A call in the dark
1398 Words
Olivia lay on the couch, her eyes closed, trying to shut out Lisa's infectious laughter. The sound was like a bubbly brook, effervescent and impossible to ignore. She felt a surge of annoyance, her muscles tensing beneath the fluffy blanket that cocooned her as she snuggled more into herself.
“Cut the crap.” She said to Lisa while raising her head slowly from the sky-blue couch. “Go to the other room to talk to Hiro and gist with him about what happened. I will hit him up after I'm done wallowing in self pity” She said the last part in a whisper and drew the blanket closer to herself.
“Don't mind her.” Lisa said, still cackling with laughter. “She's just being a bitch.”
Lisa sat on a two-seater sky-blue couch opposite Olivia who lay on a three-seater couch. Her legs were folded under her and she sat on them. She placed a pink colored iPad on her lap, her face hovering over the screen where a huge handsome-feminine face is.
“That's what our friend here did while you were not around.” Lisa added, finishing her narration.
“Is there more or that's all?” The voice asked on the other side.
Lisa glanced up at Olivia who'd lifted herself off the couch, using her elbow as support while glaring at Lisa like ‘say a word and you will be goner’. She hurriedly shook her head while glancing at the feminine-man.
“No Hiro, that's all.” She answered, flipping her middle finger at Olivia who'd settled back down on the couch.
Hiro has been Olivia and Lisa's male best friend since high school. They're a famous trio, always together and supporting each other. Hiro is the glue that holds them together, and people often mention them as a single unit - ‘Olivia, Lisa, and Hiro’. They're a true example of strong and lasting friendship.
Suddenly, the mood was broken by the shrill beep of a phone making the two girls glance at each other warily.
“Is that my phone or yours?” They ask, almost in unison before Olivia settles back down into the couch, her hand on her heaving chest and a sigh of relief escaping her lips.
“It must be yours. I've switched off mine.”
The phone continued to ring in a typical iPhone tone which made Lisa stand up and start lifting up the pillows on the couch until her hand grasped the phone. She checked the name before moving back to the iPad she'd placed on her lap.
“Talk to you later, Hiro. I have something to attend to.” She hurriedly said and didn't wait for a response before she pressed the red button, thereby hanging up the call.
She stood upright before picking the call on her phone.
“Hello.” She answered, moving away from the living room.
_ _ _
A few minutes later, Lisa came back to the living room, her hands holding a black shiny shoe and matching bags. She dropped them on the rug in the center of the living room before standing upright to tuck in her white shirt into her black pencil skirt.
“Where to?” Olivia asks, still cocooned under the fluffy blanket.
“Dad's receptionist called me. She said he will be back in two hours. You know what that means.” She hurriedly said, moving away from the living room and into another room.
“The internship?” Olivia called out.
“You get the vibe!” Lisa shouted from the room before coming back to the living room with a bigger bag, placed it on the backrest of the couch and started bringing out her makeup.
“You are just a lazy b***h. You knew you should have gone earlier but you stay rooted in your apartment all because you won't be fined since dad owns the company.” Olivia mused with a chuckle and Lisa retorted by throwing her an empty bottle of a face spray which made Olivia burst out laughing after lifting the blanket to cover her face.
Lisa hurriedly applied her makeup and moved to the shoes which she'd dropped. She sat on the couch and slipped them on then stood up, her short stature appearing more taller.
“My shawty looks beautiful.” Olivia sang, flinging the blanket off her to stand up, her 5’8 figure easily towering over Lisa's 4’9.
“Now sit, let me style your hair.”
“Don't take long. You know I'm late.” Lisa said with a wide smile before sitting down.
After some minutes, Olivia stepped back, her eyes taking in her handwork. She'd packed Lisa's long curly hair into a ponytail and had done her edges which made Lisa's big brown eyes pop out. She'd also helped her line her lips. Lisa took her phone and switched on the camera to take in herself before glancing up at Olivia.
“Baddest!”
They both burst out laughing before Lisa bent and grabbed her bag, then her car keys.
“Will be back by three babe.” She said, giving Olivia a hug before rushing to the door and shutting it behind her.
Olivia followed her to the door and when she stepped out, she hurriedly locked the door behind her.
“Scaredy cat!” Lisa called out, cackling with laughter before her footsteps faded into the background.
Olivia leaned on the door, labored breaths escaped her lips before she slowly slid down the door and her butt met the cold tiled floor.
She's tired, tired of trying to convince Lisa that everything is okay, that she's okay. She'd not been able to get a good sleep since she arrived at Lisa's place that morning and even as she sat on the floor, she felt like eyes were following her.
“Come get me bastards!” She shouted at no one in particular before she stood up and tugged her hair in frustration before fisting the air.
“Damnit!”
She moved to the couch and flopped herself on it and after a few minutes, she stood up and moved to the kitchen attached to a dining table. Her goal is to do something to distract herself.
She came out a few minutes later with a plate of steaming hot noodles and a fork filled with noodles hovering between her lips. When she was done, she washed the plates and came back to the living room then flopped back on the couch and snuggled the blankets closer to herself.
‘So it's noodles all along…’ she thought before sleep finally consumed her.
_ _ _
Olivia woke up to the sound of the clock ticking away. Her eyes moved up to the golden ornate wall clock and her eyes landed on the time.
“7:28 pm” she whispers.
The room was filled with lights just like it had been in the morning. She hurried to the window and lifted the curtains. It's dark outside and the neighborhood is almost getting quiet. Lisa's neighborhood is almost quiet apart from the sound of a few luxurious cars moving to their homes. It's a high-end neighborhood.
She glanced at the wall clock again. Lisa had said she will be back at 3pm and this is almost 8.
“Lily!” She found herself calling out but the silence and the sound of the clock ticking away answered her.
She hurried to Lisa's sky-blue colored room and unplugged her phone by the bedside before settling on the fluffy white-sheet covered bed.
She turned it on. As she did, her hands shook and her palms started to become sweaty. She passed her phone to her left hand before wiping her white palm short. During that time, the phone had booted.
As if right on point, her phone rang making her breath catch on her throat.
“I thought It was on airplane mode.” She whispers before checking the caller and she was relieved to find out that it's Lisa. Her gaze moved to the top to see that her phone was not on airplane mode before she picked the call.
“Lilyyyyy! Where are you? You got me-”
“Your friend is with me. Don’t come to Italy.” A cold voice said, interrupting her.
- Writer
