I’m Glad You Called

I sigh softly, laying on my bed and holding my phone. Should I try calling again? Glancing at the time displayed on my screen, 1:26am, I decide against it. It’s unlikely he would answer in the middle of the night. My stomach grumbled, reminding me that I hadn’t eaten in too many hours. Begrudgingly, I sat up from by bed and rubbed my face. I slipped my phone into my pocket and stood up, walking towards my bedroom door. Making my way through the house and into my kitchen, my mind kept racing, asking too many questions to keep track of. Would he ever answer? Would he remember me? After all, it’s been six years since we spoke. Will he say he’s missed me as much as I’ve missed him? Maybe I’ll never know.

With a heavy sigh, I open my fridge to study it’s contents. I have the basics of milk, eggs, butter. There’s also some left over Chinese takeout from last night. Grabbing the small takeout box, I open it and sniff the food. Taking out the plastic fork, I place the container in my microwave and press the timer. Leaning against the kitchen counter, I pull my phone from my pocket and hope there’s somehow a text from him. Unsurprisingly, there is not. The beeping of the microwave startles me out of my thoughts. Cursing under my breath, I open the microwave and grab the food.

Walking towards my sofa, I grab the remote and turn on the TV. I flick through the channels, most of which are playing infomercials that I don’t particularly care for. My chest feels like it lurches when I stop on a channel playing an episode of our favorite show to watch together. I let out a shaky breath as I stare at the TV, emotions flooding through me. I’m not sure exactly how much time had passed when I snapped out of my daze, but my food was room temperature rather than scalding hot so at least I could eat it.

I ate in silence while watching episode after episode, the only other sounds being the occasional heavy nose exhale at a joke in the show. After finishing my food, I set the container beside me and checked the time. It was now nearly 6:00am. “Damn, have I really been watching TV that long?” I thought to myself. “He’s probably awake by now. Should I try calling again?” My finger hovered over the call button next to his phone number. I had so many thoughts running through my mind and so many feelings coursing through my chest.

Swallowing my pride, I took a deep breath and hit the call button. It rang once, then twice, then.. “Hello?” My heart was pounding in my chest and I was struggling to speak. “Alex, I.. Is it really you?” There was silence for a minute and I was sure he had hung up. “Jake?” A breath of relief that I didn’t realize I was holding escaped my lips. “Oh my god, I didn’t think you would answer.” I could feel tears forming in my eyes and threatening to fall down my cheeks as I awaited his reply. “Wow.. How long has it been now?”

“Six years.” I heard a soft chuckle from the phone and the tears started flowing down my cheeks. “Six.. Jake, I’m sorry for the way things ended with us.” Grabbing a napkin, I wiped my nose and cheeks with it. “I’ve missed you, Alex.” There was another long silence and just as I was about to ask if had hung up, I heard what sounded like sniffling. “Oh god, I’ve missed you too. I missed you so much.” His voice was shaky, almost like a scared child. “I never should have let Maria come between our friendship. We broke up a few months after.. After she made me cut you off completely.”

Now it was my turn to be silent. I couldn’t find the words to speak. “What? Then.. Then why did you never answer any of my calls before now?” He let out a nervous, almost embarrassed chuckle. “I changed phones and wouldn’t remember your number to unblock it. Last night I had to start using my old phone again and I went digging to find your number. I wanted to call you as soon as I unblocked it but I was nervous.” I wiped my face with the napkin again.

“Oh, Alex.. Do you still live in Lost Springs?” I heard him shuffling around before replying. “Yeah, I do. What about you?” Despite everything, I couldn’t help but let a small smile form on my lips. “Yeah.. I do.” His own hopefulness could be heard through the phone. “Oh my god, really? Jake, we have to meet up somewhere.” I chuckled softly, my eyes suddenly feeling very heavy as I realized I hadn’t slept a wink. “Yeah, tomorrow definitely. I.. Need to sleep.”

I’m sure he could hear the exhaustion in my voice. “Did you not sleep at all?” Forgetting that he couldn’t see me, I shook my head. A moment of silence passed before I finally said anything. “Ah, no.. Our old favorite show came on and I guess I lost track of time.” An audible yawn came from my mouth as I heard Alex chuckle on the other end. “Sounds like you. Well, you get some sleep, you hear? And we can catch up tomorrow.” I let out another yawn as my eyes drifted closed. “Wait, Alex.. Can you stay on the line while I fall asleep?” I asked nervously, waiting on his reply. “Of course I can.” A smile formed on my face again as I drifted off to sleep, finally reconnected with my best friend.