Mirror // Van McCann

38. Meeting Grandma

I slept through the first buzz. If the person wasn't so insistent on getting my attention, I wouldn't have woken up at all. I opened my eyes and looked towards my phone. The screen was lit up, then it turned dim, and then it went black. Who could be texting me this early? I glanced at my clock to make sure I wasn't crazy. It's early, right? The clock confirmed I wasn't going crazy. I hastily snatched my phone from the nightstand to find out who the perpetrator was.

Van. What could be possibly want? I unlocked my phone to open up my text messages to find that he didn't even text me. Instead he sent an audio message. I pressed play and put the phone against my ear.

"Mornin' sunshine! Are you awake yet?What time do you normally wake up? Anyways, if it's not too late I was wondering if I could come with you to visit your grandma today? I was supposed to hangout with Bondy but he wants to shoot his nature documentary and I don't wanna stick around for that."

His voice was like honey. I found it hard to be mad at him. If it was anyone else, they would feel my wrath. I clicked on the second audio.

"You're sleeping, aren't ya? Well...wake up! The sun's up and I'm bored."

I couldn't help but chuckle. I clicked on the third audio.

"Are you still alive? If you don't wake up soon I'm going to bang on your door."

I stayed still to try to hear for banging on the door. He sent that audio five minutes ago so hopefully he's not coming over just yet. I sat up in bed and turned off my alarm. Who needs an alarm when you have Van who will wake you up an hour before your actual set time? And what's with the audio messages? I pressed the audio button and recorded my voice.

"You are fucking crazy, Van."

A minute later, Van audio messaged me back.

I could hear him laugh. "Christ! A 'good morning' would do. And I already know that. So is that a yes or no?"

I recorded my voice.

"What's with the audio? Wouldn't it be faster to just call me? And why do you want to visit my grandma?" I asked. I didn't understand why Van was all of a sudden interested in visiting my grandma.

My phone buzzed and I played the audio.

"I wasn't sure if you were awake yet so I didn't want to call you. And audio is much faster than typing. If you ever miss me, you can listen to my voice anytime. Did you adjust your settings so they never expire? And I dunno...you talk about your grandma often but I still haven't met her yet. I figured today would be a good day to meet her if you let me go."

Why is he so sweet? He's lucky I already have my settings set so they never expire. I recorded my voice.

"Yes, I have my settings set so they never expire. And sure...why not? Come over in half an hour."

As soon as I sent the audio, I quickly climbed out of bed to get ready. I didn't want Van to see me with bedhead. I went to the bathroom and got ready in record time. I was downstairs with five minutes to spare. I took the time to open all the curtains and sort of straighten up the house. I heard the doorbell ring and opened the door to find Van smiling. I opened the door wider to let him in and he walked in. He took off his coat and leaned in to give me a quick kiss on the lips. If I wasn't awake earlier, I sure am now.

"Have you eaten yet? I can make you something," I offered.

"I ate before coming here but I'm not opposed to eating more," Van replied.

"How does an omelette sound? It's my grandma's favorite. I can make a larger batch."

Van nodded and I went to work, cutting the vegetables. I wasn't the best at talking when cooking so I glanced at Van occasionally to make sure he wasn't bored. He didn't seem bored to my surprise; he was intrigued. He sat at the kitchen counter resting his face in his hands, watching me. When my eyes caught his, he was smiling.