Hating the Player - Loving the Game

Chapter 8: Surprises All Around

I am so lost in my own thoughts that I don't notice when their laughter suddenly quiets. Not until Millie starts frantically calling my name -despite only being a foot away- and shoving her phone in my face:

"Aphra! Aphra, what do I do? What do I do? You take it!" she says practically tossing the phone at me.

I look at the screen. My name is displayed. My phone is calling her.

"What? No. Why would I answer your phone? Don't you think he'll find that weird? You answer it! Tell him you'll tell me he has my phone and to call him." I toss it back at her like a hot potato.

"What if he recognizes my voice? Why didn't he text me - who the hell calls people nowadays? Can't we just let it ring out, then text him?" She squirms.

"Good idea"

"Do you have voicemail on your phone?" Jaime asks quickly in a serious tone, speaking for the first time

"Uh, yeah?" Millie says it like a question, confused why he is asking.

Without warning he snatches the phone away from her and hits 'answer'. My heart skipped a beat. He didn't speak. Jay was probably on the other end asking 'hello? anyone there?'. Jaime was smart - Jay would probably give up and text us instead.

"Yeah?" Jaime says into the phone that he is now holding up to his ear.

What the Hell? Millie and I just stare, wide eyed. Baffled beyond words. Baffled, not because we think our cover is blown due to Jay's brother answering the phone, but because...well, he answered the phone in a girl's voice. The tension in the room was palpable, as Millie and I stayed frozen, waiting for something - anything else to happen. Jaime just silently held the phone to his ear, likely listening to whatever Jay was telling 'Monica'.

"Ah, I see. Well, that 'splains it - she was convinced she'd left it in my car. Made me drive out to meet her than call her number 'til she gave up." It was an airy, almost serene sounding voice- except for the tinge of annoyance he added to it. He would have sounded like a sexy girl was speaking, if not for the fact that he inflected it in what can only be called a 'basic-bitch accent'. 

I was floored. Completely astounded. I could not imagine Jay recognizing his brother's voice. It was an impossibility. It was kind of bizarre and unsettling hearing that voice coming out of Jaime. My brain can't quite connect the two properly. But regardless, I was grateful... and amazed in a weird way.

"What am I, your errand-girl?" He said. Beside me, Millie slapped her hand over her mouth to stop a surprised giggle from escaping. "Fine" a pause "Yeah. Sure, sure"

When he hung up, there was a moment of silence, not unlike in those first moments after he had answered the phone. But instead of tension, the pause was filled with anticipation. Jaime hesitated a moment before turning to look at us, drawing out the moment before he would have to make eye contact. He could imagine what was about to greet him when he did.

After his second of hesitation, Jaime turned and held out the phone in Millie's direction. His face gave nothing away, he was putting on a mask of casualness, but his eyes were still not exactly meeting ours.

He was clearly holding onto some shred of hope that we would just drop it, but when Millie exclaimed my inner thoughts:

"What in the holy Hell was that?!"

I saw him let out a breath and cringe a little. Finally looking up to meet our eyes, he slipped back into laid-back facade, and shrugged, doing his best to appear unfazed by our shocked stares.

"If the call went to voicemail, he'd realize that he was calling someone named 'Millie'. Honestly, we should've thought of that earlier. Aren't you in charge of logistics?" He directed the question towards me, clearly trying to deflect. I am pretty sure he doesn't actually know what logistics means considering he just misused it. Technically, he was in charge of logistics, as well as partial intel. Though, yeah, the voicemail thing should've been my catch. I kind of dropped the ball on that one. Regardless, Millie and I would not be distracted.