Tell Me With Flowers

5. The firsts

MEGAN

The ringtone of my phone cut the cool morning's air across the room that I laid in. With the sudden loud voice, I sat up straight, not knowing what was happening for a second.

I ran my hands around the bed, searching for the source of the killer tune that pierced through my head, leading to a splitting headache.

"Argh!" I screamed, not able to locate my said phone. I rubbed my eyes to remove the slumber as I glanced at the table clock to see it was six in the morning. "It's too freaking early!"

I ran my hands over my hair in frustration. The bird's nest that my hands found made me feel like my life was in a tangled mess that I hadn't seen so far. Perhaps that was true. A thwarted mood, a doomed self-confidence and a throbbing headache was not a combination I was looking for on an early Monday morning.

For all I knew, it wasn't a life I had expected of me, especially when I was a thriving businesswoman.

And just like that, my frame of mind veered down. What was happening to my life? Where was I heading? Suddenly, I felt like crying into the pillow, self-pitying myself as the ringing continued.

Just as a drop of tear started to accumulate, I shook my head no. I wasn't letting things like this get to me. I wasn't this weak. It was one call after all, and I could do it. All I had to do was breathe.

In and out. In and out.

I let the phone ring, as I steadied myself, turning my crumpled life into something bearable. At least for now. So, when the phone rang again for the fifth time in the morning, I wasn't fazed. I walked towards the bedside table, as calmly as I could ignoring the vexing that said the phone was here all this time and picked the call.

"Megan! Are you up?" It was Amber and all the collected cool started to vaporize into thin air. She knew I wasn't a morning person and yet, she had the audacity to call. I had to console myself that she didn't know about my anxiety attacks that had become sparse these days. "Megan!"

"What do you want?" I jutted out, running my hands over my hair, dumping it over my left shoulder. "It's still six in the morning, Amb. Can't this wait?"

"You won't believe what happened to me today!" Amber was still high from the morning rush. "Megan! Are you listening? Don't you dare sleep on me again! Megan!"

I had to do everything in my will power to stay calm and remember again to breathe. In and out. In and out.

"No." I said, my voice sounding lazy concealing the anxieties I held beneath it. "I'm fully awake now. Thanks to you."

"Oh, God! Megan." Amber said again and I had to endure the urge to roll my eyes at her. "You won't believe what happened to me today! You are awake, right? I'm coming over. Can you be a sweetheart and make a cup of coffee for me?"

Without waiting for my reply, she cut the call. Now, that my uneasiness had come down taking away my sleep, I felt more like myself than the person I was a few minutes ago. I reminded myself that Amber was coming over and I had to make some caffeine for her.

I heaved a sigh, throwing my phone on the bed, before I walked out of the bedroom. As I reached the bathroom, I twisted my lock of hair and tied into a bun, hoping that my soft hair wouldn't slip away and stay the way I want for once. And miraculously, they did. I brushed my teeth and washed my face before I headed to the kitchen.

The fact that Amber had called me up too early was like pouring cold water to my blissful sleep. With an evil mind, I decided to give her my own form of torture for her. I pulled out my lemon tea bags and boiled the water to get the deed done.