The Phone Call

what happens when you can't forget your first love? Note: for contest purposes, the song used was "Color My World" by Chicago

 

 

There they were.  The black letters neatly printed on the thin white page.  Cutter, Jason.   Followed by the seven magic numbers.  She’d heard through the grapevine that he was living here.  And now, here in this tattered hotel room phone book, she was looking at the number of the man whose name she never said out loud.  She glanced over at her two sleeping children and whispered it to herself, “Jason Cutter”.  She couldn’t believe it.

 

Her mind traveled back to a much younger, carefree time.  A time full of summer fun, long walks on the beach, and car rides “just because”.  A time before mortgages and utility bills and responsibility weighed her spirit down.  She remembered how handsome he looked that night in his baby blue tuxedo.  The one with the ruffled shirt, a single white carnation pinned to his lapel.  He had given her a corsage of roses and they had danced almost every song in a gym filled with red and black balloons before disappearing in his parents’ green station wagon. 

 

That night, on the bench seat of that old car, everything seemed so right.  She thought it would never end.  And she gave herself so willingly to him.  As “Color My World” played softly on the radio, he lifted her pink satin dress above her hips and told her he loved her, that they would be together forever. 

 

She was ten years older now.  And a family gathering had brought her to the same city where he lived.  A lot of life had happened in the decade since she’d watched him leave.  She eventually stopped tearing up at the thought of him.  She moved on with her life, knowing that he had as well.  There was no use dwelling on something that wasn’t meant to be.  Still, she had never forgotten him. 

 

A knock on the door broke her reverie.  “Room Service,” the voice called.  She opened the door a crack and told him “But I didn’t order anything.”  The waiter glanced down at the card on the cart and told her that her husband had wanted to surprise her.  “Oh, how sweet”.  That was just like Jim, always thinking about her, even when he couldn’t be there.  He was a good man.  A wonderful husband, a devoted father.  He was almost perfect.  He just wasn’t Jason. 

 

Jason, her first and only true love.  The one who ignited the fire within her.  The one who took in his arms an inexperienced teenaged girl and released a sensual, passionate woman.  God, how she still loved him after all these years. 

 

She looked at his name again.  “I’d only be saying hello,” she told herself.  “Really, it’s just two old friends catching up, isn’t it?”  She turned her eyes over to the two children still asleep on the bed, her children, Jim’s children.  They were practically babies.  What she was feeling was wrong.  She couldn’t lie to herself, there was no way she wanted to just catch up with him.  Even if Jim never found out, how could she live with it later?  Maybe Jason’s married, she told herself.  He might even have kids of his own.  Why hadn’t she considered that before?  But maybe he’s not.  Maybe he’s been thinking of her through the years as well?  Maybe he’s even picked up the phone himself to call her but chickened out? 

 

Too many “maybes”, too many “ifs”.  She looked at the name again.  Her head began to swim and butterflies began swarming in her stomach.   She willed herself not to look over at her children again.  She reached her hand out and picked up the phone.  Her fingers trembled as she dialed six of the numbers.  She took a deep breath, held it a few seconds and quickly punched the seventh.  “I’ll let it ring four times…if he doesn’t answer, that’s it, it wasn’t meant to happen.”  She nervously listened to the second ring.  “He isn’t there, this is ridiculous.”  Just as she was about to hang up, there it was.  Jason’s voice.  She nearly cried as she heard him say “Hello?”

 

Author's Note

This is my submission for the "Forbidden Love Fiction" contest. I'm not sure exactly where to reference the song used, so I'll do it here. It is "Color My World", by Chicago.

Reviews

[Kitty]

This was a very enjoyable read!!!! A part of me would like to see what else happens after he has answered the call, but on the other hand, the suspense is so intruiging and allows the mind to wonder..

Nicely done!!!!

Josie

P.S Good luck in my contest =)

[goldfishgirl]

Brilliant, achingly sweet and heartfelt.

[AutumnRose]

wow,
that was breath taking and the way you leave it with such suspense!
absolutely marvelous!