A Surprise ⇢ Callum Ilott

THIRTY

EVERY DAY UPLOAD DAY. ENJOY X

A buzzing sound filled the room of Catherine. She let out a deep sigh, and she squeezed her eyebrows together. Make it stop. Catherine turned away from the buzzing sound and wrapped the blanket tighter around her body. It made her wonder why her phone was buzzing in the middle of the night, or was it morning already? It made her only grumpier, how could it be morning already?

Catherine turned to the buzzing phone, and she opened her eyes reluctantly. Just when she reached for her phone, the buzzing stopped; this couldn't be the alarm. She opened her eyes and looked at the clock; it was three o'clock. Catherine didn't even bother to look at her phone, so she turned around in bed and fell asleep again.

❉

The first thing Catherine did when she woke up was looking at the time. It was a decent time to get up, but she didn't want to get up because it was just so cosy in bed. Waking up at 9:30 was fine. However, she needed to get up because she had to visit her work.

Catherine stretched her body and yawned. She got up and opened the curtains. Sunshines entered the bedroom, the sun was shining! Catherine went to the bathroom and did her morning routine. She changed into a casual outfit and grabbed her phone on the way out to the living room. Catherine put on the tea cooker and made herself a bowl of cereal and an apple.

After she ate breakfast and reading the newspaper, Catherine started to check her phone. She didn't receive many notifications; a notification about a news item, a missed phone call and a message for a voicemail. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw who called her.

It was Callum.

Catherine parted her lips, and she stared at it for a few minutes. Why would Callum call her in the middle of the night?

"Oh, that was him who called," she said to herself and started to listen to the voicemail he left her.

It was silence for a few seconds. "Cate?" Callum's voice filled the room. "Cate?"

Catherine closed her eyes and put her face in her hands. "Callum..." she whispered.

"I miss you," he admitted. "I...I miss you, Cate. I like you a lot, and I can't stop thinking about you. I have no idea why I like you, I guess it's just the vibes you give me, the smiles you put on my face and just the fact that you can make me think of you even if we aren't talking. Even when we are in some kind of fight. And I don't want to be in a fight with you because I care about you," he blurted. "Because I love...like you. When we kissed in Abu Dhabi, I wanted to kiss you more. I can't stop thinking about the kiss."

Catherine swallowed hard, this was tough to hear. Callum ignored her for days and showed all the possible signs he was done with her. However, they kissed. And now this voicemail. Catherine started to accept the situation she screwed up, but this was screwing it up even more. So many mixed signals, which one should she believe?

Callum laughed. "But look at me, the perfect example of a failure," he said. It sounded like he took a sip of something. "Drinking beer, vodka... Calling the girl I like while I called everything off. How pathetic?" He deeply sighed. "I'm sorry if I bothered you, pretend I never called you and just pretend you never listened to this - if you listen to this." The voicemail ended.

"Jeez, Callum," Catherine said and shook her head. "What is going on?" She deeply inhaled and looked up.

The conclusion was quickly made: Callum was really pissed. Catherine stared in front of her; she didn't know what to do. He was drunk, he probably shared things he didn't mean, but drunk people somehow tell the truth. It was a difficult situation, there were so many emotions involved. Catherine was confused, somehow relieved, but also upset about it. Could she trust his words? There was nothing more in this world than Catherine wanted to make things alright with Callum, but the chances were small that would happen.