At least until I’m not in danger of death-by-feline.
I look down at the two faces staring back at me. One just happy to see me, the other plotting my painful demise if I don’t get my arse in gear and feed her. I have a black lab, Jen, and a half-Bengal cat, Kyla. Guess who’s got murder in mind?
Yep.
Not the dog.
Animals fed, I settle on the sofa with a coffee, phone in hand.
But instead of typing out the message I was all for sending about half an hour ago, I hesitate.
It’s not that I don’t want to contact him, because I do. I really fucking do. But now that I’ve finally sat down to do it, I’m not sure what to say. I’m guessing Reed won’t be thrilled to know that Sean and I’ve been discussing him, even if it’s because Sean’s obviously worried about him.
The fact is I don’t know Reed, not really.
But I’d like to.
I open our message thread and stare at the screen. Fuck, I could sit here all night and still not come up with the perfect thing to say.
Start simple. You don’t need to go all in with the first message.
Okay.
Jerry: Pretty sure this radio silence is the opposite of what we said in our last conversation, Reed.
There. Light and teasing, nothing too heavy.
When my phone stays silent for the next couple of minutes, I realise I’ve been sat looking at it, waiting for Reed to reply. He could be out, asleep, in the shower, literally doing a hundred things that mean he hasn’t read it yet.
Or he’s read it and doesn’t want to reply.
Whatever it is, watching my phone all night isn’t how I want to spend my evening. I’m thirty-seven years old. Surely I’m past the point of checking for messages every five minutes?
To prove a point, even if it’s only to me, I put my phone face down on the coffee table and head to the kitchen to make dinner.
Turns out it’s harder than I thought it would be to leave it in there.
Before, I was disappointed that Reed hadn’t been in touch since he went home, but I’d kind of accepted it for what it was. Now, though, since I’ve made contact again, Ireallywant him to reply.
Every time my phone vibrates with an incoming message, my pulse spikes, quickly followed by disappointment when it’s not Reed.
I’m at work at seven in the morning, so I head to bed early, Kyla and Jen traipsing up after me. I’m in the middle of cleaning my teeth when my phone chimes.
I have the same notification for every text message I get, but somehow Iknowthis time it’s him.
It’s Reed.
I’m not proud of the way I practically throw my toothbrush on the bathroom counter and rush back into my bedroom. Jenisn’t all that impressed when I trip over her either, but I make it to my phone without injuring either of us, so I’m calling it a win.
I’ve got it set so only the name of the sender appears on my screen, the actual message is hidden.
Reed’s name sits there, teasing me, and my pulse races way too fast for a text message from a friend.
Analmostfriend.
I ignore all that and open Reed’s message.
Reed:Hey. Sorry about that. Things here have been kind of hectic lately. I guess I lost track of time.
