Text Me Back

Prologue

"Excuse me; I know this will sound strange but would you mind if I borrow your phone to send a quick text message?"

That was the sentence that snapped Florence out of her daydreaming and she met the eyes of the young woman standing before her. Before this interruption she had been sitting inside the coffee place Espresso Love for hours to get away from her parents and a genie must've heard her wish for company, luckily she only had a week left of isolation and misery. The Washington's annual family vacation was under way and once again her parents had forced her out to the summer house on Martha's Vineyard for some good ol' family time; which in their eyes consisted of spa treatments and endless brunches with anyone other than Florence herself. She wondered when they were going to stop pretending that their 'family' vacation was actually meant for their immediate family and not just an excuse to get out of Los Angeles and away from work.

"Absolutely, go right ahead," Florence said and exited one of the many apps she was scrolling through and handed the young woman her phone.

Florence studied the young woman as her fingers moved fast over the touch screen. She was rather short, brunette colored hair and a cute face – unlike her clothes. Her fashion style was very pedestrian and had she not come up to speak to Florence she wouldn't even have noticed her. The young woman focused intensely on whatever she was writing and from time to time she stopped to bite her bottom lip before continuing.

A smirk tugged at Florence lips before she asked: "Had a fight with your boyfriend or something?"

This caused the young lady to look up and quickly giving her a nervous smile before handing the phone back. Florence prayed the young woman hadn't deleted the text message as she was dying to read it but once she glanced at her messages there was nothing there except for her own ongoing conversations.

"You could say that," the woman finally replied, "I should've dumped him ages ago. Not to worry though, I told him not to call or text this phone." She assured her before sticking her hands in her pockets and tapping her foot on the old wooden floor.

Florence watched intently and wondered what the hell was going on with her. Was she running from someone or getting away from a psycho-stalking-boyfriend or dumping some cheating asshole? Whatever it was Florence was in dire need of gossip and had no issues prying.

"There are no worries; I can do with a bit of company right now." Florence joked but saw it wasn't much appreciated. "I'm not implying that I was going to speak to your ex if that's what you thought."

"Oh I don't mind if you do but I doubt he'll text you anyway. Listen; I have to go but thank you again and if ever meet again I totally owe you." The young woman jogged out of the door and Florence looked after her for a second before turning back to her phone and resuming her daily intake of social media.

*

Being this bored on a Friday night should be a crime, according to Florence. After having watched some of her favorite movie she had put on the TV for some background noise while she saw her friends posting pictures of their fun vacation times. Take her best friend Grace for example,  she is currently in Dubai with her family because her father is introducing yet another tech gadget that will take the world by storm. Florence scrolled through endless pictures of incredible sand dunes, Grace behind multiple fast cars and incredible luxury suits – yes, Florence was very jealous. Not because she hadn't been to Dubai before because she had, but because Grace was having a much better time than she was. Who the hell wanted to roam around Martha's Vineyard all by themselves?

Please dear God in heaven send me something to do, she prayed silently.

That's when it happened: the beeping of her phone. First it was just one but it quickly followed with at least five or six more and without anything better to do she opened them all up. She couldn't recognize the number for the life of her but its content was clearly not meant for her. She read them each a few times over while frowning.

Jennifer, please don't do this to us.

Can you call me back? You're not answering on your cell.

If you want me to fly out there I will but please don't end this.

All I want is a chance to change and make things better for us.

I love you.

A small jab to her heart forced her to sit down as she continued to read them and connecting them to the young woman she met earlier today. Seems she hadn't instructed him well enough because here he was texting Florence's' phone like his fingers were on fire. She stared at the last text message for a long time without really thinking about anything. I love you, it said. It looked so incredibly heartbreaking and she suddenly found herself sympathizing with the unknown male who had texted her phone. Who dumps someone via text, anyway? Now she had completely shifted her sympathetic feelings for pure judgment toward the young woman that she'd met.

Should she text him back some encouraging words? No she couldn't do that! Or could she?

"Miss Washington; dinner is served downstairs now and your parents are expecting you." She heard a whispering voice say outside of her room.

She stared at a phone for a second before she typed a quick response, tossed the phone on her bed and ran downstairs to the privately cooked dinner that awaited her.

Had she known that her simple reply would be the start of a very interesting friendship she might have done it instantly. Especially because friendship was just the beginning...