47 Call Again

Damien pulled out his card and swiped it on the lock on his door, pushing it open when it gave a little beep, then walked into his apartment and shut the door behind him. He took off his shoe and placed it in the shoe cabinet then trudged forward, his foot moving smoothly on the marble floor and threw himself on the nearest furniture, slamming himself into the comfy couch.

'Phew,' Damien let out a sigh while his face was planted deeply into the soft couch. He turned to his side and looked around the room, his eyes running over the furniture, each of them probably costing his entire closet plus more as his house. It had only been about a week since he moved from his old house to this shiny new apartment owned by Gradis, yet he already hated the room. Everything was so new, devoid of all the memories each object had in his house and the feeling of familiarity his old home had. He was so tired and drained, he couldn't help rolling again on the couch. This time, he laid on his back, facing the ceiling, and stared at his hands.

What had he done with his hands in these past months since his friend's deaths? Damien inspected his hand and tried to imagine all the things he was able to do now after tossing himself into this new lifestyle. All the work he thought he was doing back then was nothing compared to what he was doing now. For 4 days after the meeting with some mysterious man called, Mr. Cloud, he had slept for 6 hours total since he was helping Gradis in the office while she researched about some companies he couldn't care less about. She had changed completely after that meeting, and her calm face had turned stoic as she spent her days face-first into mountains of paperwork. He wasn't even sure she had slept at all since whenever he woke up from whatever snippet of sleep he could get, she was still working.

Though this new life had all the luxuries he had wished for, it lacked emotion and feeling of love his old life had. He closed his eyes and imagined walking down the streets, sitting in small cafés, and sipping on coffee while watching people pass by. He missed spending time in the libraries studying for tests and staying up late looking through texts of fiction or just finding a random book and reading through it. But most of all, he missed the little visits from Regan he received while studying with her by his side asleep, or the smile on her face when she woke up on his back while they walked home. And when he would drop her and she would walk close to him, bumping into him cutely, before slipping her hands into his and letting out a small giggle.

"Is it too early?" He muttered to himself, but yet reached down and picked up his phone and unlocked it. He clicked on the phone icon and scrolled down to the number that had called 4 days ago. 'Can I?' He asked himself but before even thinking of the pros and cons, he clicked on the call button, then put the phone up to his ear.

His feet tapped on the ground nervously as the phone started to ring. 'Will she even pick up the phone call?' He thought to himself as the thought that maybe she didn't want to hear this from him, settled in. 'Maybe I shouldn'-' He sighed bringing the phone down, but stopped when he heard the click on the other end.

There was no voice that came from the other side, but he knew the call was picked up. "Regan?" Damien called out, and of course she didn't reply. "I- know you may not want to hear this from me but.. I noticed today was the 7th."

No words from the other side. He looked at his phone for a second to make sure he hadn't mistakened but the phone call seconds were going so she was just refusing to speak. "I- called to say, happy birthday," He let out a nervous chuckle, before continuing, "I suddenly remembered your 16th birthday and wouldn't dare to forget the fact that today is your birthday...even if I'm a few hours earlier than 2pm, I figured I may not get the chance to say this again later into the day."

Still no words from the other side.

"Anyways, happy 19th birthday Regan, I know this will never be the best birthday for you, but I'm selfish and still wanted to wish you happy birthday, I-" Damien hesitated for a moment, thinking of whether he should say it or not before continuing, "I miss you and want to see you again… wherever you are."

Damien twirled his hair in his finger nervously as he really wanted to see her but knew he was hated, "I.. really miss you and you haven't left my mind for even a day in these 3 months. I know you can't forgive me, but I still wanted to say it," he paused again before continuing, "I really love you.. I lov-"

"Alright that's enough," A voice interrupted from the other end, breaking into Damien's message.

"Wha-" Damien gasped in confusion, until he remembered the voice, "ah… it's you."

Vixen let out a small laugh, "pfft, now that you know, please stop with the lovey-dovey message, my ears were about to bleed. You make it sound as if she wasn't mad at you and every word you say will break her," even though it will, Vixen thought to himself, grinding his teeth, "anyways, I'll make sure to relay the message to her, since I'm sure it's something you need to get to her and I am in need of entertainment, so I might as well see her reaction."

"You-" Damien sneered, "how dare you use her for entertainment, does she look like a toy to you?"

"Yup, my little birdy," Vixen giggled.

"What?" Damien growled at the sound of the airiness in Vixen's voice he called Regan his "birdy."

"I might as well use her for something, that's better than extorting her and then throwing her away, when you've used her up," Vixen shrugged, "anyways, I have to go now because I would like to spend time with the birthday girl. BYEEEE."

"WAIT!!! WHA-" Damien yelled, but Vixen hung up. Damien looked down at the number with a scroll on his face. 'So you were using his number?' He thought to himself, 'who the hell is he anyways?!' He slammed the phone back unto the table and curled his fingers into a tight fist and slammed it into the couch.

Vixen looked at the phone number that had called and held back a laugh, then looked at the door in front of him. 'Room 207,' He thought with a grin. He was going to check up on her and see if she was sleeping already but instead turned around and walked down the hallway, soon breaking into a run. 'It seems today is the day I use the call to the outer world.'