The phone number and address book lay open and beside it Deirdra Wallis' hand hovered over the phone, as she struggled to decide whether or not to leave the past in the past. Lately she'd become rather disenchanted as the golden veneer wore thin on the new life she had created for herself. She sensed that the need to start afresh once again would soon be upon her - something she had mixed feelings about. And right now all she wanted was to talk to someone. Someone who made her feel connected to who she formerly was but not trapped by the associations. Someone who was familiar but distant enough to have a fresh perspective. And the particular someone she had in mind was ex-boyfriend Alister. As she pushed herself to dial the final digit in his phone number, her mind was flooded with questions. Was the number still his? Would he answer? And would he agree to meet up? Her racing thoughts came to an abrupt halt as the connection was made and a "Yeah" came through the receiver. She stared dumbly into space for a few moments, the sound of her heart pounding in her ears. The "Yeah" was repeated, this time sounding like a question and also in a slightly annoyed tone. "Alister?", Deirdra asked uncertainly. After all, it had been a few years since she'd heard his voice. "You got it. Who's this?" was the reply. "Your ex-girlfriend", she said matter-of-factly. "Oh yeah? Which one?"
That caught her off guard. How was a person supposed to respond to something like that?
Finally, she managed to say "Deirdra", hoping she wouldn't have to elaborate.
The silence on the other end of the line seemed to last forever. Her heart fell. He probably remembered quite well who she was and what had happened and didn't want to talk to her. And she wasn't particularly surprised nor did she blame him.
"So what do you want?", he asked a last.
"To talk to you."
"Isn't that what you're doing?"
"I'd like to see you again."
There was another long period of silence and she was starting to feel like an idiot.
"Why?", Alister asked, startling her.
"Why what?"
"Listen, I'm not in the mood to play games..."
His voice was laced with anger.
"I'm not playing games", she retorted.
"Then WHAT do you want? In case you forgot, we're not exactly an item anymore."
"I know that and I don't expect you to want to get back together again, but I was hoping that maybe in time we could be friends again."
"You think-", he began, but was interrupted by someone else. Deirdra could faintly hear another man's voice in the background. Moments later another voice joined in. She strained to catch the conversation but was unsuccessful. Then she heard Alister's voice, louder than before. He seemed to be arguing with the others, whoever they were. Deirdra couldn't help but wonder what it was over.
Suddenly the arguing ceased. In fact, all noise ceased and was replaced by more interminable silence. She was just about to hang up when Alister said "Meet me outside the Paradius building at 4th and Lowe tomorrow night. 9:30. Don't be late." With that he hung up.