My shoulders sagged, dejected air seeping from my lungs. I guess that meant no stopping by since she wasn’t available. Her usual “in office” block wasn’t even there, so it must be important.
I hoped everything was alright.
Vibration coming off my hip made my heart leap in an emotion I couldn’t quite explain. The emotion soon drained as the same Connecticut number flashed across the screen. I stared at it, my hands going slick with sweat, my neck getting hot.
Was it her? No one else would try to reach me from back home. My parents sure hadn’t in the last ten years. Thishadto be my sister. But just like the last time, my movements stalled, my fingers unable to press the accept button on the screen.
“Gus?”
The phone fumbled out of my hand and clattered onto my keyboard in a loud crash. Reaching out I picked it up, praying to God it hadn’t answered. Suddenly I realized that if Ididpick up, and itwasMar, I wouldn’t know what to say to her.
Luckily nothing happened. Nothing but the screen I’d been looking at on the desktop suddenly getting larger and displaying just what I had been looking at to Jules.
Banging the keyboard, I quickly exited the tab, hopefully erasing the evidence of me snooping on Alta and turned in an exasperated huff. “Yes, J?”
She was looking at me weirdly, her palm cupped over the receiver of the shop landline phone as she leaned into the room. When she met my eyes, she raised an eyebrow. “Phone.”
“Alright,” I sighed, my heartbeat fluttering wildly. I pressed a hand to my chest as I started toward her, arm outstretched. “Don’t sneak up on me like that next time.”
She snorted, “Iknocked.”
“Yeah, yeah. Get back to work,” I said, taking the phone as I followed her out. Best to leave thoughts of the girl that was making me so jumpy locked behind my office door.
Pressing the phone to my ear, I grunted. “Yeah?”
“Augustus?”
Air stalled in my lungs at the sound of the soft, breathy voice on the other end of the line. My legs didn’t know what they wanted to do, but it was somewhere in the middle of giving out completely and propelling me into a run. They settled on an agitated few steps before I had to press a fist against the wall to keep my balance.
“Augustus are you there? I just heard you,” she said.
“How did you get this number?” I asked, voice gruff and accusatory right away.
“Auggie,please. It’s very important that we speak with you,” she said.
We.
I noticed her voice sounded tired and maybe a little broken. Still, I saw red. Maybe even redder because the sound of her voice still placed a large lump in the middle of my throat. The sound of her voice could still get me after all these years.
“Have you found your daughter?” I asked my mom in not so nice a voice. I thought I knew the answer, but I had to check to make sure. Her silence said all I needed to know. “Don’t ever call this number again.”
“Aug—”
I hung up before I could hear it again. That name only her and my sister used. Still, it didn’t stop the immediate rage that spread throughout my body. The immediate nostalgia of bitterness andanger. It had been ten years and still her voice could go straight to my heart. Her neglectful complacency landed there too.
I moved to the front counter in a daze. I wasn’t sure if I had yelled or whispered on the phone, but the shop was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. I could feel everyone staring at me, but I could feel the thundering of my heartbeat pulsing throughout my entire body even more.
With great care to be gentle, I set the phone down on the counter in front of me. It still snapped against the marble surface, causing Jules to jump.
“J?” I said, my voice a croak.
“Yeah?” she answered cautiously.
“Can you block that number for me, please?” I asked.
“Y-yeah!” she said immediately.
I nodded, thankful. “And don’t answer any more Connecticut phone numbers again, alright?”
