A[U]CTOR

His face was suddenly lightened

His face was suddenly lightened when he found her photo in the old box. They haven't seen each other since teenagers, since that love was broken for the move out.
And he wondered how she may be now. Would she still remember him? He looked at the phone, then at the photo and took a deep breath.

"Here goes nothing." He knocked on the door.

He stood on the dusty brown carpet outside. When he heard a click on the door and the door opened, he saw her.

"Oh hi there. Are you the new neighbor?" She asked him.

"No no, I'm Jack. Don't you remember?"

"Jack? Jack Daniels?! How have you been?" She asked him before hitting his shoulder. "Don't just stand there! Come in!" She invited him over.

He entered and saw the wood flooring, the tiled kitchen floor, the cornice, the european styled furniture, the fireplace, and the vase. The house neatly decorated.

"Do you want some cold cuts?" She offered, but Jack politely declined. "More for me then."

Jack and Jillian talked for an hour, reminiscing about old times. She laughed at some of the things they did when they used to sneak out during their teenage years.

"I remember about that time when we used to hangout at the park at night without our parents knowing."

"That was the easy part, the hard part was trying to get Julian off your back." Jack replied.

"That's what brothers do." Jillian added.

"I admit that he had me fooled for a second that one time." Jack replied has he raised a finger.

"Just because we're twins doesn't mean that we act the same." Jillian mock-scold.

"I know that, but you both hit really hard too." Jack admitted before he got hit on the shoulder. "You're still beautiful, though."

"You're darn tootin'!" Jill said before taking a sip. "I almost forgot to ask how's your family doing?" She asked.

"My parents are fine, thank God. My mom still insists that I give her grandkids."

"My mom is going nuts over my nieces. She wants to doll them up and make them dresses and sweets. Does your mom still bake those delicious pumpkin pies?"

"I'm not sure."

"Oh. It's okay, but let me tell you, with the pastries that your mom makes, she could open a bakery. I once told your mom that if I married you, she had to lend me the recipe. Too bad things didn't work out with the move and all that." Jillian told him.

"You did what?"

"I was joking. I planned to marry you regardless, but fate has its way of proving people wrong." Jillian implied. "After you moved away, it took me 2 years for me to move on. I went to college, I met a guy, dated the guy, got a part-time job, got pregnant, the scumbag I dated ditched me, I graduated, got promoted, and I became a single mom of an 8-year-old. A lot of things can happen in a span of 12 years."

"You have a kid?"

"Yeah, I have a son and I wouldn't change a thing." Jillian said. "His name is Jason by the way."

Jack frowned, the light expression he had suddenly faded. Is not the boy's fault that Jillian made brash decisions. He was just disappointed that she would throw away the promises they made to each other. The plans they had together, to marry and start a family together. May be this was his second chance to start over.