then, in the same flat tone, “What can I do for you?”
“Look, I don’t want to take up your time, but I’ve been thinking about things today, and I owe you an apology.”
Tom didn’t wait for a response, speaking into the silence. “I wasn’t as supportive as I should have been, especially on the Wilkens’ project last fall. I made some assumptions about the information you had, and I let my ego keep me from putting our project first. I’m sorry for that. And I’m sorry I wasn’t easier to work with.”
“Okay,” Pierre said after another pause. “Well, thanks for your call.”
“Yeah, sure. Take care,” Tom replied. He hung up the phone and groaned. It didn’t look like they were going to grab drinks anytime soon, but at least he could say he tried. And he felt better, actually. He gathered his things and headed home.
Ana was tired after navigating rush-hour traffic. She walked in the house and felt her fatigue deepen. The living room was a mess, toys and books and other signs of short attention spans scattered around. The house was quiet, though, almost suspiciously so. Then she heard joyful shrieking from the backyard.
Through the kitchen window, she saw her kids, Mateo and Miranda, running around the yard as her husband, Jaime, sprayed them with the hose. They were all soaked and laughing. She hated missing moments like this.
And she also hated being the one who couldn’t stop her brain from seeing all the inconvenience the summer fun created. It meant the kids hadn’t eaten yet, and it likely pushed them to a later bedtime, which meant less time for her and Jaime, and—she jumped as a spray of water hit the window in front of her face. Jaime grinned at her, and the kids giggled and waved. She blew a kiss and went to grab some towels.
The evening went as Ana expected, late bedtime included, and she could barely keep her eyes open by the time she and Jaime had a moment of quiet.
“How was your day, mi amor?” he asked. “That big training going okay?”
“It’s interesting. I’m with that coworker I told you about, the one who thinks he has the only good ideas. Oh,” she said, suddenly remembering, “did you have that interview today?”
“No,” Jaime said, “I didn’t think it was a good fit. I told you I’m happy with the freelance work for now. It gives me time with the kids.”
But not enough time to help them clean the living room or to make sure dinner is ready on time. She felt guilty at the thought, especially remembering how happy the kids looked. But still, she pursed her lips, letting the silence speak for her.
He knew she thought he could do more.
Jaime started to speak, then sighed and let it drop. That had been happening more often lately, like they didn’t have the energy to put the argument into words. Despite how tired she was, it took Ana a long time to fall asleep.