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The Son that Could Have Been
“The Son That Could Have Been”
It was a cold November day in New York City and Amanda was working the morning shift at The Diner as usual. She looked at the clock and waited for it to be 9:00AM sharp, since everyday for the past 2 years she would expect him to come in and sit at the very same table. She poured his coffee, black, no sugar, no milk, just the way he liked it and made her way to his table to greet him good morning. He smiled as usual, as she asked him if he wanted his usual order. No words were needed since his smile said it all. They understood each other perfectly.
Alex was always in a rush, but never used this as an excuse to be rude to her. He kindly ate his meal, asked to get his coffee to-go, left a decent amount of tip for her and hurried out the door. Amanda looked at the clock, it was 9:20AM, as usual. She stood there holding the coffee in her hands as he saw him walk away. Every day it was the same, she lived for this 25 minutes in the morning where she could be next to her son and see him smile, enjoy a meal, a warm cup of coffee and watch him rush away to work. Even if he had no idea who Amanda really was, she thought it was the best to keep it this way. She could always know and sense where her son was because of this necklace she had and bought the day he was born. She loved him the instant she saw him, but she knew she wasn’t going to be able to be there for him or give him the life he would want. This is why she gave him in adoption to this really rich family who have taken care of him very well and he seems very happy with his life. She didn’t want to ever ruin it for him finding out who her mother really was. But as long as she had the necklace she was calm to know everything was okay.
The way this necklace worked was by holding it with both her hands and pressing it close to her chest. She closed her eyes, and she would see an image of him and his surroundings. It had been that way since she first gave him up. Suddenly, one morning she was waiting for him to come in as usual but the clock hit 9:10 a.m and he had not walked in yet. She started getting worried because this had never happened before. She went into the bathroom so no one could see her and she did her little magic with the necklace. This didn’t turn out the way she expected, all she could see was black, not his face, not a place, just a black image. Her heart started to speed up and it became harder to breathe, she had no idea what she could do. She didn’t know if there was something wrong with her son, or with the necklace. She was trying to think positive just imagining he had not heard his alarm clock but she also knew it wasn’t very probable.
She left the bathroom and tried to continue working normally although it was very hard. She also kept trying to see if she could see something different through her necklace but the black image was still there. She cried herself to sleep that night but had no idea what she was going to wake up the next morning to. When she came in the diner and the clock hit 9:00 a.m his son suddenly walked in as he usually did with nothing rare or different on him. Amanda could not contain herself and she ran towards him and gave him the strongest hug she had ever given anyone. Alex had no idea what was going on but he just patted her in the back. He asked her what was wrong but she just smiled with tears in her eyes. She ignored his question and just asked him if he would have what he usually ordered. He nodded, and she went right away to get it done. As soon as it was time for him to go he got up and when he opened the door he looked back and stared at her with a face full of confusion and wonder. She stared back and he just suddenly closed the door. With all the relief she was feeling she just took her necklace off, throwed it away and realized it was just torturing her and it was not realistic what she was doing with it. She decided to trust and have faith that everything would be okay even without the necklace.
