𝓜𝓲𝓷𝓮

31|duty calls

D I A N E

With a hair tie around my wrist, I pulled my hair up into a messy bun as I made my way to the kitchen.

I set a kettle on the stove to boil while I brushed my teeth. Just as I was rinsing my mouth, my phone began to ring. I spit out the water and rinsed my mouth again, grabbing my phone on the way to the kitchen. I picked up the call, putting it on speaker so I could continue making my tea that  Luka had bought for me.

I sighed when I saw the caller ID, but picked up the call anyway. Roseline's face appeared on the screen, her smile bright even through the screen. "Good morning, sunshine," she said, her voice warm. I couldn't help but return her smile. "Hi, Rosie," I said, feeling a little more cheerful.

"Ew, Rosie?" she scrunched up her nose in distaste at the nickname. "Hey, it's cute!" I protested, but she just shook her head in disagreement. "Anyway," I continued,

"what's up?"

I took a sip of my freshly made tea, savoring the warmth. "Not much," she said.

Her long, brown hair was lighter than usual, likely a result of the summer sun. Her blue eyes sparkled as she looked at me, and I couldn't help but smile at the sight. It was rare to see her so relaxed, and I wanted to preserve that feeling for as long as possible.

"I don't have any classes today, so I'm just relaxing. How about you?"

"Nothing much om my side as well," I lie. "What about the dinner you had last night?"

I nearly choked on my tea, nearly spilling it all over myself. "Dinner?" I sputtered, already knowing where this was going but hoping that I was wrong. "You know," she said, "the dinner you forgot to tell me about." I winced, guilt washing over me. "Oh... that dinner," I said, my voice sheepish. "Yeah," she said, "that dinner." I could hear the disappointment in her voice, and I felt horrible.

"Well..."

I let out a sigh of relief as my phone started ringing, but my relief was short-lived when I saw who the caller was. Yulia. I rolled my eyes, looking back at Roseline. "Sorry," I said, "I've got to take this. It's Yulia." Roseline's face fell, but she nodded. "I understand," she said, her voice resigned. I felt even worse now, but I knew I had to take the call.

"I have to go," I said, feeling a twinge of guilt. "Duty calls." Roseline's jaw dropped, and she looked at me in disbelief. "You never tell me anything," she said, but I just blew her a kiss. "I love you," she said, rolling her eyes. I grinned and hung up.

As soon as I hung up, Yulia dropped the call. I rolled my eyes and tapped on the missed call notification, calling her back. I pressed the phone to my ear, already anticipating the barrage of questions I would have to answer. But what she said next took me by surprise. "Good morning," I said, forcing a cheerful tone into my voice. I tried to hide my irritation, reminding myself that it was my job to be polite. Maybe she was calling about something work-related? I hoped so. I didn't want to deal with any drama today.

"Why are you calling me so early in the morning?" I heard over the line, and I jerked my head back in surprise.

Was she being serious?

I quickly collected myself. "You called me," I clarified, a hint of annoyance in my voice. There was a pause, and then she spoke again. "Oh, right," she said, sounding sheepish. "Sorry about that." I let out a sigh, trying to let go of my irritation.

"Oh," she said, sounding surprised. "Well, I wanted to talk to you about a few things I'm not happy with regarding the wedding, and since it's getting closer I figured I should tell you." I held my breath, dreading what she was going to say next. This was not how I wanted to start my day. "Like what?" I asked, my tone carefully neutral. I didn't want to get angry, but it was hard not to feel a little irritated.

I had done everything she had asked for, down to the last detail. Yet here she was, calling me to complain about something else. I let out a heavy sigh, not having the energy to argue with her. "Sure," I said, trying to keep the irritation out of my voice.

"I'll be at the venue at the usual time. I'll check on how things are going." She paused, as if she had expected me to put up more of a fight. "Okay," she said, sounding slightly mollified.

I hung up the phone, but before I could even take a breath, another notification popped up. You've got to be kidding me, I thought. I looked at my phone, groaning when I saw the text. It was from Claudia, and it said "We need to talk." Oh, joy. Just what I needed. 

I sighed, not sure if I had the energy to deal with this right now.

I put my phone on airplane mode and heading into the shower.

I needed to wash away the frustration that was building up inside of me. I turned on the water, letting the hot spray wash over me. I tried to clear my head, focusing on the sound of the water and the feeling of the steam on my skin. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying to relax.