A Surprise ⇢ Callum Ilott

TWENTYTWO

It was silence between Catherine and Callum when they sat down in the lobby. Catherine chewed on the inside of her cheek and looked at her fingers; her nails were long, the last time they were this long, was probably a few years ago. She never could grow her nails long because of her job. Callum stared at a random point in the lobby, he waited for Catherine to speak up.

"So, err..." Catherine spoke up and cleared her throat. She couldn't handle the silence anymore. "How are you doing?"

Callum scoffed and was shaking his head. "Are you being serious?" He looked at her; Catherine had a fragile look on her face. "You happily show up like nothing happened, and now you want to talk after seven weeks of silence? I mean, sure, but don't come to me," he sneered annoyed.

Catherine's eyes widened, she didn't see that coming. "I have tried to call you three times, so don't put this on me," she shot back.

"When?"

"A few weeks ago."

His eyebrows rose. "Yeah, sure."

"Perhaps if you answer your phone for once, you would know it."

"Oh, Catherine..." Callum looked unbelievable at Catherine. "Perhaps you should have answered your phone. But it's clear to me. I don't even know why you want to talk to me. Like, do you want to hurt me more, or are you rubbing this mistake in my face twice as hard?" His eyebrows lowered, but he had to keep himself calm. They were in a lobby, just like a lot of other people.

Looking back at the situation, Catherine knew she was wrong, but she couldn't change the past. At that time she thought it was okay. "I had a car accident," she softly said. "Three people died, I was the only one who survived it. I have a broken wrist and..."

The angry look on Callum's face changed into a soft look. He scanned her face and saw how much she was struggling with it. So that was what happened to her arm. "What happened?" His voice was soft.

"A man had a blackout while driving and drove into a car what turned to the left and drove into me," Catherine explained.

"Jesus Christ, Cate. When did it happen?"

She took a deep breath. "The evening before we were supposed to meet up."

"Ow." Callum swallowed hard. It happened that evening, and that must be why she didn't show up the next day, but the ignoring part still didn't make sense in this story. "And you didn't think that I should know about it? You could at least let me know you were fine." Callum's voice started to raise.

"I was in an accident-"

"Exactly!"

Tears filled Catherine's eyes; she knew she fucked up. She looked up at the ceiling, hoping the tears would go away.

"An accident, Catherine. That is a big deal. I care about you and... I'm not expecting a detailed rapport about the accident, but a simple message that you were fine, would make everything much easier," Callum explained and sighed. "Why didn't you let me know anything?"

Catherine cleared her throat and blinked a few times, the tears were gone. "My phone broke during the accident. I was in a panic, and I needed time because I was scared. When I got the news I couldn't be a chef anymore, I needed to leave. I lost myself," she said.

"That isn't giving you the reason to ignore me. You could have asked George to send me a message, or you could find another way to do it like writing a letter or a carrier pigeon. I went to your house to see if you were there, we called George to ask about you. You just disappeared." Callum understood that she lost herself because her career was over, but Catherine could let him know something. "I thought I meant something to you."