VEIL OF DESIRE

Girl Talk

⸻

Chapter 12

Aria sat by the window of her small apartment, a cup of chamomile tea cupped gently in her hands. The steam curled into the air like soft tendrils of thought, but the tea remained untouched. Outside, the sun had dipped low, casting long shadows across the buildings, painting the world in hues of rose and gold. Inside, everything was quiet, but her heart was not.

She kept hearing his voice. Calm. Warm. Mysterious.

“You are seen… You are not alone.”

There had been no name. No reason. Just words spoken with a sincerity so rare, it had disarmed her.

She blinked at the cup in her hands and then set it down slowly on the windowsill before reaching for her phone. Her thumb hovered for a second above Lola’s name. Her best friend would either tell her she was crazy—or ask for every detail like she was auditioning for a rom-com. Either way, Aria needed her voice.

She tapped the call icon.

It rang once. Twice. Then, “Hey babe!” came Lola’s voice, bright and full of life. “You good? You sound soft.”

“I… something weird happened,” Aria said, her voice low, uncertain.

“Weird how? Like ex-weird or job-weird? Please don’t say Alex weird. That boy better still be blocked.”

Aria sighed, shifting her position on the couch. “No, not Alex. This is… something else. A guy called me.”

Lola paused. “A guy? Do I need to sharpen my nails or get the popcorn?”

“I don’t know who he is,” Aria said, her fingers tightening around the phone. “His number was hidden. He just… called me. And he said the most unexpected things. That I inspired him. That just by existing, I’ve given him strength.”

“Whoa.” Lola’s tone changed instantly, her voice lower now. “That’s not your average ‘hey girl’ message.”

“No. It wasn’t flirtatious. It wasn’t creepy. It felt… pure. Honest.”

Lola gave a low whistle. “Girl, what kind of secret admirer are we talking about? Like ‘Netflix stalker’ or ‘spirit from the clouds’?”

Aria laughed softly—the sound surprised her. She hadn’t laughed all day. “Honestly? No clue. But his voice… it was something else, Lola. It felt like velvet. Like he’d seen something in me I didn’t even know was visible.”

“That sounds poetic as hell. Are you sure he wasn’t reading lines from some drama?”

“I thought about that,” Aria admitted, walking slowly toward the bookshelf, running her fingers over the worn spines of her favorite novels. “But he didn’t sound like he was performing. He sounded like he meant it.”

“Okay, now I’m intrigued. So what happened after that? Did you hang up? Did he ask for your digits?”

“No,” Aria said, curling up in the corner of the couch. “I told him to call me back. At 7. I don’t even know why. I just… wanted to hear his voice again.”

Lola let out a soft sigh. “Aria, you know I love you, right?”

“I know,” she murmured.

“And I have to say this—just in case—because the last thing I want is to see you hurt again.”

“I know what you’re going to say.”

“I’m not judging,” Lola said gently. “I’m just… asking you to be cautious. You’re still healing. You’re still recovering from—everything.”

Aria closed her eyes. She knew what Lola meant. The bruises had faded. The guilt hadn’t. The loneliness had stayed.

“I know,” she said softly. “But this… felt different. Like it wasn’t about me being desirable or wanted. It was more… like he saw through me. Past all the mess. I don’t know how to explain it.”

“Okay,” Lola said after a moment. “Then explain it like you would if we were ten years old and playing ‘truth or dare.’ Lay it out.”

Aria smiled despite herself. “Alright. Imagine someone calling you, out of the blue. You’ve never met them. Never seen their number. But they speak to you like they’ve been watching you—not in a creepy way—but like… they’ve seen your pain, your strength, your quiet moments when you didn’t even know anyone was watching. And then they say you inspire them.”

Lola let out a long exhale. “That’s… either very beautiful or very dangerous.”

“Yeah,” Aria whispered. “But it didn’t scare me. Not even a little.”

There was a pause on the line, then Lola’s voice came back, warmer now. “Then maybe… just maybe… this is something good. Something rare. You know, in all the movies we grew up watching, love always showed up when the girl was at her lowest. Maybe this is that moment.”

“Except I don’t know who he is,” Aria said, laughing softly again. “He didn’t tell me his name. Just that I’ve changed him. Helped him see something he lost.”

“Oof. That’s deep. Are we talking angel? Therapist? Secret billionaire with emotional issues?”

“Maybe all three,” Aria said, shaking her head. “He said he was listening to me talk… that my voice helped him when he was surrounded by darkness.”

There was a small gasp on the other end of the line.

“Wait. Hold on. Listening to you? Like—how?”

“I think… I think he might’ve heard me reading something. Maybe my poetry online? Or those short podcasts I used to do?”

“Oh my God,” Lola said dramatically. “You’re telling me your voice has secret admirers now? I swear, girl, if this turns into one of those fan-fiction love stories, I’m going to scream.”

Aria giggled. “It’s not like that.”

“Are you kidding me? A mysterious man says you saved him with your voice and now he’s calling you with no caller ID? That’s practically a fantasy novel. Don’t be surprised if he shows up with a sword and a tragic backstory.”

Aria rolled her eyes. “Stop it.”

“No, seriously. Did he have an accent? You didn’t say.”

She paused. “Yes. Sort of… old-world. Like he didn’t grow up here. There was a softness to his speech. A formality.”

Lola was quiet for a second. Then: “What if he’s not even from this world?”

Aria blinked. “Excuse me?”

“I’m serious! Think about it! What if he’s like, from another dimension or something? And you’re his chosen one? Like those sci-fi books you used to write in high school?”

Aria laughed. “You are officially insane.”

“Hey, you brought up the mystery man. I’m just adding some spice.”

“Well, if he is from another world, he has great taste in Earth girls,” Aria said, smiling.

“Exactly,” Lola agreed. “Just remember to call me first before you run off into the stars with him.”

There was a pause. A warm silence filled with unspoken affection. Then Lola’s voice softened.

“Aria… whatever this is, I hope it’s something good. I hope it brings you light.”

“Me too,” Aria said, her voice barely a whisper.

“Do you want me to come over?” Lola asked. “Seven’s coming up.”

“No,” Aria said. “I think I need to do this alone.”

“Okay. But if you suddenly vanish into a portal or something, I’m calling the FBI.”

“I’d expect nothing less.”

They both chuckled.

Aria looked down at her phone screen. 6:44 p.m.

“Seventeen minutes,” she murmured.

Her hands trembled slightly as she ended the call and stared at the empty space in her living room, where nothing had changed—but everything felt different.

A voice had reached her.

A voice had seen her.

And in just a few minutes, she would hear it again.

Her tea had gone cold. She didn’t care.

Something told her that warmth was coming anyway.