Sing to me

Sing to me: Chapter 6

This is dedicated to Urbanstargazer because she her comments made me want to write further. :)

Warda had just pressed the button on her voice mail and was putting her hair up when his voice filtered through the speaker.

“Hi darling.”

That was it. That was her undoing. She sank down at the kitchen countered and listened to the warm familiar voice she had heard nearly every day for the last six years.

“I am not going to make excuses, you deserve better than me. But dear God Warda, I love you. I miss you. I need you back. I swear I will not do it again. Call me, please.” Elijah’s voice became pleading at the end.

Warda closed her eyes and rubbed her neck, willing herself not to cry. A small crease appeared between her eyes as she shook her head slowly. She could not do this anymore.

The second message had played and ended without her listening so she played it again. It was Alice.

“Call me right now; I need details on this guy of yours. Now.”

Warda looked at the machine a little lost, not even mustering a smile at her best friend’s demands. Elijah had a way of draining her. He sucked her energy and made it all his own.

Fixing herself a quick dinner, she ate as she watched Manchester United play on the television. Idly wondering how such a talented team managed to only scrape through their games when her thoughts wandered to Josh.

She hadn’t accounted for him in her plans. She was not supposed to like someone. She wasn’t even supposed to meet someone. There was something about the blond haired man which made her call him from a number taped to her door. He looked like he needed to be saved. She smiled, still watching Rooney take a penalty and miss by a few hundred feet. Ever since she had watched the tall, broad shouldered man abruptly walk away after asking her to have coffee with him, he had fascinated her. She should have said no to the drive home and to the dinner, shouldn’t have called him, but she did.

Van Persie scored for United and Warda paused her train of thought to watch the replay. She liked the quiet, calmness Josh had, something she lacked altogether. She fingered the scars, he hadn’t even asked. He had just accepted that she would tell him when she felt like.

The match ended, United winning yet again. Warda collected her sporadic thoughts, watching as the players took off their shirts. She needed to call Alice.

“About time you called me,” Alice’s voice came over the phone.

“I was watching Ferdinand take his shirt off, reminded me of you,” said Warda, thanking God she wasn’t anywhere near Alice.

“Oh yum,” said Alice, making mock slurping noises. “Now tell me about his Josh guy, is he cute? Single? What does he do?”

He is gorgeous Warda thought. “He is alright looking,” she said out loud though, knowing Alice would extract all the details on her own anyway. “He is quiet, kind of reserved and I don’t know if he is single.” Warda trailed off.

“You know after that douche bag, just hearing you talk about a guy warms my heart like hot cocoa does.”

“Elijah is not a douche bag, Ali,” Warda’s voice became quiet.

Alice paused and her voice became soft, “Let him go, honey.”

“I did, didn’t I?”

“You ran away. I said let it go. There is a difference.”

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Warda sucked in a breath as she looked over the edge of the cliff. Hundreds of miles down, water lapped against the rocks. It was breath taking. There was no sound. She could tell from the chill in the air that it was going to start snowing soon. Josh moved to stand beside her, handing her a cup of tea. One more inch and would be touching her hand.

“I am sorry I ran off the other day,” he stated in his usual quiet manner, only this time, there was a smile accompanying his words.

Warda looked down at the water and then up at him, warming her hands on the cup. “I think I can forgive you.”

“You think?” the hurt on his face looked almost genuine.

“Well I was expecting flowers and stuffed animals, this does kind of disappoint you know.”

Josh just laughed and moved closer to her, the back of his hand touching hers. He felt her entire body become still and then relax. Standing shoulder to shoulder, they both watched the water till Warda broke the silence.

“Thank you for bringing me here, it is beautiful.”

“I said I would make it up to you,” he paused, “I came here a lot when my mother was in the hospital.”

Warda stayed silent, only moving her hand a fraction so their fingers were entwined. It was Josh’s turn to become still. Her hand was warm and much smaller than his. He felt like a teenager on a first date.

Warda had angled her body such that she was facing him now. He looked at her from the corner of his eye and smiled. Her long brown hair was tied up today. She was wearing black from head to toe except for a deep purple scarf around her neck. He liked how her clothing compared to his life. She was like a pop of color too.

She still hadn’t commented but her intent gaze made it seem like she was waiting for him to continue so he did.

“I like being around you,” said Josh lightly. He wasn’t making a confession, not just yet. “You are so much more colorful than anything else in my life.”

Warda gave his clothes a once over, raising an eyebrow and Josh laughed. He was wearing grey. Warda’s smile widened as she met his eyes and she turned back to face the beach.

“You are not talking much today,” Josh said cocking his head to the side.

Warda opened her mouth to say something then closed it. She untangled her fingers from his to re-tie her hair he immediately felt a sense of loss. He crossed his arms across his chest, and looked straight ahead. Not knowing why her silence and the loss of contact were making him irritable but they were.

They stood there a moment longer, and then Josh’s pager beeped. He needed to get back to the hospital. It was almost 7 in the evening anyway. They climbed down in silence, Josh walking in front of her to make sure she knew her footing. At the foot of the hill, Warda turned to face him and he prepared himself for more awkwardness.

But she stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “Thank you,” her voice was low. As she stood back on her feet, Josh realized he was standing so close to her that he could see every single eyelash. One part of his brain marveled at how long they were and the other went into overdrive at the close proximity. A little bit of light from the nearby cottage threw shadows at Warda’s face. Josh wanted to kiss her. Instead, he raised his hand to tuck a stray strand behind her ear and let his fingers linger for a moment.

“You are welcome, Warda.” And he felt a slight shiver run down her spine.

He watched her walk to her car, turning around at the door to raise a hand in farewell. Josh took in every detail of her at that moment, her wide smile flanked by dimples and her large eyes. Half of her face shrouded in darkness as she slipped into the driving seat. He wanted that image to stay with him forever. 

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