EPILOGUE

Ring…

Ring… Ring…

          “'Hey, it's Nikki. I can't come to the phone right now. Leave me a message and I'll call you back as soon as I can. Bye.' At the tone, please record your message.”

Beep.

          “Nikki… It’s Hana. I… um. God, I don't even know what to say. I saw you on the street the other day, and I know you saw me. I just… You just disappeared, Nikki. I never thought I'd see you again. You look so different, I almost didn’t recognize you. You were like a ghost. I didn’t know what to think. I started feeling all of these emotions and everything suddenly felt different.
          "Hey, listen. That thing with Jake… it’s not what you think. I'm just working for him, making a little extra on the side. I just... God, what am I saying? Nikki…
          “When I saw you standing there… you just looked so stricken. I mean, what the hell did you think was going to happen after you just left me like that? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that. I wanted to call out to you so badly, to run to you and welcome you home, but I just couldn’t. Everything's different now.
          “Seeing you just got me thinking… about the old days. Everything was so much better back then, so much simpler. Remember how we used to sneak into the pool at Casey’s and go swimming after dark? Or the way we used to lie together in the park for hours and just talk about nothing. Or the time we built the snow castle together and laid in there and had sex? No, we made love…
          “Look, I know you probably don’t want to hear from me... God, you probably hate me... I just can't stop replaying those memories over and over.
          "Can we just talk? If you’ll give me the chance, I’d really like to start over. I just… I miss you. I just miss you so much. I'm so sorry for everything. Please, Nikki… I love you…”

Click.