Writing Exercise #2: Gray

He drove to the garage and avoided parking on the street. The city streets are often difficult to trust when it comes to parking. For the most part, a driver will realize that some part of his vehicle had been nicked by a biker or another car.
His intention was merely out of curiosity. What occurred the night before took him back to a place that he thought he compartmentalized in his mind and have long forgotten. The problem with this happens when what was forgotten comes out of nowhere and makes one realize that he has never forgotten at all.

She had changed, but yet she had not changed.

It was just time out with old friends. He did not think that fate would play a joke on him. Once he parked his car, he walked slowly to the hotel lobby. It’s just dinner to catch up the last 15 years. He concentrated on this notion that it has been that long since he filed her away in his mind.

She was once his, but never truly.

He stood in the middle of the hotel lobby and twisted his wedding band on his ring finger. As he nervously twisted his ring, he wanted to ask out loudly why it has taken him ten years to lose the numbness, 4 years to become serious, and just one year to put on a wedding band. He decided to sit down to avoid looking anxious. He continued to twist his ring and with every turn against the skin, the image of her face began to grace his mind.

She was the face that he wanted to see in his children, but that will never happen.

He looked at his phone and there was a text that he needed to respond to, but decided to do it later when his mind has been cleared, he preferred to have the gray blur linger. The gray blur began to closed in on him last night.


They all decided to drive to the city for dinner. The restaurant was crowded with people, typical on a weeknight. As his friends talked about the upcoming trip to Vegas, his best friend grew quiet. He noticed that he was looking intently at another table. What are you looking at? He asked. No one, he responded. Regardless, he followed the point where his best friend’s concentration was focused on. In an instant, he knew. That’s not her, I made a mistake, he said. He looked at the table. You know that’s her, he responded. There, she sat with a group of people that he always imagined she would associate herself with. The kind of people that walked with ambition and drive. They worked in high rise buildings with their innovative ideas and strategic plans to climb up the corporate ladder. He thought about these people when he had his time in the "sandbox".


He stood up once more from the hotel lobby couch and walked over to a sitting area near the elevator. He continued to twist his ring as he waited. He took his phone out of his jean pocket and decided to dial the number that texted him earlier. He listened as it only took half a ring before she answered. I’ll be in the city for a few more hours, he told her. Don’t worry about cooking dinner and just pick up something to eat, he responded a second later. He pressed ‘end call’ knowing that a relationship cannot be as easily done.

He knew this because it was she who made this true.


His friends realized who was at the restaurant and they all glanced at the woman, who for the last ten years became a presence in their friendship and yet she was nowhere near it. He looked at all of them as he stood up to walk to her when she returned from taking a call on her cell phone. His friends knew better than to say anything, so they said nothing. He walked up to her as she was ending her call and stopped in her tracks. She smiled at him as anyone would to a stranger and a second later, she realized who she was smiling at.

Hello, he said.
It’s been a long time, she responded.
Look at what a decade has done to you, he said.
That bad, huh? She smiled.
No, he looked away.


The elevator opened as he continued to pace back and forth. He stopped when he realized that it was her coming out of the elevator doors. He was still holding on to his cell phone. He clicked on the silence button. The gray blur continued to become dense. He didn’t mind much. He continued to twist his wedding ring as he walked towards her.

Hello again, he said.
She smiled at him and looked over his shoulder with a puzzled look.
Where’s your wife? I was hoping to meet her, she said.
She got stuck at work and couldn’t make it, he responded.


Finally, he stopped twisting his wedding ring.