Imagining Us

Chapter 17

"What do you mean you can't pick me up?" Esi tried to keep the annoyance out of her voice as she spoke to Lena. She hadn't gotten much sleep, and all the travel just to get to the train left her worn out. It was a learning experience. Next time her work would have to wait, she would just drive down to New York and face the city traffic going into Queens.

Her annoyance was increasing because Lena previously insisted that Esi didn't have to park her car at the lot across from the train station. She swore that she would've been there to pick her up. Esi knew that Lena had a meeting for a potential fellowship with a Brazilian orchestral  group that weekend. There was a strong possibility that they would be interested in her, and who knows how long the meeting would be.
Her friend was so stubborn with her insistence, and now Esi was left stranded.

"I'm really sorry, Esi. I didn't expect them to like my piece or even ask me to lunch," Lena tried to temper the excitement in her voice, but Esi could hear the undertones, and beneath her annoyance, she was happy for her friend.

"It's fine, I'll call someone to get me."

"Is it really ok? Who are you gonna call?" Lena asked, then she muffled the phone, and Esi could hear someone calling her name in the background.

"Lena, go! It's fine I'll just call my parents or something."

"Ok. Thank you, girl. I'm sorry again," Lena replied quickly then hung up.

Esi stood in the chilly air contemplating what to do. She looked at the time on her phone. There was no way that she could call her parents, they were probably at their church since it was a Sunday morning. She knew that her dad wouldn't have his phone with him, and her mum would be too tuned into the worship to even check her phone.

Esi couldn't even ask Mrs. Chandler because she had her bag of kids to deal with.
The idea flew into her mind before she could even stop it, but she would be a hypocrite if she asked him. She still hadn't responded to his texts, and their friendship hadn't even progressed to the level where they would call each other. Although, they did send each other voice notes, so maybe calling him could be seen as continuous voice notes? Esi tried to justify her actions.
She did have some of her classmates' numbers, specifically those that she did group projects with, but she wasn't that close with any of them. It would have to be Porte.

Her nerves were a bit frazzled, but she tried to work up the courage to call him.
Excuses kept popping up in her mind. Suppose he was busy. He was probably spending time with his family. Maybe he had a girlfriend that he was spending the day with. She did know that he wasn't at church because from their many texts and voice notes, he told her that he usually went to the 6:00 am service—which she told him was ridiculous. Sundays are meant for lounging. It's fine to get up early on weekdays, but the weekend was her time to relax.

There was a wooden bench about three feet away from where she stood. She eyed it cautiously; there was a high probability that it was not sanitized, but she needed the support to make the call. Esi grabbed her weekender bag that she had laid on her feet, and shuffled over to the bench. She could almost see her breath in the air as she breathed; she shivered and the thought that she should have brought another jacket popped into her mind.

Okay, Esi. Stop stalling.  She mentally chided herself. Just call him. If he says no, he says so.
She scrolled down to the letter "P" in her contacts, and pressed his name. Her finger hovered over the call button. Esi closed her eyes and winced as she pressed it. Anyone else around who happened to be observing her must wonder what was wrong with her.
She lifted the phone to her ears. There was no one near her, yet she couldn't put it on speaker. Because she didn't want the rejection to be heard out loud.