windfall

thirty-three: "head. bitten. off."

Normal: Kat Torres
Underlined: Phoebe Radisson

~

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HUNG UP ON HIM - "

    "- Phoebe - "

    " - HE SAID HE LOVED YOU AND YOU HUNG UP ON HIM - "

    " - Pheebs - "

    " - ARE YOU INSANE? ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FREAKING MIND, KATIA JESSAMINE TORRES- "

    "PHOEBE. WILL YOU SHUT UP FOR ONE SECOND."

    "...fine."

    "I hung up on him. Yes, fine. That was a bad move on my part, I'm owning up to it. But to be fair, he caught me off guard! One minute, we were naming Queen songs and the next, he had this really serious and low voice and he was telling me he was born to love me! I freaked out!"

    "..."

    "You can speak now, Phoebe."

    "Thanks, your majesty. As I was saying, I can't believe this! Only your guy would drop that bomb using a nineties song. That's so cute. I can't believe you hung up on him."

    "Okay, Pheebs, I get it. I messed up."

    "How long ago was this?"

    "Um."

    "Kat."

    "It may have possibly been maybe, like... eight days ago."

    "WHAT?"

    "Not my fault! I only avoided him for three days, and Stephanie's breakdown took up the rest of the time!"

    "Stephanie's what now? Girl, we cannot go this long without talking. How much shit happens to you in a week?"

    "Too much. Stephanie had a panic attack at school. She won't tell us what caused it and Vanessa is blaming me for putting undue stress on her. I literally asked the girl to tell me when my laundry was done and her mother is saying I triggered her anxiety. I didn't even know she had anxiety."

    "That's bull. You didn't do shit to her. She won't tell anybody what happened?"

    "She shut herself in her room for five days and refused to leave, even to go to school. She's not saying a damn word."

    "Don't yell at me but... did YOU try to talk to her?"

    "I feel like you're forgetting what happened all those other times I tried to talk to her. Head. Bitten. Off."

    "Maybe she doesn't want to tell Vanessa. And your dad isn't really Dr. Phil, you know?"

    "She has an entire grade of friends. She definitely does not want my help. Why are we even talking about this? The problem is with Easton, not Stephanie."

    "Okay, okay. What are you going to do about Easton?"

    "I don't know, Pheebs, that's why I called you."

    "No need to get snippy. Let's see. The way I see it, you have two options. Option one is to call him and apologize for blowing him off for eight entire days. Option two is to ignore him for the rest of your life and hate yourself for letting go of the only person - other than me, of course - who's ever made you this happy."

    "Modest."

    "Thanks. I, personally, know what I choose for you. But I also know you, and I know you're going to need a bit more convincing before you make the right choice."

    "Convince me, Phoebe. I don't want to let him go, but I'm afraid I might."

    "Close your eyes, Kat. Just do it. Are you doing it?"

    "I'm doing it."

    "Picture your life five years from now. You're working at the Met, or maybe the Museum of Natural History - I'm not entirely sure what your degree is for. Anyways. You come home from work to your cozy, two bedroom loft in the Upper East Side, just cause you're fancy like that. You go inside and there's the love of your life sitting on the couch with his feet kicked up on the coffee table like you've told him not to do a million times before. He looks up and smiles at you, asking how your day was. Even though your day was complete shit, you take one look at that smile and all your worries disappear. He makes you happy just by looking at him. He takes all your troubles away with a single hello. He's the last thing you see when you go to sleep and the first thing you hear in the morning. You can't help but be madly in love with him. Are you picturing this, Kat?"

    "I - yeah. Yeah, I see it."

    "Who is he, Kat? Who is your guy?"