Voice Addiction

Chapter 11 - Echo, the Reflection of Sound

Chapter Eleven

Echo

“Oh my God, I think I’m starting to fall in love.” J.J. was pressing the screen of her cellphone with the kind of excitement that would make a kid in a candy shop feel envious. “I can’t wait for it to finally happen. Don’t you love that kinda feeling?”

Sophie nodded without conviction. As far as she knew, that ‘kinda feeling’ could go die in the deepest and darkest pit of the Grand Canyon, along with all her hopes of ever hearing from Adrian again. She served the dark skinned girl her hot latte and inwardly thanked her for showing up. Jennifer didn’t work on the weekends, but she decided to show up at Papyrus anyway and see if Sophie needed some guidance on her first day at work. Sophie thought it was a sweet gesture, it was good to feel cared for, even if it was by a girl she barely knew. She had a sneaking suspicion that Charlotte may have something to do with it, but it was a sweet gesture nonetheless – from both of them.

“I have been dating the coolest guy for two weeks now. Today is actually our two weeks anniversary, but I don’t want to mention it to him, don’t want to fright him off. It was so romantic, the way we met. It seemed like a scene out of “Sex and the City”. It’s actually kinda funny how it happened because he had asked me out before, but I totally shot him down. A few days later though, I found him all depressed in a bar and went to talk to him. We ended up having our first date that same Saturday night. I guess I’m just a soft heart but I’m glad I am because it all kinda fell into place since then and-“ Sophie kind of dazed off during J.J.’s rant, like she usually did. She wasn’t really in the mood to hear about romantic stories, especially not the “how I met him” kind. She had a good one of her own, only the ending wasn’t quite as happy as J.J’s. Besides, precisely two weeks ago, she wasn’t really having the time of her life and she’d rather forget it altogether.

“Yes, I think I’m ready to fall for him!”

Sophie couldn’t really understand how that worked, but she wished she could control herself like that. It would’ve saved her from all the pain she felt in her lungs every time she filled them with air.

“Gosh, Sophie, you look bloody awful,” J.J. commented, as if looking at her for the first time that day. “Did you get any sleep at all? You have such huge dark circles under your pretty eyes.”

“Thanks. I guess…”

“Were you nervous about coming to work today?”

“Yeah, a little anxious. I can’t really sleep when I’m anxious.” It was a lie. She didn’t sleep because since her and Adrian’s quarrel the night before she could barely breathe, much less rest. She felt a deep agony ever since, like something was seriously wrong with the whole world.

“Oh, don’t worry about the job. It’s easy. Besides, you already worked on a restaurant, compared to that, this is nothing. The stress level is almost non-existent. I bet you learned a lot from your previous job, right?”

Sophie nodded again and thanked her kindness. She did learn a lot working for Bob, like refrain from dumping beer on top of your customers’ heads, for example.

“Hey, Sophie, I know that is none of my business but...” Oh, great. She could see what was coming for miles now. “…and I don’t know what happened between you two but, I thought you should know that Charlotte is really depressed with this whole situation.”

What? Did she look like she was having a great time?

“I can tell that she really likes you.”

Why was she always the bad guy?

“I mean, she doesn’t talk about it, but I can tell that she’s hurting and that she misses you.”