He sat on his bed, just thinking. He knew what today was, and he wondered if she had remembered. Or if she even cared. If she ever had to begin with. He walked over to his phone and picked up the handset, staring at it. He wondered if it was a good idea. If he had the courage to say to her what he had missed saying a year ago.
He started to dial her number, just like he had so many times before. And just like those times, he hung up before it even started ringing. Only this time it was different. This time he was going to ring back, he just needed to find that damn CD.
He found it, and placed it in the player. He advanced it to the right track and picked the phone up again, thinking it might not be a good idea, but determined to go through with it anyway. He dialled her number, no longer needing to look at the piece of paper from his mate in Melbourne had sent him with her number on it.
"Hello, this is Tess." Her voice drifted down the phone, and it was all he could do not to say something to her. "Hello?"
He pressed the play button and the first few bars of the song drifted down the phone.
No New Year's Day to celebrate
No chocolate covered candy
heart to give away
No first of spring no song to sing
In fact It's just another ordinary day
No April rain no flowers bloom
no wedding Saturday within the month of June
But what it is is something true
make up of these three words
that I must say to you
He figured she knew the song. The two of them had never talked about music before but he had seen the Stevie Wonder album sitting in her CD collection.
His attention was turned to her as his suspicions that she knew what the song was correct when she began humming along with it.
I just called to say I love you
I just called to say how much I care
I just called to say I love you
And I mean it from the bottom of my heart
"Evan? Is that you?" Her voice was so certain that it took all his strength not to answer her.
No summer's high no warm July
No harvest moon to light one
tender August night
No autumn breeze no falling leaves
Not even time for birds to fly to southern skies
No Libra sun no Halloween
No giving thanks to
all the Christmas joy you bring
But what it is Though old to new
To fill your heart like no
three words could ever do
He was sure she knew it was him, and he was glad that the song was almost finished. She seemed so close that he didn't know how long it would be until his heart took over from his head. He might be a copper but he still had trouble thinking about her without involving his heart.
I just called to say I love you
I just called to say how much I care
I just called to say I love you
And I mean it from the bottom of my heart
I just called to say I love you
I just called to say how much I care
I just called to say I love you
And I mean it from the bottom of my heart
of my heart of my heart
Then he hung up. It was by far one of the hardest things he had ever done. However, he was sick of making all the moves. The ball was in her court now. And he was sure that this time she'd act. He had heard the love and loneliness in her voice when she called to him.
And he was sure that there wasn't anyone else in the world for her at the moment because her immediate thought had been that it was him, not someone else.
However, that said, there was no way that Evan was going to let her slip through his fingers again. If she hadn't turned up on his doorstep in the next week, he was going to have to take drastic measures. Although he wasn't sure what they would be yet.