A Different Perspective

Anna Gracelyn had been waiting for a while.

It was the 14th day of February, Valentine’s Day. A day to celebrate love. Romance. Anniversaries, and all that heart felt stuff. Not in her case though. For Anna, it was the first Valentine she had spent by herself in a while.

It did not really bother her much, however.

Considering it was Friday, she knew that she was going to get a call that day. And not just any call. Her boyfriend, who was currently out of town, tended to call her around this time of the week.

Curtis Oleander was his name. Their relationship had just crossed the two-year mark, something that she was internally proud of. They had spent last Christmas together. A few days later he had left.

Anna had been under the impression that he would be back by now. Whatever the time, she would be ready. In case it was the 14th, she had toyed with the thought of doing something nice for him. A home coming present of sorts. Her mind had still not settled on what, though. Maybe she would cook him something. Or buy him a costly gift. Saving up for that wouldn’t be too much trouble.

Since he had not returned yet, all she had to look forward to was his call later that day. She appreciated that he kept in touch, despite how far away he was. He had no obligation to, but the fact that he went out of his way to do so showed that he still cared.

Midday had just passed.

A while back, she had tried timing the moments when he’d call, but she’d never get it right. One time, he’d call at 7 p.m. Another at 9 a.m.

It was random, as if being cheeky. She wondered whether he was doing that on purpose. Not like she’d put that past him.

Before she knew it, the clock read 3 p.m.

She had just finished up some chores around the house, so she checked her phone to see if she had gotten any new messages.

Just then, her phone lit up with a notification. Her heart skipped a beat.

It was a message from one of her friends, Isabella.

“Happy Val’s, Anna.”

There was a smirk emoji at the end of the message.

Anna sighed a bit in disappointment. As much as she appreciated the message, that was not what she had been waiting for.

That didn’t stop her from replying though.

“Thanks. You too, Izzy.”

Isabella didn’t say anything else in reply, which surprised Anna a bit.

Dusk was approaching, and there was still no call. That was quite alright though. He was going to call. Soon. She was sure of that. It was one thing she appreciated about him. No matter how late he tended to call sometimes, it was always before her bedtime.

She tried distracting herself with a few things, such as reading a book and watching T.V. Sadly, her head was not in it. For the book she was reading, she could only skim past the words. As for T.V, a historical documentary was currently playing, but it was over before she could pay proper attention. Even idly scrolling through the other channels did not help. Among the channels she scrolled past were a cooking show and a documentary about home cleaning.

It was now 9 p.m.

Darkness had fallen over the land. In her heart, she had started to grow worried.

Fifteen minutes past 9, her phone lit up with a new notification. She nearly dropped it with how quickly she rushed to receive it.

Unfortunately, it was a call from her mother. The older woman was informing her that she would be late getting home that day. There was dinner in the refrigerator though, so all Anna had to do was heat it up in the microwave.

That was a bit of a relief. In her current state of mind, she did not feel up to cooking. She was not even sure what she wanted to eat.

She was getting a bit hungry, so she went to the fridge. For dinner she was going to have curry rice with beef stew.

A few bites into dinner, she started staring at her phone expectantly. The latest he had ever called her was 10 p.m. There were still a few minutes left, so there was still hope.

But maybe…. what if….

She could always make the effort to call first, right? It was something she struggled with a few times, but always decided against it since she feared that she would be bothering him. It was easier waiting for him to call first. In some ways, it made her feel special.

Halfway through her dinner, her anxiety finally gave way. She dialed his number.

Anna was sure her heart had stopped beating as she waited nervously for him to pick up. One minute passed, then two, then three, until finally it was five minutes.

There was no reply at all. Not even a voice mail.

She released a deep breath. And somehow, she felt strangely reassured now. Him not picking up meant he was busy. Which had probably been the case the whole day.

It was an assumption, but to her it made the most sense. Besides, he was going to call her soon anyway, so she’d have him clear things up then.

Despite her plate being half empty, she could not take another bite. After returning the plate to the refrigerator, she decided it was time for bed.

Maybe Curtis would call as she was asleep. Or send a message. If it was the former, she’d hope that she would be able to hear it in the middle of her sleep. The latter would prompt her to respond in the morning when she got up.

When Anna woke up the next day, it was 8 a.m in the morning.

Next to her bedside, her phone lay idle. She hadn’t checked it keenly when she had silenced her alarm a few minutes prior. Slowly, her hand moved to reach for her phone. She pressed the small button on the side, lighting up the screen. Anna was tempted to close her eyes and open them after a few minutes, like what people did before they opened a present. Or were due a surprise from someone special.

Deciding against it, she steeled her nerves, took in a shallow breath, and stared intently at her phone. All the while trying to temper her expectations.

Nothing. There were zero notifications on her phone. The message icon and the call icon were blank, meaning there were no missed calls or messages that required her immediate attention. Not even as much as a voicemail. Anna’s heart sunk to her gut. Her mind had tried to be positive, but that didn’t end up being much help.

To make things worse, she had forgotten to plug her phone in the charger the previous night. There was just one bar of battery left.

The time on her phone read half past eight. Good, not too early, and not too late. A few more minutes on her phone had her looking at a certain number. The thought of calling Curtis again came to her, despite already knowing what the likely response would be. She quickly brushed it aside.

“Anna! Your friends are here!”

Perplexed, but still a little relieved, a smile broke out on her face when she heard her mom’s voice, half shouting at her. Anna did not quite feel like going to college that day. Her friends showing up unannounced had come as a surprise, but maybe this was what she needed currently.

For now, she would do her level best to forget what had happened and try and have fun. Spending time with her two best friends was an appealing idea. The alternative was wallowing at home with her own anxiety and nervousness.

“Coming!”

She got out of her bed with a sudden haste, not checking where her feet were going to land. As such, she ended up stepping on a foreign object on the ground.

“Ow.”

A dull pain registered at the bottom of her foot before it dawned on Anna that she had stepped on the cover of a ballpoint pen.

Retrieving it from the floor, she placed it on the side of her bed adjacent to the book she was reading the previous day, before darting into the shower. After taking as quick a shower as she could, she proceeded to throw on the first clothes she picked out from her wardrobe. As for her messed up hair, she combed it with as minimal effort as possible.

Her phone was dying, but she couldn’t really afford to leave it behind. She stuffed it into one of her jean pockets before leaving her room.

Rushing to the living room, she found her mother sat on one of the seats there.

Anna was slightly perplexed as to where her friends were, before noticing the door past her mother was slightly ajar.

“Are you really planning on going out like that?”

Her mother’s question prompted her to look down at what she was wearing. It was then she noticed that the white buttoned shirt she had chosen was creased at the edges. The blue jeans were in a far better state, though the blue colour on them was significantly faded.

“Uh, yes.”

She wasn’t really that concerned about what she had put on. Anna was also aware of her hair which had not been brushed properly, but again, she wasn’t particularly bothered.

Anastasia’s eyes rested on her daughter’s face, taking note of the bags under her eyes. Despite the fact her daughter looked presentable, her face was a tad dull.

“Your face. It looks a bit....,”

A rather obvious remark. Her dark hair which was normally long was not properly straightened out. Her brown eyes had no shadows under them, but her lips were somewhat dry. She had not applied any balm.

“Mom, it’s my face. And yes, I did.”

The older woman’s protests about her daughter’s physical state died out in her mind. That didn’t mean she was completely reassured.

“Is everything alright?”

“What do you mean?”

Her mother could still remember finding the front door unlocked when she came home the previous night. Her immediate concern at the time was why Anna had forgotten to lock up the house properly before heading to bed.

At the time, the older woman had wanted to question her daughter, but the younger girl was asleep. Never mind that, she had also found the half-eaten plate of dinner in the refrigerator.

“Just....I’m worried. Did something happen?”

Maybe Anna was sick, or not feeling well.

Anastasia didn’t want to keep her daughter away from her friends too long. At the same time, she could tell something was wrong, but couldn’t quite place her finger on it.

“Yeah.” Anna responded, registering what she had just said. “I mean, yeah, I’m alright.” She corrected herself hastily, before her mother picked up on her slip just then. She didn’t sound as convincing as she had hoped.

Anna didn’t feel like talking to anyone about what had happened. Especially her mother. How was she even supposed to start?

Her mother was still looking at her resolutely, and Anna was starting to feel uncomfortable. She crossed her arms and rubbed her shoulders. Internally, she secretly hoped that her mom wouldn’t probe anymore.

“Alright, have fun then.”

Her wish had come true.

“Thanks. I will.”

This time, there was a bit more conviction in her voice.

The moment she stepped outside, she noticed just how fair the weather was. There were a few clouds in the sky as well. Perhaps an indication that a storm was brewing.