It isn't all misery

Chapter 3

It had been a week since my phone call with Ashley Purdy. I was dying to call him straight away, I think about calling him all the time but then I talk myself out of it. I had many discussions with Madison, Annie and Natalia when was an acceptable amount of time to wait before I called again and whether or not I should wait for him to call me. But that's ridiculous right? Why would he call me? Ok, we've established that it's definitely the real Ashley Purdy and he said I could call whenever which means he must like me enough to want to talk to me (not 'like me' in that way, but I can always dream), but what are the odds that he would think about picking up his phone and calling me? The girl who he met briefly in a restaurant. 

No more than 7 days after my call with him, I found out those odds were very high. It was Saturday when I was working in the diner down the street from my apartment. I worked here when I didn't have any photography gigs. I'm a photographer, I do special occasions mostly, like weddings, christenings, proms, but it's not always guaranteed work so I work in this diner the rest of the time. I had just gone on break, so I entered the back room, wiping my hand on the apron I have to wear and rifled around for my phone in my big handbag. 1 missed call. I hadn't been expecting a call from my mom, or any family members, they usually give me some warning when they call, and my friends knew I was working so they wouldn't call unless it was an emergency. Suddenly thinking the worse like someone had been in an accident, I quickly unlocked my phone and checked who it was from, but it was none other than Ashley Purdy. He had actually called me! Me! I couldn't quite believe it.

Without even thinking I pressed the button to call him back. My mind was reeling wondering what he had called me for and I didn't even know what I was going to say, but I wasn't put on the spot to think of something, because I heard it go on to voicemail, which gave me a few extra seconds to think of a cute, witty message I could leave him so he could call me back again. Unfortunately I'm not bright enough to think of something cute and witty in a time period of seconds so I stuttered out something along the lines of 'Hi, Ashley, I... I saw you rang, that was nice, so call me back when you get this? Yeah, ok, call me'. 

I just face palmed at my lack of brain. I sounded almost desperate at the end, telling him to call me and hanging up. Ugh, what must he think of me?

I couldn't let it bother me too much. After eating some food and playing a couple games of Tetris on my phone I was back to work. It was only when I hung the apron up for the day, got in my car, and drove straight round to Madison's place that I let my mind wander back to why Ashley may have called me. I don't see myself as something special. I'm invisible, I usually go unnoticed, and forgotten about. And suddenly this rockstar is calling me out of the blue? He actually thought 'hey, maybe I'll give that chick a ring, just to chat'. No, no, no. It doesn't work like that. Why would that happen? Something's happened and he thought he should call me. I don't know what though. Maybe the restaurant blew up and he felt obliged to call because he knows I eat there sometimes. Ugh, I don't even know! Maybe I'm reading too much into this, I'm sure that's what Madison is going to tell me. Maybe he does just want to chat, but honestly, I highly doubt it.

Which brings me to the present. I was sat curled up on Madison's couch with a tub of Cookies and Cream icecream, absent mindedly licking at my spoon, watching reruns of How I Met Your Mother on a saturday night, while Madison pondered.

"I bet he likes you" Madison said, gasping like she'd had the best idea in the world. She had a gleam in her eye at the mere possibility. I'm sure she was already picking the shoes she would wear to our wedding in her mind.

I scoffed at her suggestion. "Don't be daft."

"Think about it though, all week he doesn't hear from you again after he told you to call, he's wondering if you're going to call, you're on his mind as the girl who didn't call the rockstar back. He's thinking about you. You're growing on him! So he picks up his phone and just calls you! But unfortunately you're at work." She paused, and I could see in her face that her brain was working overtime. "But you're not anymore...and you're lucky you have a friend like me!" she cried, lunging for my phone.