He Called Again
2936 Words
I barely slept after the text message.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw those two words again.
Goodnight, Isla.
Not creepy.
That was the problem.
If it had felt creepy, I could’ve blocked the number and moved on with my life.
Instead, it felt…
personal.
Which was somehow worse.
I stared at the ceiling while Jay snored beside me like a chainsaw fighting for survival.
At some point during the night, he had somehow stolen my blanket completely.
Typical.
I yanked it back aggressively.
Jay groaned without opening his eyes.
“You’re violent.”
“You drool in your sleep.”
“That’s because life is hard.”
“It’s hard because you refuse to wash plates.”
He opened one eye slowly.
“I’m an artist.”
“You failed literature last month.”
“Art cannot be graded.”
I threw a pillow at his face.
He caught it lazily before grinning.
Then his expression changed immediately.
“Oooooh.”
I narrowed my eyes.
“What?”
“You’re thinking about midnight husband.”
“I’m literally not.”
“You have that face.”
“What face?”
“The emotionally distracted one.”
I rolled my eyes and got up from the mattress before he could continue embarrassing me.
Tiny kitchen.
Tiny living room.
Tiny everything.
Jay called it “financial minimalism.”
I called it surviving.
I tied my hair up while opening the fridge.
One egg.
Half bread.
Water.
Amazing.
Jay wandered into the kitchen wearing one sock and yesterday’s shirt.
“How broke are we today?”
“Extremely.”
“Damn.”
He opened the fridge, stared inside for three seconds, then closed it again slowly like he was mourning something.
“We used to dream,” he whispered dramatically.
“You ate all the eggs yesterday.”
“That’s not the point.”
I snorted despite myself.
Jay suddenly leaned against the counter suspiciously.
“So.”
“No.”
“You don’t even know what I was going to ask.”
“Yes I do.”
“Did mystery man text you?”
I froze for half a second.
Unfortunately, Jay noticed immediately.
His jaw dropped.
“OH MY GOD.”
“Keep your voice down.”
“He DID?”
I grabbed a slice of bread aggressively.
“It’s not a big deal.”
“What did he say?”
“Nothing important.”
Jay gasped louder.
“You’re smiling.”
“I am not.”
“You literally look softer.”
“Softer?”
“Yes. Usually you look like you’re preparing to fight capitalism.”
I stared at him.
“That doesn’t even make sense.”
“It makes emotional sense.”
I threw bread at his head.
He caught it triumphantly.
“Tell me what he said.”
“No.”
“Was it romantic?”
“No.”
“Was it rich?”
“What does that even mean?”
“Like…” Jay waved his hands dramatically. “Did the text feel expensive?”
I laughed despite myself.
“You’re impossible.”
“That’s not a no.”
Before I could answer, my phone buzzed on the counter.
I checked the screen.
Chloe.
I answered immediately.
“Please tell me you’re calling to say you became secretly wealthy overnight.”
Chloe laughed through the phone.
“You sound exhausted.”
“I barely slept.”
“Still overworking yourself?”
“Unfortunately.”
Jay stole another piece of bread behind me while listening shamelessly.
Chloe sighed.
“You nervous about tomorrow?”
My stomach tightened immediately.
The interview.
Right.
I’d almost forgotten because of the stupid phone calls.
“Very,” I admitted quietly.
“You’ll do fine.”
“You say that every time.”
“Because you panic every time.”
“That’s because life enjoys humiliating me.”
Jay interrupted loudly.
“Tell Chloe about mysterious midnight boyfriend.”
I closed my eyes slowly.
Chloe immediately screamed.
“WHAT?”
“There’s no boyfriend.”
“There’s a voice,” Jay corrected.
“Oh my God,” Chloe laughed. “Isla finally has romance in her life.”
“It was literally one phone call.”
“One emotional phone call,” Jay added.
I pointed at him threateningly.
“Go away.”
“Never.”
Chloe sounded far too entertained.
“What’s he like?”
“I don’t know.”
“Deep voice?” she asked immediately.
I hated that I hesitated before answering.
“…Maybe.”
Jay clutched his chest dramatically.
“She’s blushing.”
“I’m not blushing!”
“You absolutely are.”
Chloe cackled through the phone.
“This is the best thing that’s happened to me all week.”
“You both are horrible.”
“Yes,” Jay said proudly.
By evening, I was exhausted.
The café had been chaotic all day.
Customers complained.
My manager complained more.
And my feet honestly felt disconnected from my body.
When I finally dragged myself home, loud video game sounds blasted through the apartment.
Jay was sitting cross-legged on the mattress yelling at strangers online.
“GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU BALD DEMON.”
I dropped my bag beside the wall.
“You’ve been screaming for twenty minutes.”
“Because betrayal is everywhere.”
Then the apartment door suddenly opened.
Chloe walked in holding two shopping bags and iced coffee like she owned a luxury apartment instead of entering our financially suffering cave.
She looked annoyingly expensive.
Gold hoops.
Perfect lashes.
Long cream coat.
Meanwhile I looked like emotional damage in oversized clothes.
Jay gasped dramatically.
“The rich have arrived.”
Chloe ignored him and hugged me first.
“You look tired.”
“I am tired.”
“You also look suspiciously pretty today.”
“Oh my God, not you too.”
Jay pointed aggressively from the mattress.
“SEE?”
Chloe narrowed her eyes at me immediately.
“It’s the midnight man.”
“There is no midnight man.”
“There’s definitely a midnight man,” Jay corrected.
Chloe handed me the iced coffee.
“You’ve smiled more today.”
I blinked.
Had I?
That realization felt embarrassing somehow.
Jay paused his game dramatically.
“She stared at her phone three times while eating bread this morning.”
“You monitor me like a government agency.”
“Because I care.”
“Because you’re jobless,” Chloe corrected.
Jay placed a hand over his chest.
“That was hateful.”
The apartment slowly filled with noise after that.
Jay screaming at his game.
Chloe talking about work gossip while stealing my hoodie.
Me pretending not to glance at my phone every ten minutes.
At some point, Chloe noticed.
Her lips twitched.
“You’re waiting for him to call.”
“I’m literally not.”
“Mhm.”
Jay looked up immediately.
“She’s lying.”
“I hate both of you.”
“No you don’t,” Chloe said softly.
Unfortunately true.
Around midnight, Chloe finally stood up to leave.
Jay looked horrified.
“You abandon us?”
“I have work tomorrow unlike you.”
“That was unnecessary.”
Chloe laughed before hugging me tightly.
Then she whispered near my ear—
“If he calls tonight, ask his name this time.”
Heat crawled into my cheeks instantly.
“Oh my God.”
She grinned shamelessly before leaving.
The apartment became quieter afterward.
Jay returned to his game.
I changed into an oversized shirt and sat beside the window while rain tapped softly against the glass.
And annoyingly…
I kept checking my phone.
Not waiting.
Just checking.
Definitely not waiting.
Then—
My phone rang.
12:47 AM.
Unknown Number.
My heartbeat did something deeply embarrassing.
Jay immediately sat up like a possessed raccoon.
“ANSWER IT.”
“Lower your voice!”
“Put it on speaker.”
“Absolutely not.”
I answered while glaring at him.
“Hello?”
A pause.
Then—
“You answered faster tonight.”
That voice again.
Calm.
Low.
Quietly tired.
Something in my chest softened before I could stop it.
“I was awake,” I said carefully.
“Hm.”
The sound brushed against my ear.
I hated how much I noticed his voice already.
Jay mouthed dramatically from beside me:
ASK IF HE’S HOT.
I kicked him hard.
He nearly fell off the mattress.
The man on the phone went silent briefly.
Then—
“Your brother still awake?”
I blinked.
“You remember him?”
“He’s hard to forget.”
Jay looked ridiculously proud.
“See?” he whispered loudly. “I leave impressions.”
I shoved his face away.
“You’re annoying.”
“That’s sibling affection.”
The stranger spoke again.
“You sound tired.”
I leaned back against the wall slowly.
“So do you.”
A quiet exhale came through the line.
“Long day?”
“Very.”
“What do you do?”
“Survive capitalism.”
He laughed softly again.
That sound was becoming dangerously familiar.
“I’ll assume that means work.”
“Café shifts. Stress. Emotional suffering. The usual.”
“Hm.”
“What?”
“You joke when you’re exhausted.”
I frowned slightly.
The observation caught me off guard.
Nobody usually noticed things like that.
“I could say the same about you,” I said carefully.
Silence.
Then quietly—
“Maybe.”
The apartment became strangely still after that.
Jay was pretending not to listen now, but every few seconds he looked over dramatically like a nosy aunt.
I lowered my voice slightly.
“So what do you actually do?”
“Work.”
“That’s suspiciously vague.”
“It’s accurate.”
The way he said it made warmth crawl slowly into my cheeks.
Which was ridiculous.
Again.
I rubbed my face tiredly.
“You really don’t sleep at all?”
“Not easily.”
“Why?”
The question slipped out before I could stop it.
The silence afterward stretched long enough that I regretted asking.
Then—
“When it gets quiet,” he said slowly, “my brain gets louder.”
Something about that answer felt too honest.
Too real.
I stared down at my blanket quietly.
Jay had stopped joking around now too.
Even he looked softer suddenly.
“You should probably talk to someone about that,” I said gently.
Another quiet pause.
“I am.”
My chest tightened unexpectedly.
Because somehow…
it didn’t feel like flirting.
It felt like two tired people sitting in the dark trying not to feel alone for a little while.
Jay suddenly ruined the emotional atmosphere immediately.
“Ask him if he’s ugly.”
“Oh my God,” I groaned.
The stranger laughed softly again.
“He asks that every time?”
“He’s deeply committed to embarrassment.”
“Reasonable concern,” the man said calmly.
I shook my head, smiling before I could stop myself.
Dangerous.
This was becoming dangerous.
“You smiled again,” the stranger said suddenly.
I froze.
Jay looked at me dramatically like he’d just witnessed betrayal.
“How do you know that?”
A pause.
Then quietly—
“I could hear it.”
My stomach flipped embarrassingly hard.
Nobody should sound that good saying simple things.
Jay mouthed silently:
OH MY GOD.
I threw a sock at his face.
The stranger said after a moment,
“You sound less tired tonight.”
I frowned slightly.
“How would you know that?”
“You laughed more.”
Heat crawled slowly into my cheeks again.
I hated that he noticed little things.
And somehow…
I hated more that I liked it.
The line fell quiet again.
Comfortable quiet.
The kind where nobody really wanted to hang up first.
Then softly—
“What’s your favorite part of the day?”
The random question caught me off guard.
“…What?”
“Your favorite part of the day.”
I thought about it for a second.
Then surprisingly—
“Coming home.”
“Hm.”
“My life is exhausting,” I admitted quietly. “So when I come home and hear Jay screaming at video games, it feels…” I smiled slightly. “Normal.”
Jay looked emotional immediately.
“You love me.”
“Unfortunately.”
The stranger laughed softly again.
“What about you?” I asked quietly.
A pause.
Then—
“This.”
My heartbeat stumbled.
“This conversation?” I asked carefully.
“Hm.”
Something warm settled painfully deep inside my chest.
Too fast.
Too sudden.
Too dangerous.
Nobody should start mattering this quickly.
And yet—
“You should sleep, Isla.”
“You too.”
“I’ll try.”
Another pause.
Like neither of us wanted to hang up first.
Then softly—
“Goodnight.”
The call disconnected.
And for the first time in a long time…
the apartment felt too quiet without his voice.
- Writer
