Greg placed the phone back in its cradle for 4th time in the past hour. He knew Ashleigh wouldn’t be back in her room for another 2 hours but he was restless.

He went to the entertainment center and pressed play on the CD player. Destiny by Zero 7 began pumping out of the stacked speakers in the corners of the room. He picked up the remote control and turned the volume up a few clicks more.

Settling into his oversized recliner, he picked up a framed photo of Ashleigh from the end table. It was his favorite photo of her, taken out on the deck of the Space Needle in Seattle the previous summer. Her shoulder length auburn hair was blowing in the wind coming off of the Puget Sound. The sunlight sparkled off of her hazel eyes and her naturally perfect white teeth gleamed as she smiled at him as he took the picture.

His mind drifted off to the dinner date they had the night before she left for Virginia Beach. If only he could take back some of the words he said that night.