scare you into marrying her.” That seemed to calm him. My poor brother really seemed on edge. But I needed to get the scoop on Jeffery. “So, can I talk to Jeff and you know, thank him for reminding you about your little sister’s birthday?” I tried to be sneaky and yet perfectly proper in my request to talk to my brother’s roommate, AKA the love of my life.
“He’s left for the weekend after our exam yesterday. He said he had a personal matter he needed to take care of. I will thank him on your behalf and give him the message, don’t worry.”
My heart was now totally outside my body, beating out of control. Was Jeff coming to see me? No, I had to get his number from Eddie if it was the last thing I did.
“No, Eddie, I’d really like to tell him myself. Just let me get a pen so I can write his number and I’ll call him later on.” I was so nervous Eddie would see right through me that I fell out of my bed in search of a pen. Eddie seemed too busy contemplating his relationship with Michelle to give my request a second thought. He read off Jeff’s digits and my hands shook as I copied them down. We said our goodbyes and I was left with my heart thumping, my breath accelerating, and for the first time in twenty-four hours, I felt hopeful.
After a quick shower, I ran downstairs to find a note from my dad saying he had a last minute meeting and not to wait up for him. What else was fucking new? I went in search of my mom, but she was already gone, too. She had a standing breakfast date with Emily’s mom, Adele, and every Saturday, that breakfast usually turned into lunch. The housekeeper had the weekend off, so I was home alone. I had no one to talk to, nobody to see how happy and excited I was.
I was once again reminded of how I’d painted myself into a corner and I had just myself to blame. If I’d never lied to Emily about being with Jeff last night then surely she would’ve celebrated my birthday with me yesterday. Surely we would’ve squealed and danced about the chance that he may actually be on his way to see me. But surely didn’t change the fact that I stood in an empty house with just myself to celebrate the maybes in my life.
I gathered every shred of confidence I could summon and dialed Jeffery’s number. It rang twice before he answered. As soon as I heard his voice, I lost the ability to speak. He said “Hello… Hello” a few times and hung up. Fuck! Why didn’t I say something? While staring at my phone and cursing my stupid coward of a brain, it started to ring in my hands. It was him! He was calling me back, and after four rings, I finally said, “Hello.”
“I knew it was you,” he said as chills ran down my spine. “Have you thought about me as much as I’ve been thinking about you, Sara?” Now my sex started clenching, because I’ve thought of nothing but him. “Will I get to hear more than ‘Hello’ from the girl who offered to blow me at the tender age of fifteen?” He continued making it hard for me to breathe. “Sara, did I lose you? Say something.”
“I’m sorry,” I managed to belt out before sobbing like a baby. I have no idea why I suddenly felt the need to cry. I was usually strong, or at least I pretended to be strong. Emily was the one that always cried, not Sara.
“No, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you cry. I was just joking. You asking to give me a blowjob in your room after I kissed you was wrong on so many levels, but if I’m being honest, it kept me going for all these years. Stop crying, I’ll never mention that again.” He sounded like he had a smile on his lips. I could just imagine that face of his with a big smile crinkling the skin around his eyes. “I’m glad you called,” he said, which brought me out of my daydream about his smile and back to the fact that Jeff and I were actually speaking on the phone for the first time in months.
“Why haven’t you ever called me from your own phone?” I asked him