Say Hello For Me

n i n e || into the woods

Dedicated to @drippings because Numb remains one of my favorites in my library.

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Nessa steps into the office with a couple beads of sweat sliding down the side of her forehead and the stench of the sun radiating from her clothes. She decided to choose one of the hottest days in the summer to walk down the street to the local deli for her lunch break. All she brings back is half of a once full mango smoothie and the remainder of a bitten turkey sandwich. It's nearly one o'clock by the time she sits back down in her seat.

The phone rings the second she reroutes her calls, the lines busier than ever.

"Hello—" Nessa answers the call, her voice soft and sweet.

"It's me," a familiar voice belches back in the phone, cutting her off midsentence.

Nessa finds herself gawking at the clock on the wall as she says, "Liam?" with surprise in her tone. "Any reason why you're nine hours early today?"

"No, you've got this all wrong, Nessa." Liam protests. "You're supposed to say, 'I was wondering if after all these years you'd like to meet.'"

Nessa laughs quietly, smiling to herself as she twirls and untwists the phone cord in and out of her fingers. It's a habit she's adapted working at AskAway over the years.

"So, why did you call so early today?" she wonders aloud.

"My friends and I are heading to Wenatchee around 4:00 for our annual camping trip, so I won't have cell service for the next week. No more late nights with Liam," he jokes.

"Is Delilah going?"

"Yeah," Liam responds in a whisper.

"Oh," is all Nessa can muster in that moment. "That's um . . . nice."

"I probably won't be able to call you until the night we get back. That's next Tuesday," he continues to reveal details of his camping trip to her.

"You know that you're obligated to call me at 10 o'clock every other night, right?" she says just to make sure. "It's okay if you don't call, Liam. If the advice I give you is shitty, you don't have to call back."

"I know, but I just like talking to you even when it's not about Delilah."

"I-I like talking to you too."

"Okay . . ." Liam legs his voice trail off into silence for a short pause. "I've got to go pack the rest of my bag for the trip. I'll talk to you next week, Nessa."

"Okay. Have fun on your trip, Liam," she expressed genuinely work an smile on her face. Right before he is about to hang up the phone, she calls him back. "Wait, Liam?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't die in the woods, alright?"

"Alright." Liam laughs. "I'll try my best not to die in the woods. Thanks again, Nessa."

"Who were you talking to?" Cynthia swivels her chair around and asks as Nessa puts the phone back down on her desk. Cynthia remains leaned back against her seat, slurping the remainder of tea.

"Just another customer," Nessa answers truthfully but carefully.

"Hmmm." The look on Cynthia's face says that she does not believe Nessa one little bit.

"What?"

"For a second there, I thought you were making a personal call to a boyfriend."

Nessa doesn't know why, but her cheeks automatically flush a bright shade of red and feel heated to the touch after hearing Cynthia's words.