The Royal Romance - By My Side

It doesn't have to make sense

The ringing phone jolted him out of sleep and he grabbed it, his eyes refusing to open at first. Once they were open, he saw three blurry letters flashing at him. He pressed the green button and crashed back onto his pillow, the phone to his ear.

"Uh... hey Jen."

"I'm sorry," he heard her say, desperation in her voice. "I needed to speak to someone, and I didn't know who else to call."

He gulped and sat up. "What's the matter? Where are you?"

"I don't know."

"What's happened?"

He could hear traffic around her and what sounded like her sobs.

"Jen... hey, I don't know what's going on, but you rang to speak to me, so speak to me. I'm listening."

"I don't know where to start.."

"Start by telling me where you are."

There was a pause. "I've kind of gone out of my comfort zone a bit. I just had to get away."

"Right. Can you hail a taxi to get you home?"

She sighed. "Okay. I'll give it a go. Actually, I think I see a taxi rank up ahead."

"Do that. Get home. I don't like to think of you wandering around New York on your own when you're upset."

There was a pause before she responded. "I'm not on my own now. You're with me. In a manner of speaking."

"True. Glad I could be of service. Suddenly being woken up at four thirty am doesn't seem so irritating."

"Oh, shit, I'm sorry Maxwell..."

"S'okay. You found a taxi yet?"

"Yep. Just getting in one now." He heard her give the driver her address. Was it wrong that he made a mental note of it? "Okay. I'm on route back to my apartment."

"Good. So, what happened?"

"It's a long story. I've had a really bad day."

"Want to tell me about it?"

"I was just on a date, and it ended badly."

Not good. He felt heat rising in his chest. "What did he do to you?"

"Oh, nothing like that. It's just, something happened today that was bad, and it's more about what he didn't do than what he did, to be honest."

Cryptic. "So, what didn't he do?"

"I'm gonna have to start from the beginning. But I don't want to tell you now, while I'm in a taxi. Can I tell you some other time?"

He stretched in his bed and yawned. "How long will it take you to get home?"

"Five minutes, maybe? But you need to get back to sleep.."

"At this point I'm awake, Jen. It's getting light outside. I'd be waking up in about an hour or so anyway. So I'd rather know you're okay. Keep talking. And then you can tell me when you get home, yeah?"

There was a pause. "Okay."

"So, what are we gonna talk about?"

"I have no idea."

"You been practicing your dancing?"

"Need someone to practice with, really. Anita's having none of it. And obviously..." She trailed off. "There doesn't seem so much point now."

"Why? You could still come here. It's not too late. Rick was so pleased after he spoke to you."

She sighed. "I have something to say to you."