Stray Cat

Chapter Eighteen

The next morning, Phil stumbled cautiously out of the bathroom. He hadn't seen his brother or Cornelia since he woke up and he wasn't sure where they were or if they wanted to be disturbed. Would they mind if he made coffee? Should he make coffee for all of them?

Phil decided that the nicest thing he could do, considering that he woke them up in the middle of the night, would be to make coffee for himself as quietly as possible. He was just settling down with a hot mug of instant coffee when Martyn's phone started to buzz on the countertop. Phil jolted awake as if the coffee had been injected into his bloodstream. If the caller-ID said 'Phil' then it meant the call would be coming from his phone that was with Dan. Phil picked up the phone with a shaking hand. It said 'Mum'.

He debated for a moment. There was nothing Mum disliked more than missed calls, so he decided to answer the phone to tell her that his brother was asleep. Phil pressed 'answer' as he stepped into the hallway to take the call. "Morning, Mum."

"Hello, Child," his mother said, using her traditional pet name for her sons. "Is this a good time to talk? I'm worried about your brother."

"Oh no, what's wrong?" After Phil said it, he realized that Mum must have mistaken him for Martyn since they had similar voices. He hadn't meant to deceive her, but she was answering before he could explain.

"I just got off the phone with Linda. I don't know if you know, but they broke up and now Phil is living with someone. Not even a person exactly – he's living with a Neko, and Linda told me all of these awful things, and I'm..."

This was all his fault. Phil used to call her several times a week, but he stopped calling around when he lost his job because he was too embarrassed to tell her. Now she had to hear about his life from his ex, and she was worried about him. He should have called her. "Mum, it's okay. It's me, Phil. I'm sorry."

There was a pause. "Phil? I thought I called Martyn. I..."

"I'm sorry, you did call Martyn. I spent the night at his house. I didn't mean to make you think that I was him when I answered the phone."

"Oh. Phil... the things Linda told me, are they true?"

"I don't know what she said, but you should know that Linda and I didn't leave things on good terms. She's kind of upset with me right now. She doesn't like the Neko she told you about. The Neko – his name is Dan – he's a wonderful person. I think you'd like him. If Martyn had picked up the phone, I think he would have told you the same thing. So, please don't be worried about me."

There was more silence on the other end of the line. Finally, she said, "I need to think about this. We'll talk about this later."

"Mum, wait!" Phil shouted, but she had already hung up. Phil sighed into the empty hallway, but a moment later he was startled when the apartment door opened.

Martyn poked his head into the hallway. "Did I hear you say 'mum'?"

Phil nodded. He walked back into the apartment. Cornelia was now in the kitchen, and both she and Martyn stared at him with expectant eyes, so he explained his conversation with Mum. He finished it by saying, "I should have told her myself. I should have called her to let her know what was going on in my life, but everything had fallen apart and I didn't want to disappoint her. Then by the time I got everything back together again, Dan was there and he was all I was thinking about."

"Phil, it's going to be okay," Martyn said. "You'll explain it to her the next time you talk. This is Mum we're talking about. She loves you. She'll understand."

Phil nodded. His mother had the remarkable ability to always see the good in situations and people. He couldn't imagine that she wouldn't love Dan once they met and she saw for herself how amazing he was. It would all work out.