For a moment, she looked surprised, almost startled by the intensity in my words. But then a soft smile tugged at the corners of her lips, a small and fragile thing that was as much for her own reassurance as it was for mine. "Okay," she whispered, her voice barely audible over the pounding in my ears.
But the tension didn't leave her eyes, and it gnawed at me, pulling at the edges of my resolve.
Then, the phone rang again, slicing through the fragile peace we had tried to build. I felt a knot tighten in my stomach as I ignored it, my focus entirely on her. But it rang again. And again. Each time, my muscles tensed a little more, the strain pulling at the lines around my eyes, deepening them with every ignored call.
Seven times.. Ten times..
I could see the concern growing in her eyes, the way her hand hesitated as she reached out toward me, like she was afraid of what I might say, afraid of what the call might mean.
