A Chance Meeting | Chris Evans

Chapter 109

Part 2 of the misunderstanding, and it's a long one - sorry. I was going to split it, but I couldn't find a good place.
****

She was so desperate to hear from Chris that she practically jumped on her phone when it finally binged.
'Is that him?' Viv asked.
'Yes.' Becca said, scanning the message.

Chris 🤪
I'm fine.

She stared at her phone for a minute, expecting more to follow, but it didn't.
That's it? That's all you're gonna write?
Because you don't seem 'fine' to me.
And, wasn't he even going to mention the fact that he literally ran off?
'What'd he say?' Viv asked.
Becca relayed them the message.
Ella raised her eyebrows. 'Is that it?'
'Maybe he's typing a longer message.' Said Viv, ever hopefully.
'Doesn't look like it.' Becca said, checking the screen.
'Has he said why he left?' Viv asked.
'No.'
'Has he said if he's coming back?' Ella asked.
'No.'

Becs 📚
What happened? Why'd you leave?

Becs 📚
Did you have a panic attack?

She sat down to chat with her friends, with half an eye on her phone, but half an hour later he still hadn't replied.

Becs 📚
Chris?

Becs 📚
Are you sure you're okay?

Becs 📚
Are you coming back?

'I'm starving.' Ella said. 'Who wants Thai food?'
Everyone else agreed.
'Becca?' Ella prompted.
She looked at her phone again, but still no reply.
It's been over an hour since he left - looks like pizza night is cancelled. Might as well have Thai.
'Yeah, I guess I-' She stopped suddenly as her phoned binged again.
Finally!

Chris 🤪
Will call later

She blinked at her phone in annoyance, her concern turning to irritation.
Will call later?
Are you kidding me?
Could that be any more of a brush off?

Becs 📚
I assume that pizza and movie night is cancelled then?

She also typed 'thanks for letting me know' before deleting it without sending.
'What'd he say?' Ella asked. 'I'm guessing from the look on your face that it's not good.'
'It just says 'will call later'
'Ouch! Doesn't sound like he's coming back.' Ella pointed out.
'No, it doesn't.' 
What's going on with him today?
'No explanation or apology for blowing you off?'
'No.'
'Asshole.' Ella said, crossly.
Becca didn't feel like correcting her.
'Maybe he can't talk right now.' Viv suggested. 'Maybe he's in the middle of something.'
'Viv, you are entirely too nice.' Ella said. 'How much longer does it take to type 'sorry' for God's sake? It's five letters.'
'Will call later? That makes it sound like I've been hassling him and he wants me to back off.'
'Well his loss is our gain.' Viv said, giving Becca a quick one-armed hug. 'You can hang out with us and eat Thai food.'
Becca smiled. 'Thanks Viv.' But inside she couldn't quell a slight feeling of anxiety - what had happened today? Why had he been so...different?
'Well, let's go, this Thai isn't going to get itself.' Ella said to Viv and Justin.
'I'll stay here and help get everything ready.' Justin said. 'If that's okay with you?' He added to Becca.
'Sure.' She said with a smile.
'Plates are in that cupboard there.' She said, pointing. 'I'll grab the cutlery.'
'Becky?' Justin said as they carried everything through.
'Yeah?'
'I just wanted to check that...I hope this is okay, me being here? I know we agreed not to have any contact.' He said in a worried voice.
She smiled. 'No, it's fine Justin, really. Like I said, I'm happy to see you.'
Justin didn't look convinced.
'Look, I know I wasn't okay for a long time, but now I am. Everything's changed. I've changed.'
'Because of Chris?' Justin asked.
'Partly because of him, but mostly because of me.' She said. 'I'm really happy here.'
'And I appreciate you staying away when I needed you to.' She added. 'But you don't need to anymore.'
'You're sure?'
She laughed. 'Yes!' She said with emphasis.  'Like they say, time heals everything. I have moved on.'
'I'm glad you're happy.' He said. 'So what's the story with Chris Evans?' He added.
God, where do I start?
'We met online about four months ago. We matched up on a dating website - his friends had set his profile up without him knowing, and we started messaging.'
'Chris Evans needs to go on a dating website?'
Oh, you'd be surprised.
'Well, they used a different name and photo - we were messaging for quite a while before I knew who he was.'
'And now you're dating?'
'Well...erm...not exactly.' She laughed. 'More like pre-dating.'
'Pre-dating?'
'Yeah, you know, that point where you're kind of more than friends but you're not actually dating yet.'
'Ah, okay. I didn't know that was the term for it.'
'I may have made that up.' She said with a shrug.
'So what's he like?'
'Really sweet...well, normally.' She added with a small frown.
'He doesn't normally behave like that then?'
'What? The leaving?'
'The leaving, the blowing you off without apologising or explaining, the brush off 'will call you later' message. Dick moves.'
Yeah, it sounds bad when you put it like that.
'No, he's not normally like that at all. In fact, he's usually really kind and considerate and sweet. I don't know what happened.'
'You don't think it's because I'm here, do you?' Justin asked.
She shrugged. 'I'm not sure. But it wasn't just this evening - he's been a bit off all day.'
'Maybe he's got something on his mind.' He suggested.
'Yeah, I guess.'
'Well, he said he'd call later, maybe you can clear the air then.'
I hope so.
Hopefully he'd call and his weirdness today would be anxiety-related, and then everything could go back to normal.
The conversation was stopped by the sound of the front door opening.
'We're back!' Ella called.