Say Hello For Me

s e v e n || it's time

Dedicated to shevvie because the Royals Series has me addicted in every possible way.

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Nessa picks up the phone after the second ring, her eyes focusing on the flickering lights in the distance. While the office is mostly quiet except for the buzz of air blowing through the vents, the atmosphere on the other line is loud and filled with endless chatter. She is the first one to start the conversation.

"Hi, Liam."

"You didn't say your little blurb today," he mentions, leaving out the part where he wants to say that he misses Nessa's usual greeting and his tendency to interrupt her. "What if someone else had called?"

"No one else is going to call in at ten except for you. The spot's reserved solely for you." She sounds certain even though she's laughing underneath her words.

"But . . . after all, the city never sleeps at night."

"It's time to begin, isn't it?" she sings after recognizing the lyrics, her musical ability striking him by surprise. The phone transmits the resonance in her voice perfectly.

"I get a little bigger, but then I'll admit I was just the same as I was," he continues in a singsong voice instead of singing out the lyrics, afraid he'll make a fool out of himself.

"NOW DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND. I'M NEVER CHANGING WHO I AM," she belches back, her voice still perfectly on key.

After a pause, Liam tells Nessa, "You can sing. And I mean, really sing."

She laughs at his compliment, unsure whether to take it seriously or not. "If you considering singing in the shower and the bathroom, sure, Liam, sure. The blow-dryer really adds the finishing touches to the soundtrack."

"I'm serious, Nessa."

"Well, I'm sure you're a great shower singer, too. Everyone has to release their inner pop star somehow. So, where are you?" she wonders as she hears the sound of the discussions in the background crescendo. "I hear voices and conversations behind you."

"I told you," Liam reminded her. "I'm picking up extra shifts at the restaurant to see if Delilah comes back with him."

"What about the phone plan? I thought we agreed that we were going to—"

"I can't do it," he tells her, accepting defeat. "A part of me wants to know, but the other part knows that it's going to destroy me."

Before Nessa can even respond, she hears the sound of a door opening in the background and a deep voice that probably belongs to Liam's supervisor. He's telling Liam to get back to work, saying something about how he needs to wipe all the tables clean before he clocks out.

"Liam? Are you still there?" she asks after a couple seconds of sitting alone in complete silence.

"I'm here," he answers immediately. "But crap, I've got to go before my boss fires me for sitting around on my phone."

"It's okay. Don't worry about it You should probably get back to work anyways. We'll just talk about this again tomorrow then."

"Tomorrow?" he asks, surprised that she's asking him to call back this time instead of just waiting around for a call.

"Tomorrow," she confirms, twirling her hair around her finger. "We'll talk about this tomorrow."

"Tomorrow at 10?"

"That's our time."