Say Hello For Me

t w e n t y - t h r e e || a week later

Dedicated to Nicola because I think Fanzoned and Friendzoned is going to become one of my favorites.

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It's a week from that night Nessa fell asleep at her desk waiting for Liam's call. When she looks back at that day, she barely remembers what happened. All she knows is that she woke up a couple minutes before the clock struck midnight and there were no missed calls in her log. She remembers feeling disappointed but not being able to explain why. For some reason her heart aches, but she decides to ignore the pang.

Without the daily ten o'clock calls, Nessa's been finding reasons to go home earlier all week. For the first time in two years, she hasn't worked at AskAway from the crack of dawn until dusk. It's a good change, she tells herself.

Tonight, she packs her things up ten minutes before eight o'clock. One of her friends is waiting outside in front of the building, music blasting from his stereo. She climbs into his car and they sing along to the radio all the way to the movie theater downtown.

While Nessa is sitting in a movie theater surrounded by some of her closest friends, Liam is taking a late night stroll with Vy on the other side of town. They're talking about their plans for next weekend at a lake. He's feeling pretty excited about finally getting to share his interests with someone else.

As Liam passes the AskAway building, he notices that all the windows are black—there's absolutely no one inside. Vy and Liam are forced to walk around the perimeter of the building on their way back to campus. As they circle the edifice, Liam finds himself hoping that there's a single light in the darkness.

It's as they are stepping back onto campus that Liam realizes he forgot to call Nessa back. His heart drops to his knees, and he can't pick it back up.

"Liam?" Vy calls his name to get his attention. "Hello?"

"Huh?" Liam turns his head around and faces his new girlfriend, blinking several times to snap his mind out of its trance.

"Did you hear anything I just said?"