London Boy | Jamie Flatters

Forty-one

   June 2023

"Eden!" Calum yells from the front of the bus, loud enough for the entire state we're currently in to hear him. I sigh, my phone pressed up to my ear as it rings painfully slow as I wait for Jamie to pick up.

"Just a minute, Cal."

Just as I'm yelling that, Jamie's voicemail begins to play. I've heard it so many times I have it memorized, silently mouthing along to it. It seems nowadays, I'm listening to his answering machine more than I'm hearing his actual voice... and I'm sure he feels the exact same way.

I hang up without leaving a message, throwing my phone onto my bunk before sliding out and walking to the front of the boat, where the boys, Sierra and Crystal, are sitting. "You good, babe?" Crystal asks, her brows furrowed as I plop down beside her on the couch tiredly.

I hum, resting my head on her shoulder, "What's going on, Tim Tam?"

I glare at Luke across the bus as the use of their new nickname for me, playfully rolling my eyes. The boys had introduced me to Tim Tam biscuits, which they'd brought from Australia for the bus... and I might have gotten slightly addicted.

Apparently, eating an entire packet of Tim Tams a night is enough to earn the nickname Tim Tam. We had to order more from a specialty website the other night after running out, the boys pretending to be annoyed as we ordered every flavour.

They weren't really annoyed; I could tell they found me amusing.

"Haven't talked to J in a while," I admit, pulling my legs up to my chest and hugging my legs around them, "we just keep missing each other. I thought after everything that happened the night of my album release party, things would get better."

"And there not?" Michael asks, frowning as he pours a cup of coffee from the machine we have on the bus. I can't help but smile as he grabs a second cup down, the cup I've claimed as my own.

I shrug, "We text a lot. He's always sending me pictures of London, and I send him photo's from our shows every night. I shouldn't even be complaining. It's just..."

"Not the same?" Calum asks, finishing my sentence when I hesitate.

"Exactly," I nod, "it feels like he's on an entirely different planet or something. Whenever I can talk, Jamie's busy, and when he finally can, I'm too busy getting ready for the show... and by the time that's over, he's asleep."

Michael sits down beside me, nudging me with his arm as he passes me my coffee, made just how I like it. "We did long distance for a while," He admits, nodding over to his wife, "it wasn't easy. I remember there would be days it felt impossible, but we did it."

Before I can respond to Michael, my phone begins ringing loudly from my bunk, "That's him." I pass my coffee to Crystal quickly, practically tripping over my own feet as I sprint to my bunk. I don't want to miss him again.

I can't miss him again.

I press answer quickly, relief flooding through my as Jamie's face appears on my screen, "Oh my god, hi." I sigh, smiling. He looks tired, his hair a mess, as he smiles at me, clearly in bed. I can see his bare shoulders on camera, longing to be there and rest my head on them.

"Hey, Trouble," He smiles tiredly, "that was the longest game of phone tag ever."

He's right. We've been trying for days to find a time when both of us would be able to talk. Whenever I had downtime, he was filming, and whenever we weren't rehearsing or performing, Jamie was suddenly crazy busy. And then, before we knew it, he'd be in bed, asleep, waking up while I was asleep.