11:00 AM
The incessant ringing of the phone woke Maureen up. She dragged herself out of bed and to the phone, then glared at it. How rude. It had done this earlier, too, but she had managed to ignore it. This time, it was just driving her crazy.
she mumbled, after the eighth ring.
Maureen, it's Mark, came the response.
What the fuck do you want?
Mark was taken aback. Well, I tried calling the loft, but no one picked up, and I can't remember Joanne's cell number, so I called your home, he said, very reasonably.
Maureen demanded. She squinted at the wall clock. Just before 11 AM. A ridiculous hour. She should still be in bed right now.
Um, Maureen? Did you just wake up or something?
Yeah, so?
Mark sighed. Okay, your ex-girlfriend is in a pissy mood, which will only get worse when she realizes that she missed probably the most historic moment in her lifetime, and you have to break the news to her. How do you handle this? Uh, if you look out your window, you might notice that the Twin Towers are gone.
Two planes were hijacked this morning, he explained patiently. They were flown into the World Trade Center towers. Since that time, the aforementioned Twin towers have completely collapsed. They're gone. Another plane flew into the Pentagon, too, by the way. Another plane also crashed in the middle of Pennsylvania, but we don't know what that has to do with anything yet. You should probably turn on the TV, or radio, or something.
There was a long moment of silence while she processed this information. Then, Why didn't you call me earlier, dammit?!
I only recently found out. I'm trapped in New Jersey, which is why I'm calling in the first place. Apparently no one is being allowed to drive into the city. Would you please tell Roger, somehow? Thanks. He hung up.
Maureen stared at the phone. Then she called Joanne.
* * * * *
Roger was still in shock at having watched both of the Twin Towers vanish into a pile of rubble and smoke. Mimi was crying over the untold number of dead or wounded. Neither was in the mood to answer the phone. So they didn't.
After a little while, Roger realized that the unknown caller might have been Mark. And that there was no way he could return the call. But maybe Mark had called Joanne instead. So it was logical that Roger should call Joanne and check to see if she'd heard from Mark.
Well, it made sense in his head, anyway.
Besides, he was really getting nervous about Collins.
* * * * *
Joanne was juggling cell phone calls again, and she did not appreciate it. Especially since her worried father had beeped her, so she had to call him back, too.
A pay phone and a cell with call-waiting. What more could a girl need?
After ten minutes of this, she decided that a therapist might be nice.
That's when she got yet another call, from the last person she expected. He suggested tentatively that she'd better get the gang to the loft in half an hour. Which meant another couple of calls. This was insane. Thank God the phone was working again.
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