“Hello.”
She didn’t sound groggy like I’d woken her up but she did sound tired and was most likely about to head to bed.
“Hey.”
“Jack.” The way she said my name seemed like she missed me but was also weary at the same time.
“Melanie.”
“Did you get my voicemail?” She sounded unsure in her question, almost like she was hoping I hadn’t listened to it.
“I did,” I laughed and made myself comfortable on the couch. “I particularly liked the part where you paused and then finally said you were going to hang up.”
“Please don’t hold that voicemail against me.” Laugher came through the phone and I listened in as Melanie continued to talk. Every word she was saying, I wanted to hold on to.
“I didn’t know what I was going to say and then was rambling and then realized there was probably a time limit and then I froze.”
“It was cute.”
“Thanks.” Her sarcasm radiated through the phone.
“I hope I didn’t wake you.”
“Not at all. I just put Amelia to bed.”
“Do you normally stay up this late with Amelia?”
“Not normally but we stayed up watching Disney movies tonight. She passed out about an hour ago but I didn’t get up till the movie finished.”
“Sounds about right.”
“What’s that mean?”
“That you seem like the kind of woman who would stay up watching Disney movies all night and blame it on her daughter.”
“Don’t diss the Disney movies.”
“Never.” I crossed my heart like she could see me and laughed at myself.
“And yet you’re still laughing!”
“I promise it wasn’t you but at me. I crossed my heart like I was promising you but it’s not like you were here to see me do it.
“Oh.”
Melanie’s voice was soft in her short one-word answer. I looked at the clock, seeing barely any time had passed but it felt like we’d been on the phone for at least half an hour. It felt natural to talk to Melanie like this after seeing her at the cafe. I felt comfortable knowing the few things I could get away with asking her and talking to her about. Amelia was off limits, hopefully only for now, but there was one topic I’d wanted to bring up but knew I’d have to time it right if I was going to ask Melanie about her husband.
“If you need to go to bed, I’ll let you go.”
“No.” Melanie’s one-word response had her voice raising an octave and me trying to hide another laugh. “We can talk for a bit.”
“Alright, so tell me what you meant by your voicemail.”
“That again?”
“Yes. That again. You said you wanted to see me again.”
“I did.”
