Page 44 of Mortala
I leave with the laptop, my patience hanging by a thread, and a headache that’s only getting worse. By the time I get home, the apartment somehow feels even quieter than it did before. I set the upopened laptop on the kitchen island, grab a bottle of water from the refrigerator, and take a long drink before pulling my phone from my pocket.
Still nothing.
I don’t know why I expected anything different. My thumb hovers over Maddie’s contact while I argue with myself. She asked for space, and I should respect that.
Yeah…fuck that.
The worst she could do is ignore me, but the worst would fucking hurt. Call me a masochist, because I’m going to text her anyway.
Me: I can’t stop thinking about you. Space fucking sucks.
The second I hit send, I regret it.
Jesus Christ, Miles. Real fucking smooth.
I toss my phone onto the counter and immediately pick it back up again, my eyes refusing to leave the screen. Five minutes crawl by before I realize I’m literally sitting here waiting for the three dots to appear like they’re going to solve all my problems.
They never do.
I tell myself she’s probably busy, then I convince myself she’s asleep. Then I remember she almost never takes naps this late. That’s when my mind starts doing what it does best. What if she’s ignoring me? What if something actually happened?
What if the same bastard who’s been threating her finally found her while I was jacking off in the shower, buying new computers, and fucking sitting here staring at my phone?
My stomach drops so fast it makes me feel sick.
“God fucking damnit!” I yell, throwing my bottle of water at the fridge.
Fuck texting.
I hit her contact and press call, because if something happened to her, I’ll never forgive myself for letting her leave.
The phone rings four times before going to voicemail. Every muscle in my body tightens.
FUCK.
I call again. She doesn’t answer.
Third time’s the charm. I call again, and on the second ring, she answers.
“Miles–”
The sound of her voice hits me like someone finally let me breathe again.
“Maddie! Thank fuck, I thought something happened to you. Why didn’t you answer me?!”
She’s quiet for a second, and once again, I think the worse.
“Maddie?!”
“I’m here. I’m sorry. I didn’t think by not answering you would assume that something happened to me. I guess that was pretty stupid of me.”
I laugh because how is it she’s the one feeling stupid when I’m the one calling her three times like a fucking idiot?
“Damnit, Princess, you got me going crazy, you know that? I was about ready to start burning down buildings if you didn’t answer soon.”
“Miles,” she sighs. “I told you we needed space. You can’t keep calling me like this—it defeats the term ‘space’.”
I laugh again, because she can’t be serious.
