Page 26 of Beautiful Chaos

She sighed loudly, “Okay, but would you tell me if something was wrong?” There was a break in her voice as she questioned me.

“Yes, I swear.” Before I could say anything else, I heard a man’s voice calling out, telling her the car was ready. I used the opportunity to hurry her off the phone. I hated lying, especially to her. I don’t think she believed me anyway, but with the distance between us, I don’t think she had much choice.

“I’ll call you tomorrow,” I said.

“Okay Harper, call me if you need me. I’m always here.”

“I know you are, ” I whispered.

When I put my phone down it started to vibrate again.

I looked at the unknown number, instantly feeling panic rising again. My breath quickened, and my head was reeling.

Who could be calling me blocked and right after seeing what I saw?

I stood up, looked through the peephole of the front door that I was still commanding, and then nervously searched for the ‘Armed’ signal on the security system panel. As if they could see me through the screen, I looked back to my hand where my phone vibrated another round. It flashed the unknown number, taunting me. I knew I shouldn’t have answered, but curiosity won. I held the phone to my ear, and waited silently, holding my breath.

Only seconds later a familiar husky voice came through the receiver, and a sense of relief filled my body, but it was quickly replaced with a new feeling that I couldn’t explain.

“Hello, Is this Harper?”

“Yes.”

“Hey Harper, it’s Jasper. Are you okay?” he asked.

Jasper? How did he get my number? Why did he want to know if I was okay?

Confusion fogged my brain in a rush, I didn’t know what to do with it.

“Yes, I’m fine, why are you calling me, Jasper?” I snapped, with more intensity than I even realized.

“Well, I went to the bookshop this morning to thank you for recommending Into the Water, with a coffee, but when I got there the owner said you never showed up. He was worried something had happened to you. He gave me your number, but only under the condition, that I let him know once I’ve heard from you,” He said nervously.

“I was worried about you too.” he hesitated.

He was worried about me. Why? He asked me out a couple of times, and I turned him down. so, why even bother?

He cleared his throat pulling me from my thoughts where I was aggressively doubting his intentions.

“That’s very sweet of you, but I’m okay,” I said, unsure why it came out more of a question than a response.

“Hmm, you’re not fooling me, but I’ll leave it for now.” he chuckled.

“It’s nice of you to check up on me, but I’m okay, truly,” I said unconvincingly.

I didn’t know how to respond to that.

Still confused, I looked down at my phone screen again.

“Was it you who called from an unknown number earlier too?”

“Unknown?” he repeated slowly, as if deep in thought.

“Oh, yes. When I’m working I block my number. I must’ve forgotten to unblock it. My apologies.” I could almost hear his kind smile behind his words.

“Forgive me for prying, but why didn’t you show up for work? Are you ill?” he asked with concern. Concern I didn’t fully understand.

Ordinarily, I’d tell him it was none of his business. For some reason, when I opened my mouth, the truth came out.

---