Late Night Munch

19

I had just gotten out of the shower when my phone rang. No one had called me in months so I automatically assumed it was Tucker. I thought he forgot something at home and needed me to come drop it off at the gas station. I accepted the call before the last ring and answered with an annoyed, " What?"

"Emma?" The timid voice asked.

She froze when she realized who she actually picked up on. No amount of time would make her forget the melodic, motherly tone Olivia had. How long had it been?

"Hello?" Olivia said when she was met with silence.

It seemed Emma couldn't get any words out, her mouth felt dry all of a sudden and her brain was having trouble articulating her thoughts. 'Olivia' came out as a whisper. She wasn't loud enough and she felt her heart drop when the call ended. Hot tears tickled the inner corner of her eyes as she took it all in. Moments later the phone rang again, her hands shook as she reached out to accept the call.

"Emma? Can you hear me?" Olivia asked.

"Yeah, sorry I had a bad connection." Emma said.

"It's alright, it happens. How have you been?" She asked.

"Better. A lot has happened." She said.

"We have so much to talk about." Olivia said.

"We do." She nervously said.

"I just wanted to call and ask you to meet in person. I feel like it would be better to catch up face to face." Olivia said.

Logically Emma understood her friend's concerns. She was genuinely worried about the months Emma had gone without contacting her. However, she wasn't sure this was a conversation she was ready for. All she wanted was to move on with her life.

"Emma you there?" Olivia asked.

Emma stuttered "Um.. yeah. I think that's a great idea."

"Awesome. When are you free?" She asked.

After looking through the calendar they eventually came to mutual agreement. "Alright, see you then. Bye." Emma said.

She let out a huge sigh. Letting out how stressed out this made her. 'Everything is going to be fine.' She said to herself.

Emma splashed some cold water in her face. After the call she was hit with a wave of nausea. She leaned over the sink and began to dry heave. The cold marble felt slippery under her sweaty palms.

She looked at herself in the mirror one last time before she turned off the bathroom lights. Her bed looked so inviting, she drowned in her bedsheets as she found comfort in the cotton cocoon.

. . .

Her mind felt restless. It felt like even though she dosed off there was a part of her brain that stayed alert the whole time. The room was dark, so she had slept a decent amount. She squinted her eyes as they adjusted to the light of her alarm clock that read 11pm.

She still felt tired, but being jostled awake by her anxiety made it nearly impossible to go back to bed. Begrudgingly she stood up and made her way to the kitchen for some water. Passing through the hallway she noticed a dim light coming from Tuckers room. He was finally home. After she drank a glass of water, she decided to peak her head in to see if he was awake. Perhaps he could keep her company.

His door creaked as she pushed it completely open. The light was coming from a lamp he accidentally forgot to turn off. He must have been so tired from work that he dozed off the second his head hit the pillow. She felt a twinge of jealousy when she noticed the relaxed expression on his face. He looked so peaceful it was almost angelic.