Priorities

“Boundaries. Distances. Limits. These are words that describe spaces, but when they started defining their relationship, that’s when Sam knew that he had made a wrong turn somewhere down the line. Sipping his morning coffee, he questioned himself, “How did they get here?” He knew the answer to this in his heart, yet denied it fervently. His ambition to reach to the top had made him a workaholic. His work had gained precedence over his family and quite frankly his entire existence. He was now defined, by his corner office, a leather chair and the profound name board on the table that read “Vice President”. Regret rang in his head like an alarm, to the time he forgot his wedding anniversary, missed his grandpa’s funeral and most of all, his daughter’s birthday. His mind replayed the teary eyes of his little princess, when he saw her, the next day. “Daddy doesn’t love me” she had said, with eyes drowned in tears. Her words had stung him hard, and her eyes didn’t spare him either. This string of thought was a revelation to him. In that moment, as he stared at their framed family picture on his table, he decided to make a change. He decided to become the husband and father he never was; one that was there for his family.  He laid the cup on the table, leaving a white ring on the wood, he couldn't care less about. A sudden excitement overcame him, as he picked up the phone to call his assistant. He cancelled all his appointments for the day, instructed her to order a bunch of 20 red roses and hurriedly told her that he will be leaving, once the flowers arrived...

An hour later, he was practically running to his car with the bunch of roses shadowing his face. He was thinking how he would apologize to his wife, tell her how much he loved her, and their baby, and how much he regrets not being there for them in the past months and beg for a second chance. Once in his car, he accelerated out of the basement car park and averaged at around 120 km/h on this way home. Repeatedly, he kept on looking at the bunch of roses and imagined the smile he hoped to see on his wife's face. He almost broke a stop sign as he turned to their house, but paid no attention to it.  Once parked outside their home, he got out, the key still in the ignition, ran into the house screaming his wife’s name, at the top of his lungs. There was an ominous silence inside the house, he couldn’t quite understand. He ran up the stairs to their bedroom, dropping a few roses on the way, that escaped the knot of the bouquet. He sank to the floor, along with his heart, when his eyes found the note on the bed, that read, “Honey, we tried. You didn't. Good bye. Love, Sarah and Rose”