A Game for Two

At Eventide

Lisa: Allan

Lisa: Please answer

Lisa: Allan please

Lisa: Please

Lisa: Answer me

Lisa: Answer me

Lisa: Allan

Lisa: Allan

Lisa: For the love of God, answer me

Lisa:  Allan

Allan: Jesus, Lisa

Allan: It's half past one in the morning

Allan: What've gotten into you?

Lisa: Listen

Lisa: Or, read, whichever suits this condition best

Lisa: I've something to tell you, but i feel rather lazy to type, so i'll call, k?

The second Allan's brain processed the sentence sent via text by Lisa, a call came in from the sender. He usually wasn't really a type to talk through phone. He thought it was too intimate since every sound came from the other side the line could be heard very clearly with the other ones. He even often refused a call from his kins, or close friends. But for uncertain reasons, he happily picked up the call from a girl who seemed to be desperately needs a talking partner at the middle of the night.

"'Sup, londoner?" a rather cheerful voice—which was super abnormal to be heard in time of half past one in the morning—greeted him from the other side; contrasted with what he expected to hear. He frankly expected to hear some gloomy tone in her voice, and some curse words along with bunch of complaints. His curiosity increased as he guessed wrong about what to be expected.

"I suppose you're calling me because you need a friend to talk to? But you sound thoroughly just fine?" he asked. A smile unconsciously spread across his face when an excited feeling lingered in him. His heart pounded fast. Weird, he thought. It's a mere phone call. Is it because I supposed to be sleeping and yet I'm not?

"You think so?"

The question was asked with a hint of disagreement in it. She sounded as fine as a horse to him—so to his confusion, he stated, "I figured so. But if it isn't the fact, what is it?" He lured her to spill all her problem out. Oddly, he seemed to be enjoying every time Lisa told him her problems.

"Wait, before that, did you come to uni today? I mean, I didn't see you."

"I did not, as a matter of fact," he stated. The sentence seemed to relaxed Lisa as Allan could hear her exhaled exaggeratedly as if she was holding it while waiting for his answer. "What is it? You seem—I mean, sound like you're relieved about something."

"Well," she paused for some fine amount of time, "it's something that have to do with what am I going to tell."

He furrowed his brows, and changed his position to recumbent form at the tip of his bed, eyes staring to the room's ceiling, and feet drooping at the edge of the bed. His left arm which was free from anything, was thrown to his left side. If anyone was care enough to see him from above, he would look like an imperfect starfish.

"Something happened today?"

Something definitely happened earlier today—or, he would rather say, yesterday. Allan was so sure about his guess that he wasn't that surprised when Lisa chuckled instead of answering him. He rolled his eyes unconsciously; he, himself, was surprised as he had never rolled his eyes ever before.

"What is it?"

"Gabriel introduced me to his friends—"

"Is that it?"

"—as his 'girl'."

Allan's almost-perfect pair of brows were thrown high up to his forehead as a respond to the news. That's something he expect the least when it comes to what makes Lisa all girly like that. He remembered very clearly that not even one semester ago—okay, maybe, exactly one semester ago, this girl on the phone addressed Gabriel Adams as 'that son of a sandwich'. But, look at her now—or, hear what she said, whichever suits the moment best. In finding a proper reaction to that, Allan took some time to choose his words carefully.

"But, it is what a son of cliché would say, isn't it?"

His brows furrowed. Anxiousness spread all over his face, taking over of his gorgeous face. Not only settling in his face, the anxiousness roamed all throughout his body as he didn't really sure anymore about what did Lisa think about the boy that has been their topic of conversation for the last semester.

"You're right," she grumbled low; sounded like she didn't really think about that fact since Gabriel and her played the stupid game. He thought to himself, That man's scary. I mean, Lisa hated him to the bones but one semester later he made her giggles like a pre-teen girl? He shook his head at the thought and fake-shivered.

"I mean, maybe he start to thought of something else, like... sincerely considers you as his friend?"

A lame excuse came out from him as his way to fix the problem he made. As though it would relieved Lisa's nerve, he eyed the ceiling of his room in jittery manner. He bit his corner of lip while waiting for an answer which felt like thousands of seconds.

"Maybe." Lisa sighed very heavily like she always did when something worn her out really badly.

"I don't really know it myself, okay? Let's not talk about this."

She surprised Allan with her mood swing. But the tone in her voice sounded serious, so Allan gave in and asked, "How's Paris?"

"I don't know, I haven't visit it the past five years."

Allan couldn't help but let out a snort of laughter when he heard the stupid statement. "Not that Paris, you clown. The Paris you kept as a company for the past weeks."

"Oh, him? He's fine—I think?" She sounded unsure, but immediately snapped cheerfully a moment later. "Have I told you that he had a crush on Aimée?"

"He does?"

Half-hearted answer was what he gave for Lisa, but it didn't sounded like one. His eyelids suddenly felt heavier than he ever felt, and all things were blurry in his vision. Lisa's word sounded like shattered unrelated words said, with some combinations of buzzing sounds. Mentally, he already slipped into the calm realm of unconsciousness. As his body felt lighter, the buzzing sounds faded away.

"WYNDHAM!"

Someone snapped in his ear, and he woke up. He shook his head in confusion before answered, "Yeah?"

"You totally worn out, didn't you?" rhetorical question asked by his talking partner.

"Yeah. Sorry about that." He apologized. "I'm... the thing is very hard in here."

He breathed heavy and even. His heart thumping sound was much audible to him. And when the breathing was only a step away from being an exhausted snore, a voice pulled him back to reality.

"It was tough on you, wasn't it?" The voice from the other end asked emphatically.

"I feel real flimsy to say this word myself, but, yes."

He sighed, and his eyelids closed once more. Sleep almost master him for nothing was heard or said for some while. And then, his hearing caught sweet melodies of love and care from beside him. It was only a humming sound, but it soothed him thoroughly. Everything was back to shattered and blurry image of reality from his point of view.

The moment he almost fallen into the embrace of unconsciousness, a voice, one of a good friend perhaps, whispered, "Goodnight, Allan."

  ***