Joe glared at her and scuffed, “Does it really matter to you if you are or not?”

Katie turned to Joe startled by his question and even more by his tone. She looked him up without moving a muscle, “Why else would I ask? Of course, it does….”

“If you cared, you would have been on time on such an important day. You know how important it is for Steve… I bet you will say now that you were stuck at work again. Your usual useless excuse.”

She sighed, “What is your problem?”

He shrugged dismissively, “No problem at all… Do whatever you wish.”

She decided not to argue with him again. She took off her coat and placed it neatly in the closest then walked away thinking of the million things she could say to him. She bit her tongue holding back all of them. She opened the door to Steve’s room to find it empty. 

With a heavy heart, she went to her room. She changed and sat in her corner in the room realizing that she had messed up once again. Another chance wasted. She wondered if Steve would ever forgive her this time. Oh… how much she would wish to say to him if only she could.

Joe walked in and readied himself to leave. Katie looked up at him asking in a low hesitant voice wiping her tears away, “Are you going to be late tonight?”

“Strange to hear that coming from you… I will be back when I am back. Enjoy the quiet night alone.” He replied without bothering to turn around then left without anything else spoken.

She burst into tears as soon as the door closed wondering why and how she got where she was at that moment. She murmured between her sobs, “This must be a nightmare…”