While it can still help

I sent a message before I had an answer today. It felt incomplete enough that I nearly waited until it was accurate.

The request to leave work early was still unanswered. The repair contact was still waiting for me to confirm the afternoon they had offered. If work said yes, the window might reach into the time she and I had discussed for another call. If work said no, there might not be a repair window at all.

I knew all of that. I did not know which part would become true.

At first I wrote her the sequence.

I explained that the file was unfinished, that I had asked about leaving, and that the repair could not be confirmed until work replied. I added that the sink was contained. I read the message twice and could already hear myself reaching the end with nothing she could use.

The useful fact was smaller than the explanation.

Work still hasn't answered about the repair. It may change our time tonight. I'm telling you now instead of waiting until I know for sure.

I sent it.

The message showed as delivered before I could decide whether may made it too vague. I put the phone beside the keyboard and went back to the unfinished file. The section in front of me still had both totals in it. Keeping the old one visible made the difference clear, but it also made the sentence around it harder to finish.

Her reply came while I was changing that sentence.

Thanks for telling me. I'll make another plan for tonight. Tell me when you actually know.

I had expected the notice to hold our time in place. That was not something she had promised.

I started a reply saying the call might still be possible. Then I read her message again. She had not asked me to estimate the chance. She had told me what she was doing with the information.

I deleted the estimate.

I will.

That answer took less time to send than the notice. I did not feel finished after either one.

For the rest of the afternoon, I kept the work message open in a corner of the screen. No reply appeared. I finished the sentence around the two totals and marked the next section, but the file was still not done when I stopped.

The repair contact had not withdrawn the offered window. I had not confirmed it. I could ask work again, accept the window without an answer, or let it go and request another one. None of those choices became better because I had warned her.

At the time we might have spoken, I was back at the apartment table. The phone did not ring. She had made another plan.

The work message still had no answer. The repair window was still waiting for mine.