Forked Roads Back

60 - ARCHIE

AFTER GETTING IN FROM the baseball around midnight, I'm so close to dropping off into sleep when I hear a faint buzzing noise.

It's a continuous buzzing, so realise it must be my phone. Figuring it will stop eventually, I turn over and ignore it. It does stop for a few minutes, but when it starts again, I grab it off my bedside table.

I've got a missed call from Millie, who knows what time it is here, so it must be important. My tired fingers fumble with the buttons on my phone, but before I can get to it, she starts ringing me again.

Getting up, I walk over to the window as I hit accept and put the phone to my ear with a yawn.

"Mils, do you have any idea what time it is?" I ask. Her answer is to giggle as I wipe the beginnings of sleep from my eyes.

"I'm sorry," she says, still laughing. Not sorry at all.

"No you're not," I say, shaking my head. I laugh as Millie does and a pang of sadness spreads through me. I hadn't seen her in over a year, as we'd both been so busy - me with college and her with culinary school. Having never been able to find the right time, it's a huge part of the decision I made to come home.

"You're right," she snorts. "I'm not." Someone else laughs too, so I'm guessing she's with Greg.

"Is there a reason for this wake up call?" I ask, trying to sound like I'm joking, but it comes out harsher than I'd wanted it to.

The laughter promptly cuts short, and the silence suddenly becomes deafening between us.

All that I can think now is that something has happened with Tessa. I'm flooded with sudden deja vu, remembering how Millie had sent me a text, telling me about Jamie... which I didn't take well. At least this time she's telling me over the phone.

That said, maybe it wasn't. Greg may have proposed... although she would have told me that already. I want to know, but as soon as I go to ask, I seem to lose the ability to speak.

"Erm..." Millie finds her voice first.

The timidity tells me this definitely is about Tessa, and if it's taking her so long to say it, it must be pretty big news.

I sit down on the edge of the bed and press the phone into my cheek, using the pain to help keep me grounded. I should be happy, because it's all I've ever wanted for Tessa, but then there's still that tiny part of me that can't let her go.

"It's..." She starts the sentence again, and this time I do find my voice, finishing it for her.

"It's about Tessa, isn't it?"

I wish I was with her. I wish I was sitting in front of her, looking her in the eyes, so I could take her hand and tell her it would be okay. I would tell her I could handle whatever it was. Despite the tears in my eyes, and the lump in my throat, I could handle it.

"Yeah," she finally says.

I freeze, waiting for her continue. A tear rolls down my cheek, but I try to keep my voice steady as I answer.

"What's happened?"

"Arch," she sighs. "I didn't want you to hear from anyone else. And I was in two minds about telling you at all."

Finding out from anyone else means it's probably on Facebook. I'd disabled my account after I checked on her last time, taking the temptation away from myself. Of course, I had never told Millie that.

"Mils, you're killing me here." I try to make it sound like I'm joking, but it comes across short and bad-tempered.

She sighs. "Okay, well you know about Jamie."