As they caught up about life, Annie could feel her phone vibrating in her purse, but she was talking to Bryson and that was way more important than whoever was calling her at the moment. It almost felt like old times as they sat there and talked about anything and everything and she wasn’t about to let someone ruin that. It wasn’t until her phone vibrated for the third time that she finally pulled it out of her purse and gave Bryson an apologetic look. Seeing Ethan’s name flash across the screen used to give her butterflies, but for some reason this time it made her cringe. Letting out a small sigh, she pressed the ignore button before quickly typing out an apologetic text claiming that it was too loud in the venue to hear and that she’d call him later. Slipping her phone back in her purse, she focused her attention back on her ex. “Sorry about that. You were saying?”
Letting out a laugh, she just shook her head. “Your coworkers would be lucky,” the red head teased. There was no doubt that she was attracted to the man sitting across from her. They dated for four years, of course she was attracted to him and it seemed that he only got more attractive as the years went by which was hard for her to wrap her mind around. Annie was brought out of her thoughts when she felt Bryson’s hand cover her own and for a moment, the blush returned to her cheek and she was about to speak up, but shut her mouth once more once he removed his hand. “As did you,” she smiled back. When the song first started to play, she thought she was hearing things. But when Bryson brought it up, she knew she wasn’t dreaming. Nodding her head slowly, she just stared at him. “Yeah… Yeah, I remember,” Annie murmured.
Bryson gave a polite nod as her attention went to her phone. He knew exactly who was calling her, the fiancee. Breaking the stare that fell upon the girl, his eyes were directed to the palm on his hand. Bryson ran his fingers along the creases of his skin, a nervous habit that started at the age of fourteen. A rush of emotion filled his heart, knowing that Annie had grown to be happy without him. Hearing her apology, he pushed it aside with a simple shrug. “When duty calls.” Bryson wanted to know his name, his job and where they had met, but something had held him back. Maybe he didn’t want to accept that she loved someone new. Hell, Bryson wasn’t ready to tell himself that he had moved on.
The sound of her laughter pulled Bryson back to reality. Joking about his co-workers, he gave a weak smile. Annie’s workers were much luckier, as they got to see her everyday, and what was better than that? “Oh all those fourty-something year old men would really love it.” He said trying to make light of the conversation. As the the chords played in the background, it was hard not to reminisce of the meaning behind the song. There were many times that Bryson had driven all the way to the Georiga line, connecting to Tennessee, to see Annie, but he couldn’t bring himself to cross the boarder. If had crossed the boarder, he would cross back into her life and in that time in his life he wasn’t she he was ready for her. Bryson glanced away from Annie for a moment, his eyes fell on the couples dancing along to the song. They all seemed at peace and happy. “I was never good at dancing. I would always step on your feet.” Bryson stated, not breaking his glance at the dancers. His voice was low, the sadness was hidden in his tone. “I don’t know how you didn’t manage to break a toe.” He wanted so badly to ask her to dance, but his low confidence kept him from speaking.
