Aurora's POV
Tuesday 6th April
As I arrived at work I thought to myself how amazing it was that I had been here for a whole week.. It seemed like so much longer than that. I put my phone down on the counter and tied up my long blonde hair. Almost immediately my phone rang and I had to tie my hair up in a hurry so I didn't miss the call. It looked awful. Great.
I glanced at the caller ID and it was Sam. I couldn't help the feeling of butterflies in my stomach, I didn't really know why. I knew I should pick up so I put the phone to my ear and prepared for the worst.
'Rory?' he sounded very meek, like he'd been crying. I wasn't in the mood for his mind games.
'Yes, what do you want?' I sounded sharp, maybe a little too much so, and I regretted how harsh I had been but I didn't want him to get the wrong message.
'I.. I -', he paused and I waited for him to carry on. 'I really need to talk to you.'
'Mhmm' was all I could manage.
'I'm.. I'm really sorry for everything. I wish I could take it back but I can't and I know I was awful to you. I just need a chance to explain, five minutes, then you don't need to talk to me again.' He sounded like he was about to burst into tears. I couldn't help but feel bad for him but hell, what was there to feel bad about? After all he did?
'Sure, go ahead.'
'After what happened last summer.. I couldn't cope. It felt like it was my fault and I stopped caring - about life, about my family, about you. I wish I had cared because I've made such a huge mistake but I can't go back now. I treated you awfully and I guess it was my way of taking control of my life after it felt like everything was completely out of control. I know that doesn't make it right but I wish it could and I wish I could take back everything I did that hurt you because you didn't deserve any of it. And -' he started crying and I wished I could be with him and why was I even thinking this. I was not supposed to be being sympathetic. He composed himself a bit and carried on, 'A week after you left, my dad had a heart attack. Again it felt like it was my fault and I was numb, I had so many emotions all at once that I stopped feeling altogether. I didn't know where to turn and I had to start looking after my dad all the time so I've barely left the house in 6 months. I just.. I just needed to explain all this to you and I hope you understand a bit better. I'm sorry.'
I was silent, trying to take everything in. I honestly did not know what to say, and I was still shocked he had even tried to call me. Everything made much more sense now, and I was so glad he had called. But I didn't know what to make of it, whether to be sympathetic or to tell him what he did was never justified and hang up. Nothing could ever put completely right what he did to me, but I guess he had tried, and that meant a lot to me.
'Rory?' he sounded very quiet and I realised that I hadn't said anything at all whilst I'd been thinking.
'Sam..' I didn't know how to put my thoughts into words but I knew that I owed it to him after he had called me. 'I wish I had understood better then, but that doesn't mean that what you did was right - it never will be. But I really appreciate your consideration to call me and I think that it makes you a bigger person. I hope everything is okay with your dad and I'm here if you need to talk. It's never going to go back to how it was though, I can't let that happen. I hope you understand that.'
I suddenly realised that I was still at work so I put the phone on loudspeaker so I could check the time. 7:40. I would make sure that I was off the phone by 8 because I didn't want my boss to tell me off.
'Thank you for listening, it means a lot to me. I wasn't expecting you even to pick up the phone.'
'I'm glad I did,' I laughed, and he laughed too. It lightened up the mood a bit which was much needed. As we were laughing, the good looking blonde walked through the door of the cafe. He always had the same thing, the medium iced latte, which made the whole being-on-the-phone-and-trying-to-take-orders-at-the-same-time thing much easier. I took his money and smiled so he hopefully wouldn't think I was being rude, whilst listening to what Sam was saying.
'Um.. I know you probably don't want to but is there any chance I could talk to you in person? I just really need the support right now and..'
'Sure, whenever you're free. I'm at work all week though..' I didn't know when I could find time to see him soon, that evening I was going out with my family and they wouldn't be best pleased if I backed out.
'I could come and see you at work? I don't know if I'm allowed or whatever though.'
'Only before 8 in the morning, otherwise my boss will kill me. Come at twenty past 7 tomorrow?'
'As long as it suits you. Thank you.' I hung up. To be honest I was still completely blown away by the fact he had called me at all, I thought he had forgotten all about me. That had left me a lot to think about. And I wasn't entirely looking forward to the next morning either, I didn't want any more of his violence and I kicked myself for agreeing to it.
I put my phone down and handed the coffee over to the blonde. I wished I knew his name, I hated not knowing people's names. Whatever. He thanked me and left, he was unusually quiet today but I guess I'd been on the phone the whole time. Usually he made polite conversation with me which was friendly and better than I got from any of the other customers so it was a welcome break in a way.
I spent the rest of the day thinking about Sam again. I didn't know what to make of everything that had happened that morning and it left me pretty unsettled. I passed his parent's house on the way home and I looked at it differently to all the other days. I guessed he was in there since he was looking after his dad. If he hadn't called, I never would have known that he was less than a minutes walk away from me that whole time.
