“Callie.”
A Name From Long Before Me
The sound of that name felt like a door opening somewhere behind us.
Early in our relationship, during one of those late-night conversations where people share the pieces of themselves that shaped them, Greg had told me about Callie.
She was his college girlfriend. His first love.
The woman who made him believe in forever, and then walked away after graduation without explaining why. He told me the breakup left him shaken, unsure of himself, unsure of what love was supposed to look like.
But he also told me that meeting me changed that.
He said that with me, love felt steady. Real. Safe.
They had stopped speaking in their early twenties. He never mentioned her again.
Until now.
A Question With No Answer
“Why would she send something now?” I asked carefully.
Instead, he walked into the living room and placed the box beneath the Christmas tree, sliding it into the growing pile of presents as if it were just another package.
But it didn’t feel like one.
Continue reading…
