The Space Between Us

03: You Never Call Me

Leaning back into the seat of the taxi, Amelia turned her phone over in her hands, trying to do anything that would distract her from the nagging voice in the back of her head that was insisting that she wasn’t ready to see Lionel again. It was probably right. When they had bumped into one another at the restaurant, all of her thoughts and feelings about him had collided into a mess that she hadn’t been able to make sense of, and she was almost certain that it would happen again, but she had convinced herself to try. It was something else to think about, something that had bothered her since it had happened, but had been dwarfed by everything that had happened between her and Fernando, and she thought that if she could figure it out, then she would start to feel a little less unsettled.

Squeezing her eyes closed, she exhaled a quiet sigh, only to jump when her phone started to vibrate in her hands. Staring down at it for a moment, she noticed that the call was from a number that she didn’t recognise before she slowly swiped her thumb across the screen, accepting the call. Lifting the phone to her ear, she waited for a second before Fernando finally sighed. “Baby” he said gently “You picked up” he added.

Amelia didn’t speak, overwhelmed by the sound of his voice.

“I hoped that you would” Fernando continued “I’ve missed speaking to you” he added.

“Fernando...”

“I just want to talk to you, Amelia” Fernando interrupted “I know that...that everything’s final, and I know that you don’t owe me any more time, but I was hoping that we could just talk. We had four good years, and I don’t want to lose...”

“Stop calling me” Amelia interrupted before she hung up the phone, stuffing it back into her bag as she squeezed her eyes closed again.

She knew what he was going to say. In the handful of times that they had been in the same room since she had left him, he had made the same argument, pointing out that they had had four good years, and arguing that there was still a chance for them to figure things out, that they could forget what had happened, but Amelia never took the bait. He was too good at lying, too good at telling her what she wanted to hear, and Amelia knew that she could never trust him again, no matter what he said. He had lied for years, and Amelia had never had a reason to disbelieve him, but it had changed. Now, all Amelia had was reasons to not believe a word that came out of his mouth.

Drawing in a deep breath, she let it out slowly before she leant forwards, gently tapping the shoulder of her taxi driver. “Can you just take me home?” she asked.

The driver nodded his head, allowing Amelia to lean back in her seat before she slipped her phone back out of her bag. Determinedly ignoring the two new texts that she had received from Fernando, she found Lionel’s messages and typed out a new one, telling him that she wasn’t going to make it, before she scrolled through her phone book.

Finding the number she was looking for, she pressed the call button and lifted the phone back to her ear. “Hey” she breathed “Can you come over? I need someone to talk to” she added.

~#~
“So, what’s up?”

Amelia glanced up from the coffee cup that Nora had passed into her hands, watching as her friend sat crossed legged on the sofa across from her, her hand gently landing on top of her baby bump. “What makes you think that something is up?” she asked.

Nora’s lips quirked. “You called me” she answered “You never call me. If I want to check up on you, I usually have to bribe my way through the front door. It’s why I bought coffee, I am so used to you making it hard for met to get in here” she added.

“I don’t make it hard on you” Amelia argued.

“You do” Nora replied “But I get why” she added, her smile softening a little.

She knew how frustrated Amelia was. She got annoyed at herself for thinking about Fernando, for not being as over him as she thought she ought to be, and it meant that she lashed out at those around her, even if she didn’t mean to. They were trying to be supportive, to help her get over the worst thing that had ever happened to her, but they didn’t always go about it the right way, and Amelia wasn’t always receptive to their help, meaning that she sometimes made looking after her more difficult than it should have been.

Amelia sighed, fiddling with the lid on her cup.

“What’s going on, Lia?” Nora prodded.

“Nando called again” Amelia admitted “Said the same things he always says” she added.

“You answered?” Nora asked “Amelia...”

“I just told him to stop calling” Amelia interrupted, pulling her knees up towards her chest “It probably won’t work, but I wanted him to know that I am not interested in talking. I didn’t listen to anything he had to say, Nora” she insisted.

Nora held her hand up, wordlessly apologizing.

“I was on my way to meet Leo” Amelia admitted after a long moment of quiet “I bumped into him the other night, and he texted me after, asking if we could talk. I was going to do it, but then Nando called and I just...I came home” she added.

Nora didn’t say anything immediately, keeping her stare fixed on the cup that she held in her spare hand. She didn’t want Amelia to see the expression that passed over her face when she mentioned Lionel.

“Don’t you have anything to say?” Amelia asked, a shaky laugh falling out of her mouth.

Nora looked up. “Did you want to talk to him?” she asked.

Amelia’s answer was a shrug as she looked down at her drink again. “Kind of” she said “He disappeared so suddenly, and I guess I would like to know why, but I am worried about talking to him. It is complicated, Nora, and I don’t think I have room in my life for something else that is complicated right now” she added.

Nora nodded her head slowly. She knew that it was complicated, and she knew that Amelia had no idea just how complicated it really was. When he had been trying to sneak out of Amelia’s wedding venue, Nora had caught him and asked why he was leaving, and the look on his face had told her everything. It had told her how he felt about Amelia, that staying and watching her marry Fernando was going to hurt too much, and that he was going to do something that hurt Amelia, but it had also begged her not to say anything, and Nora never had.

Leaning forwards, she gently took Amelia’s hand into hers and squeezed it gently. “You don’t have to do anything right now” she said “He’ll just have to understand” she added.

Amelia nodded her head before she glanced up, a slightly sheepish smile on her face. “Is it bad that I missed him?” she asked.

Nora smiled back at her as she shook her head. She would have been more surprised if Amelia hadn’t missed him.