He had waited twenty years to return it

He had waited twenty years to return it — he rather enjoyed the idea that there would be a reason he would get to see her again. It was a small item, quite trivial; a scarf, left behind on one of their first dates. It probably hadn't meant much to her then, but it had meant the world to Jeffrey. All throughout the relationship he cherished that scarf. He'd wanted to give it back, he really had, but he never found the right time. The longer the relationship went on, the odder he thought it would be to return that red, hand-knitted piece of clothing. It was totally nonsensical; they were in a relationship after all! Maybe there was a part of him that knew it wouldn't work out. Knew that, as blissful as those first few dates, even first few months were, Sarah was simply not the girl for him.

He held on to that scarf even after their relationship ended. Now, he thought, it would be even stranger to return the scarf. No, he couldn't have done it then. At the high school reunion back in his hometown, he had considered bringing the scarf along, perhaps cracking a joke about how he had "randomly" found it in the back of his closet and thought he would bring it back. He decided against it.

After 20 years, he thought the time was right. He had recently been through a divorce and heard through other high school friends that Sarah had as well. His imagination started spinning webs of possibility and his mind whitewashed all the bad memories, mistakes and fights he and Sarah had had during Junior High. Maybe its time we give it a second chance, Jeffrey thought. And so, after 20 years, he bought a plane ticket to the other side of the states, with Sarah's red scarf in hand and two decades of pent up hope and regret ready to divulge.