Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda

Chapter Five

~CONCLUSION~

She detected the aroma of sweet & sour pork and chow mein upon awakening. She cleared her eyes of sleep before checking the digital clock. 7:26 p.m. It wasn’t necessary for her to look at the bed to know that she was back in old lumpy.

"Hey, you’re awake. I was about to throw iced cold water on you. The tray of cubes is sitting on the kitchen counter." Grinning, Elise leaned against the doorjamb. "Get up, throw some water on your face, and meet me in the living room, birthday girl. Chinese is still hot. I brought Shall We Dance and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days."

Pushing the covers back, Chase sat up, grinning at her sister. "Those are girly movies."

Elise playfully rolled her eyes. "In case you hadn’t noticed, you are a girl. Deal with it." With that said she left the bedroom.

　

The morning after her return to reality, Chase used her new Dell to search for her could have been wife. Though surprised that the search engine returned with so many people named Micah Ballard, it didn’t take her too long to find the right person. However, only her phone number was listed. Grabbing the cordless, Chase hurriedly dialed the number before she lost her nerve. As it rang, she had no idea what she would say. Her stomach in knots, she was partially relieved when the answering machine kicked in after four rings.

"Hello. You’ve reached Micah and Samantha. Obviously, we aren’t able to come to the phone right now, but if you’d be so kind to leave your name, phone number and a brief message after the beep, we’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks and take care."

BEEP!

Hitting the end button without leaving a message, Chase dropped her phone on the kitchen table. She would call again, but not today, tomorrow or even next week. As she listened to the message, the blonde decided that she had to get her shit together first. Regardless if anything happened between them or not, she didn’t want Micah to see her at that moment, because she had some self-improvements to work on. Chase realized that this would take time.

Checking the time in the bottom of the computer screen, she logged off and finished her orange juice before heading toward the front door. For now she had to get to work.

　

　

Four months later…

Fingers effortlessly flowing along the keys, Chase didn’t answer the phone until she finished the sentence. Caller ID filled her in on who was calling before she hit the talk button. "Afternoon, sis. What’s going on?"

"Is this really you?" Elise sounded befuddled.

On such a roll that she could carry a conversation and type, Chase resumed creating her story. "Really me?" The writer glanced down at herself. "I believe so. Why?"

"I’m having a hard time understanding that today my sister did something so out of the ordinary. Did you actually invite Mom and Dad out to dinner tomorrow night? They just called me shocked. Mom sounded like she had been crying--joyously crying that is."

The blonde chuckled. "Yes. I’d cook but I wouldn’t want to be arrested for accidental homicide. You need to check your voicemail, because I called to invite you and the hubby too."

"O…kay…" Elise replied in slow motion, still unable to wrap her mind around the fact that her baby sister had finally reached out to their parents. She had begun to believe that it would never happen. She supposed that in a way it made sense, because Chase had been making changes in the last few months--in fact, the changes started immediately after her birthday.