New York City

The best phone calls of my life

I reached home tired.

I had done my best to clean up the house.

The walls were whitewashed with a little help from Sarah. I managed to make the veranda look decent. The bird droppings had been cleaned. The refuge area looked clean.

I smiled as I looked at the living room. It looked cosy. I had changed the sofa with permission from the rental company.

I sold it in eBay and bought one from the cheapest store I could find.

The sofa was maroon. There was a little side table and a centre table. I bought white cushions to match the curtains which were a baby pink.

The windows were smaller than the one in the bedroom but I had no complaints. I always liked tiny windows. It was a girlish living room. I also had the light bulbs changed since they had grown dim. They were LED lights. It cost a lot but was worth it. The lights gave off a yellowish glow with a slight hint of white.

There was the big window from which the refuge area's stairway spiralled down. I had permanently covered that window with a black curtain. That window remained locked because I was afraid of intruders.

I then went to the bedroom. It was spacious. It already had a wooden desk which I had renovated.

The bed was normal sized. I decorated it with light blue sheets and navy blue pillows and my glamorous, sequinned heart-shaped pillow.

I kept that in the middle. Nate had given it to me on my ninth birthday.

There was one telephone on the side table of my bed.

There was a window in the bedroom which I didn't open much. The curtains were usually pulled.

The joint bathroom was the main attraction of the flat. With permission from the rental community, I had tiled the walls black and the floor was wooden.

This was weird since water dries really slowly on wood.

The mirror was bigger. The basin was then same square-shaped one. The tap had been changed to the automatic style. The renovation had cost me a lot. But mom and dad kept sending money. I was grateful for that gesture and wanted to repay them sometime.

The floor above mine was vibrating with party music. There was seriously no peace nowadays. But then, even I used to party like that.

I was deep in my thoughts when the phone in the living room rang.

I picked it up, 'Hello?'

'Um, hi,' a male voice squeaked from the other side.

'Yes?'

'Is this Libby?'

'You got it. Who's this?'

'Oh, I'm Matt. You know coffee shop one.'

'Matt! Oh gosh! Why're you acting so guarded and weird? I'm not going to kill you!'

'Yeah, I know,' he chuckled, 'Well I was wondering if you were free, um, tomorrow.'

'Wait. Tomorrow is Wednesday. Yeah I'm good. No extra work.'

'Oh, I thought maybe you wanted to hang out. There's this great place on—'

'Fine.'

'What?' he asked sounding confused.

'You're asking me out, right? So, okay, I'll definitely come. Where?'

'Oh! So what are you comfy with,' he said going back to his normal, almost relieved tone,'pubs, restaurants, clubs or outside dining?'

'Ooh.. It's a dinner, is it? I am good with a restaurant or outdoor dining. We already had our, err, drunk rendezvous,' I answer sheepishly.

He laughed and said,'Right. We're two vulnerable people crazily in love. We need to play safe so that things don't get out of hand.'

'Well, that would be possible. Except I'm a pessimist. Alright, quit joking and say the name of the restaurant and the time when we meet,' I said with a smirk.

'Okay, okay. You win. I can't match your choice of words. Besides, I'm a socialist, your opposite. But, I've heard opposites attract.'

'God! You really do have a sick sense of humour. Sarah is right. Now, say the place and time,' I said with a dangerous tone.

'Okay. You are scaring me. Okay, back to business. Meet me in Times Square, 8:45 pm, sharp.'

'Yes sir. Now sleep, it's 10:30 in the night.'

'Bye.'

He then hung up.

The phone rang again after a few minutes. But this time, it was mom.

'Hello dear?'

'Yes mom. What's up?'

'Baby, something really big is up. You better sit down hon,' she happily chirped.

'Ya, I just sat down,' I said sitting on the sofa.

'Sweetie, you brother woke up!!!'

'He what!!?' I said almost falling off the sofa.

'Yes darling, Nate woke up. Our Nathan. After all these miserable years. He woke up!'

'That's great! This is amazing. Should I come home mom?'

'No dear. You have got your work. Plus we need to explain a lot of things to Nate. Get a psychologist.'

'Alright. But can I talk to him?' I said sounding extremely desperate.

'No silly. You shall have to wait. But he talks about you the most. Listen, I've got to go now but I'll call tomorrow. Okay honey?'

'Umm, no. I might not be free tomorrow. I am going out with a friend, you know—'

'A date? Hon I knew you would have one. Not so early maybe, but soon. Uh-uh don't give me any no's. I know more than you think. Anyway, bye honey.'

'Mom! Okay, bye,' I said with an exasperated sigh.

I turned on the radio. A familiar song was playing.

Then I realised it was, "If I Die Young" by The Band Perry.

I thought about my brother's recovery. He was finally awake! He was a year older to me. I did the math and realised that my brother was 27 now. My birthday was next month but I couldn't care less. I thought about Matt.

He was so sweet. I would definitely want to go out with him. I pushed the thoughts aside.

Cause first, I needed to sleep. I went to the bedroom and without changing, I slept.
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Heyya! Hope you liked liked the chapter. Sorry for the house description but it's important. You'll find out soon enough. I am going to update in weeks because I'm going on a trip. Hope to see your comments soon.
This is a looong chapter. 1066 words. Anyway, byee!
Music by: The Band Perry
Name of song: If I Die Young
No copyright infringement intended.