Decades

Call Me

Stevie and Lindsey chatted on her mobile phone for the entire evening. It was as if they talked every day. They didn't get into any sort of deep conversation. But, they enjoyed talking about the everyday happenings in their lives. Before they knew it, they'd spent the entire evening catching up, but were no where ready to get off the phone.

Stevie started telling Lindsey about a new lamp she'd just received that day and asked if he wanted to see it. As a rule, he didn't have a particularly strong interest in interior lighting, but if she wanted to play show-and-tell with him, he'd develop one. "Sure, I'd love to see your lamp!"

He talked her through answering a Facetime call and dialed her. With very little commotion, she answered, and suddenly, after so long, they were smiling at each other.

"Hey, you!" Lindsey said to her.

"Hey to you too," replied Stevie smiling while trying to figure out a more flattering angle.

Stevie adjusted her wireframe aviator glasses to get a better look at Lindsey. "Where are you?" she asked, noticing it was dark and he seemed to be in a car.

"I'm in a parking lot near the marina," he laughed.

"Have you been in your car this whole time?" they'd been talking for close to two hours by then.

He wasn't sure why, but he was a little embarrassed by that. "Yeah, I wanted to give you my undivided attention, so I decided not to drive home yet."

"Lindsey, you don't have to stay in a dark parking lot for hours. Is it not too chilly out? You could have called me back another time." she told him.

"Stevie, I haven't talked to you in ages," he wanted to tell her that he didn't know if there would be another time, it had been so long since they'd been on good terms. But he didn't want to make things heavy. So, he said, "It's nice out. I didn't mind."

She tried to show him the lamp she'd acquired but couldn't figure out how to toggle the camera. She didn't realize he wasn't seeing what she was aiming at. And he didn't tell her because he actually preferred it this way. Watching her delight as she switched it on and off was way better than any Tiffany lamp could be.

He wanted to tell her he was glad they were friendly again. He wanted to ask her what made her reach out. He wanted to tell her that he needed to know that she'd stay in his life this time. Instead, he said, "The glass is really beautiful. How old did you say it was?"

Stevie launched into a long-winded story about the lamp, where it came from, how she'd won it at an auction, and who it had belonged to before it came to live at her house. He loved hearing her talk, he loved her rambling stories, heck, he loved her. How had he been away from her enthusiasm for this long? Having her on the other end of his telephone made him feel infinitely better.

"Lindsey, I need to let you hang up! I just looked at the time; it's after midnight, past your bedtime. You need to go home and get out of that car! I don't want you to get sleepy and have an accident on the drive home."

"Well, maybe you could just stay on the line with me until I get there," he winked. "Just to be safe."

"Well, sure, of course! But you can't be on that screen. Hook the call up to your radio thingy, use the Blueteeth!"

Stevie was so sincere that he had to hide his laugh when she referred to Bluetooth as if it were plural. She was still so funny and so cute. True to her word, she talked to him on the drive home, though he wasn't at all sleepy. He just didn't want to let her go yet.

They talked about who had gotten old at Christine's memorial. And caught up on all the industry gossip. They discussed who was doing what, where and with whom. Stevie had the best gossip and it was always entertaining to hear her relay a story.

Stevie asked about the kids. And quizzed him about each of them, one at a time. She enthusiastically peppered him with questions about each of them. She was genuinely interested in every detail and delighted in the stories he shared about his beautiful girls and handsome son. She was sorry she hadn't been able to enjoy a closer relationship with them. She didn't mention it. She'd rather avoid those details. Life was complicated enough without dredging up their issues.

He arrived home safely and let himself inside. He was met by a pack of happy dogs. Stevie was still on the line and heard them barking. She inquired about them and asked to Facetime again so she could see them. He introduced her to the pups she hadn't met, while she greeted the ones that she had. As he took them outside, he told her all about them.

They could go on like this all night, discussing all of the small details that made up their lives. So, that's exactly what they did. For Stevie, this wasn't an incredible feat. She stayed up all night anyway. But, for Lindsey, it was totally out of the ordinary. However he was determined to stay on the phone with her until she decided it was time for them to hang up.

As the sun came up, they were both making coffee. "Let's watch the sunrise," Stevie suggested. Delighted with the idea, Lindsey made his way to his deck, and Stevie sat on her balcony. They ooohed and ahhed at the sun's appearance, finally quietly sipping from their mugs.

"This is nice," Stevie told Lindsey. He thought she sounded a little surprised, which sort of stung. But things hadn't been "nice" between them in ages, so he supposed he was surprised, too.

"I like spending time with you," Lindsey admitted. He looked at her image in the phone, hair tied back and the warmth of the sunrise illuminating her with a perfect, golden glow. He'd imagined that she'd changed so much that they could never connect again. When he thought of her, he'd imagined her as a bitter person who didn't enjoy simple things like sunrises anymore. But, here she was, soft and sweet. She seemed taken with her hot beverage, an all-night conversation with him and the beautiful sunrise.

She was shockingly the same as she'd always been. Lindsey supposed he'd had to make her out to be a villain in order to suffer through his being booted from the band and her life. But, here she was, as much Stevie, as much his Steph, as she'd ever been.

Lindsey had slipped on sunglasses as the sun really began making itself known. Typically, on the West Coast, they watched beautiful sunsets. But from the right vantage point, sunrises here could be breathtaking as well.

Lindsey yawned and stretched as Stevie observed him. "Time to go to bed, sleepyhead!" Stevie said. "You've already pulled an all-nighter. If you don't watch it, you're going to turn into a night owl like me," she smiled.

He smiled back at her, reluctant to hang up. They'd officially been on the phone with each other the entire night and they hadn't uttered a single cross word. It seemed too good to be true.

"Okay, I guess I'm should knock out. I don't think the coffee is going to keep me up," he told her.

They both continued to sip their drinks, neither making any further moves to hang up.

Stevie stretched and yawned, he watched her on the screen. Those familiar sounds took him back to a sweeter time and he couldn't help but smile again. He was doing a lot of that tonight, or rather this morning.

Finally, it became evident that their conversation had fizzled out, they were both sleepy and couldn't produce any more words. Though, neither wanted to break the connection. "Let's keep in touch, Linds," Stevie said, bringing him the biggest surge of happiness he'd had in ages.

"I'd like that. I called this time. Next time, it's your turn. I've always got my phone. Call me anytime. I'm serious. I like catching up with you," Lindsey told Stevie.

"I'll call you soon," Stevie promised. "I've missed this."

"I've missed you, Steph," and with that, they said goodbye and hung up.

Both climbed into bed alone, but for the first time in a long time, they were not lonely.