"Half of a Phone Call"
By Sister Rose
Written for ctoan's missing scene challenge. Fills in gap left after "The Chrismukkah That Almost Wasn't" from Season Two.
Rated R for language
This story originally appeared on famous99's livejournal, back when I had no computer access. Thanks, famous!
The characters of "The O.C." belong to Fox, and no infringement of those rights is intended in this fictional work.
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"Hello.
"Oh, hi, Kirsten. Merry Christmas.
"Oh, yes, I forgot. Merry Chrismukkah.
"No, Dad hasn't called. Why?
"No, I haven't heard from Jimmy, either. I haven't talked to anyone but you in the past week. Why? You're starting to make me nervous.
"I can't talk too long. I've got a business meeting in half an hour. Tokyo's great, but everyone's a stickler about punctuality.
"OK, OK, I'm sitting. This better be good.
"You had Dad and Julie and Jimmy all in the house at the same time? Did somebody get punched?
"Uh, huh.
"So who's Lindsey again?
"Ryan's study partner? Uh-huh.
"And my …. sister? My 16-year-old sister? …………….
"No, I'm still here. Just … processing.
"What did Dad say?
"So he was cheating on Mom. It wasn't enough that he couldn't be there for her. He had to cheat on her, too. That rat bastard.
"You did WHAT? Is he OK?
"Good, because I want to punch him out myself. I can't believe you missed. Guess all those years playing field hockey made you too dependent on a stick. Speaking of sticks, what does Sandy say?
"Yeah, I'll bet he's apologetic. What disgusting carnal act did he perform to get out of the doghouse? Come on, I want details.
"Privacy is way overrated, if you ask me. I'll just interrogate Seth. He'll tell me.
"What did Julie say? Bet she could see the family fortune dividing again and went purple. You know, that's really not the best color on her. She should definitely stick to a nice teal that won't fight with that bad dye job on her hair.
"Hey, it's only polite to ask after the health of my stepmother. And it's hardly my fault she looks old.
"I'm not being mean. Mean would be pointing out that she has a daughter old enough to go to college.
"Oh. Sorry. Forgot about my nephew being ready for college, too.
"So have you talked to the girl yet? What did she say? Did she know?
"In the front yard? Sometimes he's sweet in spite of himself.
"It was Seth's girlfriend's idea? Things have gotten really weird since I left.
"Hey, did, um. Did Jimmy ask about me?
"No, I don't think I'm going to make it home this new year. Tell the boys they'll have to
throw the party without me.
"Well, at least thanks to me they know how to clean up after one.
"Yeah, yeah. Sorry.
"Listen, I'm going to have to go. Send me a picture of my new sister – or whatever she is. I'll call my sleazy dad myself.
"OK, OK. I'll wait a couple of hours, but I'm not likely to calm down. Are you calm yet?
"But this means he's less likely to go to jail, right? I guess that's good news.
"Kirsten, don't say 'clusterfuck.'
"Merry Chrismukkah to you, too."