David was beginning to get alarmed. Natalie hadn't called him for two weeks, and had taken a temporary leave-of-absence from work. Another woman, old and not at all charming, had replaced her for the time being, and he didn't like it at all. He only wanted his biscuits from Natalie. He'd tried calling, emailing, and he'd even left a letter outside Natalie's parents' house when they didn't answer their door for an hour. He knew something was up.
For the fifth time that day, and he knew probably not the last time, he dialed her number. It was so familiar, but everything about her seemed so distant now. He was beginning to forget her scent, and that alarmed him. But this time, it was different. He waited, rolling his eyes, expecting just the usual machine to pick up. But instead, there was the crackle of the phone being answered and then a rough, hoarse, "What?" It was more of a squawk than a word, but nonetheless, David recognized the voice.
"Natalie!" he nearly screamed, his insides leaping for joy. "Oh, Jesus, Natalie, where have you—"
"David?" she asked.
"Of course! Natalie!"
"Oh…" She let out an explicitry. "Pick me up at seven o'clock, all right? It's this bloody phone… the caller ID's all messed up… oh… turd… bye, David. Seven o'clock. Dinner."
He didn't understand what was going on in her mind, but didn't really care. He'd talked to her! All the memories came rushing back: her scent, the way she was beautiful, the way she talked, her, her, her. "All right!" he cried. "That's fine. Yes!" But, before he could utter an 'I love you,' as he had so many times before, the phone was buzzing. She'd hung up.
Confused, David put the phone back on the receiver, but he didn't let it phase him for long. Instead, he burst up, called Patty to tell her to cancel everything in store for him today, and went to take a shower.
- -
"John," said Judy slowly, "can we have dinner?"
She was calling from a diner, which was where she'd gone straight to after work, instead of having to face John, who looked so lovesick that it hurt to even look at him.
"Oh! Of course! Where'd you run off to, dear?" He sounded shy and a little scared, as if he expected what was coming.
"Oh, I just had to… do a few things." She gazed absently around the diner, the place she'd spent most of her childhood. "Anyways, I'll meet you tonight at that little Italian place down the street from our apartment."
"Oh! Great. Awesome. I'll see you." Before he could say 'I love you,' she'd hung up.
Judy let her beautiful—but tired—eyes wander around the diner, letting the memories soak into her brain. This was where her mother had seen her father cheating on her, this was her mother's restaurant that she'd given away once she hit retirement age, this was where Judy had gotten together and broken up with her first boyfriend… too many memories to count. There still remained one thing that was the same, and the rest was different: the wall color, the floors, the workers, and even the owner, now that her mom had retired.
Meghan, the older-than-dust waitress who knew every little detail about Judy's life from when she was one to now, approached Judy, seeing the tears in her eyes. "What's wrong, honey?" she asked in her Southern drawl. "Is it John?"
"Yeah," she said. "I have to tell him tonight."
"What?!" Meghan cried, obviously dismayed. A couple customers glanced up, alarmed, but Meghan ignored them. "You can't do that! What, you want the marriage to be over? Because, if that's what you want, you don't have to break his heart that badly in the process. Just tell him it's family things, they don't like him, or that you're going to kill yourself or something and you don't want to do it while you're married! My god, Judy, why!?"
"I have to. It's honesty. That's what our relationship is about."
"Now up until now, it wasn't! Listen to me, honey: this is going to end the engagement, undoubtedly. You may think there's a chance, but there's not. No guy sticks around for that, unless he's crazy. So, if you want to end the marriage, end it well and keep in touch with him. Then you can go to Timothy."
"Timothy's married!" she sobbed. "Or, he was."
"He left his wife?"
"Yeah. Said she was a ridiculously depressed little… oh, Meghan, why is everything so… everything's just so messed up!"
"Honey, I can't help you." Meghan rubbed her arm comfortingly. "But I can be here for you."
And Judy cried into Meghan's arm, not caring what the customers thought.
- -
Timothy felt bad about leaving Karen, but he couldn't help it. He was in love with Judy, who was obviously in love with John.
It was all so confused in his head, and his whole body seemed to ache with it. He was a businessman, proud and strong, but that didn't mean he was level-headed or normal in any way. Quite the contrary. Just because companies all over the world begged him to be their manager, or to at least chat with them on the phone, it didn't mean he was brilliant. If he was brilliant, he'd have broken it off with Judy the first time he saw her, famous actress and beautiful woman or not.
Karen needed him, needed him more than air. He felt awful, thinking of her holed up and sad, as she'd been when he found her and during their relationship. This must've been so hard for her. But, the horrible thing was, he hadn't shed a tear for her—yet not. He kept thinking of a life full of Judy, whether she married the stupid John or not.
He was in love. Nobody can help that.
- -
MJ sat on the edge of Collin's bed, laughing hysterically. "You didn't!"
"I did! Off to America!"
"You're a crazy man, Collin!"
He smiled smugly up at her. "A little. But isn't it endearing?"
She shook her head, shaking with laughter. "It is endearing," she told him, "but not endearing enough. It's also a little awful."
"Ah, phfff," he said. "The ending is I learned my lesson. And I changed because of it."
"Oh? How so?"
"Well, I don't know. It's not just all about… that one thing… or how pretty she is. I like… conversation. Sensibility. And, I have to admit, British accents are much more hot than English ones. They're all… twangy! They remind me of wheat, or that ugly instrument… uh, what's it called… a banjo! Yes, English accents remind me of ugly, out-of-tune banjos."
"Oh, Collin!" She smiled down at him. "You're wonderful."
"You're more wonderful."
And then, there was a lingering silence, with only the machine beside him giving off a slow beep… beep… beep. And then, as if in slow motion, Collin lifted himself onto his elbows and began to raise his head towards her, closing his eyes, and she leaned down, her eyes closed. And then, their lips met.
- -
"This is miserable!" she cried miserably, throwing a stuffed animal clear across the room. "Why?! Why can't my womb just fill up already? I'm sick of all this emptiness! All of the sudden, I feel so hollow!"
Jamie wrapped his arms around her, giving her kisses around her neck. "We'll try until the end of time, Aurelia. Don't be sad. Please, please don't be sad."
"How can I not be?! FODA! FODA, FODA, FODA! Eu apenas quero um bebê estúpido! É isso demasiado a pedir? O deus deia-me. It' oficial de s!" she screamed, leaking off rapid Portugese.
Jamie shook his head, smiling sadly. "God doesn't hate you. Obviously, if He's making us wait this long, it's going to be a good one. Like, a little baby Jesus. That's it! You're going to have Jesus Jr.! Ah, I think we've cracked it."
She was so angry and frustrated that her face stayed stony, looking deep into Jamie's eyes. "Do you ever stop joking?" With that, she turned around and rushed out of the room, tears flooding down her cheeks.
- -
Karen slowly lifted herself up, looking again at the child support check. She really had to cash it. There was a grand total of 5 in her credit card, and if she didn't act quickly, her children would be starved. She knew how it hurt them when she was like this, but she couldn't help it.
It had been two weeks. Of course they'd eaten, because she'd handed them her credit card and told them to go to the grocery store every time they complained of hunger. But now, she couldn't even do that. She had to go out and cash the stupid check.
But she couldn't stop rubbing her finger along Harry's beautiful writing, cursive and wonderful. It had improved even more since he'd been with Mia. Perhaps when he was happy, his penmanship was better.
Karen missed him so much. Missed his lopsided smile, his scent, the way he hugged her and made her feel like the most important person in the world. Now that she rethought it, the CD he'd given her had been thoughtful, because he remembered that quick, barely notable conversation they'd had about the singer on the CD. That was sweet of him. Perhaps, she thought, she'd overreacted.
But then, she remembered that he left her. And she went back into a fit of tears.