THE PHONE CALL
It started with a phone call I almost didn’t answer.
I was sitting alone in my apartment, staring at the same spot on the wall for what felt like an hour.
My phone was on the table.
It rang once.
I ignored it.
It rang again.
I still didn’t move.
Then, just as the screen went dark, it rang a third time.
Something inside me whispered, Answer it.
I reached for the phone.
“Hello?”
There was silence on the other end.
Then I heard a voice.
“It’s me.”
I knew that voice immediately.
“David?”
“Yeah.”
I closed my eyes.
David hadn’t called me in months.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
I almost laughed.
That was the question everyone asked when they didn’t really want the answer.
“I’m fine.”
He didn’t respond.
Then he said quietly,
“No, you’re not.”
My eyes filled with tears.
I don’t know why those four words broke something inside me.
Maybe because, for the first time in weeks, someone wasn’t accepting my lie.
