Bittersweet Expectations (Hate at First Flight #0.5)

15. Comforting the Heartbroken

I felt a wave of mixed excitement and trepidation flood me as soon as I realized who was on the other end of the line.

The former feeling was because he was finally calling after promising he would and that he had asked solely for me. That left me feeling a sense of accomplishment, despite how stupid and unfitting it might seem to other people given the situation. I also felt this excitement because I could talk to him without fear of any repercussions, because frankly we didn't know each other.

The latter was because I knew he was still a stranger. He knew my name, granted it wasn't my first name, but he still knew a part of me while I knew nothing of him. I also felt that despite the fact that he was a stranger, I felt like he knew me more because of how he had gotten me to open up back then.

I contemplated whether I should signal Susan or someone else to take the call instead of me. I didn't know if taking such a call was against regulations or not.

"Hello? Mary? Are you still there?" the voice from the other end asked, breaking into any insecurities I had about taking the call.

"Yes," I managed out after garnering up some courage. I didn't know why I was nervous to be honest. It wasn't like he was sitting in front of me and could read my every expression. "I'm still here."

I heard a chuckle from the other end of the voice before he replied, "Great. I'm glad I didn't scare you off."

"Scare me off?"

"Well to be honest, I didn't really think you gave your real name and I didn't think you would even take my call."

"It's basically why I'm here," I replied. "I'm here to talk to and listen to people. If I didn't, I wouldn't be here volunteering now would I?"

Another low chuckle followed by a, "Touché. But I did skip out on my promise the last time I called."

I chuckled lightly at his words. "I took it as a good sign that you didn't call to be honest. It meant that you were busy living life."

"But I did promise to call."

"That you did. Don't worry about it, Mr X."

"It's weird that you're calling me that."

"Then are you going to give me a name or something else to call you by?" I asked jokingly. I knew that it was against regulations asking a caller for their name, but in that moment I couldn't help but ask him. I was just so curious about him.

"Keep asking me that and I might give it to you," I could hear a teasing tone in his voice. "Eventually."

"You don't have to," I said honestly. "I was only joking. I shouldn't have even asked you that."

"You don't have to worry about regulations with me. I just need someone to talk to, someone who understands me. I don't need someone who was programmed to give me replies based of a pamphlet or a guideline."

I stayed quiet, not knowing how to reply to that. I didn't even know whether I should even continue to take the call.

After he noticed I hadn't replied to him still, he spoke, "Aren't you curious why I didn't call that night?"

I shook my head before I realized that I was on the phone with him and he couldn't see me. "No. Like I said before, you don't have to worry about that. It's actually a good thing."

"I ran into her that day," he said as soon as I finished my sentence. The words I had prepared to say died on my lips.

"Her?"

"My ex," he replied sombre and only then did I realize that he was drunk. I hadn't noticed her before, probably because of how he had been joking and sounded carefree, but he was drunk. "She was at an event that I was invited to. I didn't expect to run into her but there she was. She was beautiful and as graceful as the wind and all eyes were on her."