Benedict

The Call

Sophie's POV:

'Ben?!'

I sat upright in my bed, trying to wipe the sleep out of my eyes.

'Hi, I'm... I'm sorry... Did I wake you up?'

'Are you kidding me??? You know that it's three in the morning, right?'

'Is it? I don't know I forgot my watch... anyway - I'm really sorry, but I've just been at a wedding and I'm pretty drunk and I can't drive home and I'm actually not sure where I am at the moment... looks a bit like a forest, yeah lots of treeeees...'

He broke into a laugh.

God he must be pretty drunk.

'Ben this isn't funny! Where are you? And are you sure you're all alone?'

'Pretty sure yes.'

'But how can you be at a wedding AND all alone? And what do you want from me?'

I knew the answer, but I always counted on the little piece of hope that he had life finally figured out without me.

'I...'

'You want me to pick you up?'

'Yes.'

'NO! Forget it. Get a cab.'

'You know I can't do that.'

'Then call yourself a private limo or whatsoever, but leave me out of it. I'm not your 'Chauffeur'.'

'Soph pleeeease. You're my best friend. Best friends help each other. Always.'

I sighed and let me fall back onto my pillow. There was a quiet whimpering on the other side.

'Please don't call me like that. And stop doing that, I know you're not actually crying.'

Silence. I could just hear him breathing.

'Ben, this is the third time in two weeks! What is wrong with you?'

Still silence. I knew he was there and he knew how to drive me crazy.

'You know I can't drive when I'm tired... Ben?'

'Yeah, yeah I'm here... Alright, go back to sleep. I guess I'll just... walk home then or something. Sorry again.'

................. The call was finished.

'Fuck!'

I tried to call him back, but he wouldn't pick up. So I called Matt, one of his best friends and he told me finally where exactly the wedding had been.

'We've been there together, but he ran of all of a sudden. I thought he'd be home already, he wouldn't answer his phone. So yeah I just drove home.'

'You can't just leave him in the middle of nowhere. Where is that forest?'

'Gosh, Sophie, he's a grown up. I'm not his babysitter and neither are you. If that's his way to get over the break-up then just let him do it. But if you really want to find him, I'll text you the adress of the church and you can look for him in the forest.'

'Break-up?? What break-up? Did he and Olivia...?'

'Yes didn't he tell you? Last week!'

Well this explains a lot!

'Thanks, Matt.'

'Please be careful! I don't want you to be abducted in a dark forest. I wish I could come with you, but...'

I finished the call, not in the mood to listen to his excuses. He surely was as tired as I was, but I couldn't leave my best friend all alone in some forest. I knew Benedict well enough to know that he wouldn't call a cab to avoid any bad press.

-------------------------------------------------

It took me twenty minutes to get to the address Matt had texted me. It was a beautiful place, the full summer moon gave the big garden a kind of magical atmosphere. There were still some people there, tidying up the worst of what was left from the party. But none of them seemed to know where Benedict was. Instead they looked at me quite suspiciously.

'I'm not a crazy fan girl stalker, paparazzi or whatever - I'm just here to take him home!'

They still didn't know. Angrily I left them, unsure of where to go first. I really didn't look forward to walk into that dark forest all alone, so I got back into my car, slowly driving down the only cart road I was able to spot. At least it headed towards the city.

As always I asked myself why I was doing all of this for him. He wasn't a child anymore he could look after himself quite well. But I kept helping him, always.

After a while the way got muddy and I turned around, being afraid that my little old car would get stuck. There was no trace of Ben. Arriving at the church again, I suddenly got aware of a motorbike on the nearby parking lot. Hadn't I decided to drive closer to see if it was the one I expected it to be I probably would have never spotted the dark figure, sitting on the ground in front of it.

With a sigh I stopped right beside the vehicle, pushing the passenger door open.

'Get in!'

The person on the ground lifted it's head, giving me a look of surprise.

'Sophie?'

'Who else would look for you in the middle of the night? Or should I say morning?'

A smile spread over his whole face as he stood up and got into the car.