Anything But Perfection

Lost Stars (19)

"Hey this is Georgina. I can't come to the phone right now. Leave a message after the beep or don't. Just call again will you?" I groaned as I listened to Georgina's voicemail for the fifth time that day. I had called her five times since  morning and she wasn't answering and that made me apprehensive because she said she would come see me in the afternoon. Now it was six in the evening and there was still no sign of her. Maybe I was worrying for no reason. She could have gone out with friends or gotten caught up with last minute plans. I  knew I shouldn't bother with it but there was a strong feeling in my gut which told me that was she needed my help.

 I looked at my phone screen again and sighed, no calls from Jeremy either. Why hadn't he called me back yet? I could call him again but I didn't want to seem desperate so I decided to watch a movie while I waited for one of them to call.

Fifteen minutes later, I couldn't even concentrate on the movie so I got up and went to take a bath. As soon as I stepped inside, my phone rang. The water was so warm and relaxing that for a minute I wanted to ignore the ringing of my phone and just lie in the bath tub. I could call back whoever it was right?

But what if it's Georgina and it's something serious?

Getting out and wrapping a towel around my body, I made my way back to the room and looked for my phone. It had stopped ringing by then and it took me an additional two minutes to find it in the mess that was my bed. It was Georgina. I called her back immediately and she answered on the first ring.

"Hi." Her voice was sort of detached and I tried to listen for background voices but it seemed as if she was alone.

"Hey Georgina, where have you been? I've been waiting for you."

"Yeah sorry I got caught up with a little work so I couldn't come by," she said. She sounded a little weird which made me wonder.

"Oh um alright then," I replied, a little confused and unsure about what to say.

"Can you come by if you're free? Because my car's got a flat tire and I still have to get Brant to take it to the workshop for me," she asked and I instantaneously agreed.

My bath will have to wait till later.

After hanging up and changing into clean clothes, I set off for Georgina's. Outside, the sky was a faint red-blue dotted with pale stars. A light wind was blowing in the contrast to the hotness of the day. The evenings were always a little cooler and I liked to sit on the hotel balcony and read. Yes, reading was my new hobby.  When I reached Georgina's place, after a brief chat with Aunt Helen, she told me that Georgina was in her room because she wasn't feeling well so I went up to her room. I knocked lightly at her door.

"Come in." I entered slowly, her room was painted bright orange with pictures and posters all over the walls. Other than those walls, Georgina's room was pretty clean. She was sitting on her bed when I came in and she looked up at me.

"Hey. Thanks for coming," she said getting up and placing the laptop she'd been working on the bed side. The lighting in the room was dim and I couldn't see her properly until she came over to hug me. There was something wrong with her I could tell as she hugged me, she wasn't her usual self and even her voice was emotionless.

"It's no problem. How are you doing?" I asked hugging her back. She pulled away and sat down on her bed after turning on a lap. I sat down opposite and studied her closely.

"I'm fine. I really wanted to come today but there was so much to do so I couldn't," she said folding her arms on her lap.

"It's okay. So what's up?" I asked and I knew she understood the meaning of my words because she stayed silent for a while. I looked around uncomfortably, feeling very awkward to be in this position and wondering if I should just leave.