Page 56 of The Breaking Pointe
Not that she has to, either.I think it hurts more to see that you were left on read than it does to just simply not get an answer back.My only concern is if she felt the same way I did, or if my wine selection was so good I looked like her favorite celebrity.Furthermore, I want to know if there’s any more to her than ballet, Chicago, and Daniel.I don’t want her to be my real-life one who got away.
Sighing, I take a few more bites of my food, locking my phone as I look at the TV. Ross had just eaten the key lime pie that Monica made. His tongue was getting more swollen by the second, making me smile a bit at the quirkiness of their acting.I finish my sandwich, then grab my bottle of water, still watching as my phone starts raging in vibration, startling me with the ringtone.
Looking down, I read the caller ID.
Noelle.
The mouthful of water that I had immediately shoots out of my mouth, making me drop my phone.
“Fuck!Don’t hang up, don’t hang up, please!”I panic. Hurrying, I set the bottle down before picking up my phone, drying it on my shirt as fast as possible.It’s like she was allowing it to continue ringing in order to see how long it would take me to answer.Managing to finally answer it, I
still almost drop it once more.
“Hello?”Isayinthecalmesttonepossible.“Colton—hey.I’mgladyouanswered,Iwasbeginning
to think you weren’t gonna,” she says as if her speech was besting her wording. “I would’ve understood,” she says kindly. I grab the remote, turning the volume down now.
“No—no.I’m here,” I say.
I hear her shuffling with something before some things clunk together.
“So,howareyou?Whatareyoudoing?”sheasks.
Way to be casual. Maybe I’m the only one who thinks two weeks means let it go.
“Um, I’m okay,” I lie through my teeth before finding the truth. “I’m better now.”
There it is.
“I’ve been dying to hear your voice.”I soften my voice as I continue.
She sighs softly.“Believe me—I mean it when I say I’mso sorry. I’ll be real with you, talking to men isn’t my forte. Actually, dating isn’t, but we’ll say that I dug deep and found some courage tonight.” She giggles nervously.
I love that melody.
“I don’t know if I’m reading too deep, but you don’t sound so good, is everything okay?” she asks, filling our pause.
“I’m…hanging in there,” I say, buckling slightly.“Wanna talk about it?You can vent to me.I love listening,”
she politely offers.
Contemplating, I resume the momentary silence. When you ask that sweetly, it makes it hard for me to still feeluncomfortable.
“You don’t have to.I understand,” she says quickly.
“Nah, it’s not that I don’t want to.I just don’t want to bore you with my pedestrian problems.”
“I called you, okay?I don’t mind, Cole…can I call you that?” she queries.
My face reddens at her words, laughing to myself. “You can,” I stage whisper.
“Good.I—I mean, cool.I mean, that’s a good thing—” she groans.
A bigger smile takes over my face as I lick my lips. “I left you a voicemail and a few messages.I’m sorry if that was invasive.”
“No—God no. I listened to them, though,” she admits. “I don’t know what to say in these situations. It’s unusual for me. I…I’ve been going to these new meetings and the people there tell me to branch out. It’s sort of hard,” she says in an inside voice.
“I understand.” I take a deep breath. “Can I ask what kind of meetings?”
