The sudden buzzing of the phone made her startle from her position on the floor, and she scurried to sit on the sofa which honestly made her laugh at her sudden movements as if they were natural. She let herself relax and put down the hand that was itching to her hair to fix itself.
With her phone in hand, she stared down at the caller's name, and let it ring for a bit since she was really thinking hard about if she wanted to pick up the call. Alice wanted their encounter to be smooth and natural as if there wasn't a storm going on inside her head at the moment.
The call would have to be a quick one considering that Claudia was going to be back soon, so that was a perk on her end because she didn't have that much to lose within the five minutes that she was about to give him. Alice pinched the nose of her bridge knowing that her thoughts were definitely going out of hand. It was going to be fine.
Although she was honestly surprised that he did call since this was the first time he had ever done so. She didn't know what to do with her phone, awkwardly juggling it back and forth between her hands before hesitantly bringing it up to her ear, being mindful that Claudia was also on the phone with her mother. Also, it was the fact that she didn't want Claudia to overhear.
"Hello?" she quietly asked.
"Hello, Alice?"
"Yes?"
"Sorry," his low voice came through from the other line. "Are you busy?"
"I'm having a sleepover with Claudia," she said slowly.
"I'll leave you two be then."
"She's out of the room, so we can chat for a bit," she admitted. "Don't be sad that I didn't get to hang out with you today."
There was a laughing breath on his side. "No worries."
She rolled her eyes. "I know you have friends, so you should step out of the house more often."
"Well, so do you."
"Well, what do you know? We have something in common," she drawled. "I'm here to punish Claudia and drive her to do more work."
"That's not going to go well."
"When has it ever?" Alice laughed. "Hopefully, you're spending the weekend doing something fun."
"Nothing on my end here."
"Any plans?"
"Nope just in the living room."
"Watching TV?"
"Nope."
"What do you even do in a living room besides watching TV?"
"You sit, Alice."
"Sure," she said ironically. "You just sit in the living room with all the lights off along with being alone in the entire house."
"How did you know?"
She paused. "That's weird. Go turn on the lights."
His husky laugh brought a smile to her face. "I'm sorry. Did I offend you?"
"You might if you don't go turn on the lights right now."
There was a soft breath as he got up, and she could tell that he was moving around, she leaned her head back on the sofa and stared up at the ceiling.
She heard a light switch and smiled when she knew that the room was probably washed with bright light. "What were you doing in the dark anyways? Being a moody teenager?"
"No, I was watching TV as you had said, and it turned off by itself."
"You just proved my point correct. Anyway, I rest my case. You should probably get that checked out because that sounds creepy."
"Maybe. But it might also be that I stepped on the remote, so now the TV is going crazy."
"This is why we turn on the lights."
"Yeah, yeah," Noah said.
"What were you up to today?" Alice asked.
"I went to see my grandfather after working."
Alice hummed. "Sounds like so much fun. How is your grandfather faring?"
"He has more energy these days, so I'm feeling hopeful."
"How long will he be in the hospital?" she asked carefully.
"He's been in the ward for about two years now."
"I hope that he's doing well."
"He is, so you don't have to worry."
"And I assume that your job was at the mover's company right?"
"On the weekends, I work packaging jobs at a factory."
"No wonder you sound tired. There's no need to push yourself so hard, Noah. Go rest up."
Claudia came bursting through the doors, and Alice flipped back to look at her with her eyebrows raised. Claudia raised a hand in apology before mouthing 'Who are you calling?' and Alice stuck up her pointer finger to signal to give her a moment. Claudia shrugged and walked into her closet as Alice sat back.
"I hope you won't be too lonely without me," Alice whispered. "I'm going to head off."
"That won't be the case at all," he laughed, and Alice rolled her eyes as he continued. "I'll see you."
"If you actually come tomorrow," Alice said. "You better, okay?"
"Now, you sound like you actually want to see me."
"No, no. Just trying to fix your attendance, sir."