I take the phone from Dan, confused. "Hello?" I mean to say it as a statement, but it comes out as a question. It kind of makes me feel a bit rude, but I shrug it off. Who is Jess?
"Hello," The female sounds a bit scared, like a little chihuahua shaking during a thunderstorm. If it's a saleswoman, she must be new because she isn't doing her job very well. "This is Phil Lester, correct?"
I nod my head, but remember I'm on the phone, so I clear my throat. "Uh, yes." Dan tries to hold back a laugh as he watches me talk to this woman on the phone. I glare at him, but then smile.
"Oh okay. I'm Jess and uh I have some. . ." She trails off for a moment, and I hear a gulp. "Sorry. I have some news for you and I don't know how you're going to take it. Ava, put that down, no. Ava."
"What kind of news?" Phil asks, ignoring the Ava thing. Guess it wasn't a saleswoman. Possibly a fan?
"Oh sorry. Uh, I think I should tell you in person, it could be a bit overwhelming, uh do you have a piece of paper and a pen?"
"Uh no. . ." Phil says, looking at the sink and around the bathroom he was still in. "Dan, could you get me a pen and paper?" Dan nodded and set off to go find a pen and paper. "I will soon. Just a minute."
I used this opportunity to leave the bathroom after unplugging the blow dryer. I turned off the light and exited the bathroom.
As I walked to go find Dan, phone still in my hand, I bump into him in the hallway. "Sorry!" We say in unison.
He hands me the pen and paper and I hold them up against the wall. The phone against my shoulder. "Okay, I have a pen and paper now."
"Okay, will you meet me at Hyde Park?" She asks, then gives me her number.
"Sure," I say. Even though she could murder me, it sounded quite important. "When?"
"As soon as possible. That means now."
"Well I was kind of-"
"Now!" She hung up the phone.
"-getting ready." I sigh, handing the phone back to Dan. "She wants me to meet her at Hyde Park, and she gave me her number."
Dan raises his eyebrows. "This sure sounds like a date, Lester. I think I'll come to make sure this Jess woman isn't stealing my man." He holds out his arms, trying to show off his muscle, even though there is hardly any there.
I peck his cheek. "Love, no one could ever separate me from you." I giggle, taking his hand. "But you can tag along." I smile, pressing my lips to his.
"Okay, I will." He says, after kissing me back. "We can eat breakfast when we get home." He glances over his shoulder, the way of the kitchen.
"Sounds great..." I say trailing off and looking up at my slightly wet hair. "I'm gonna go get my jumper and then we can leave, yeah?"
Dan nods his head, turning to find his keys.
I make my way into my bedroom and search for my jumper. I whistle as I search through my wardrobe, finally finding it behind my shirt with the cat pocket. I throw it on and grab my phone.
"Ready!" I shout, shoving my fingers into my pockets. My hand brushes along a gum wrapper that I had forgotten to throw away from a few days ago.
Dan rounds the corner and we head out the door toward Hyde Park.
It's not far from our flat, so we decide to walk. We need exercise anyway and it's not bad out for London.
Dan gets his headphones out and sticks them into his ears as we walk. I take this as an okay to listen to music as I walk. I take out my phone, unwrap the headphones, and unlock my phone.
I put my music on shuffle, but skip every song until I get to Sugar We're Goin' Down by Fall Out Boy. When that is over, it goes to Teenagers by My Chemical Romance. I skip a few more songs, and listen to another and then after that we are at Hyde Park.
"Let's go over by that tree." I say, glancing at a big oak tree in the middle of the park. A park bench and water fountain surround it.
Dan nods his head, one headphone still in his ear and starts walking toward it. "So who exactly are we meeting here?"
"Jess." I reply simply.
"I know that, but, like, who is Jess?" He asks laughing slightly.
I shrug my shoulders. "I have no clue to be quite honest."
"So you don't know what she looks like? Not even her last name?"
I shake my head and look down at my shoes. "No, but whatever she needed sounded important."
Dan sighs. "So how exactly are we going to find this Jess?"
I bite my lip. "I haven't really thought that far into it." I admit. "She must know who I am and what I look like."
We stand there under that tree for about 15 minutes, watching people pass by. I try to look for familiar faces and ponder about who Jess is. It doesn't ring a bell. I've met fans named Jess, sure, but I just can't bring myself to believe she is a fan.
As we stand there, someone comes up to us. "Oh my God! Hey!" She waves. She looks like she is about 15 or 16.
"Are you Jess?" I ask, with a wave and a smile. Dan looks up from his phone, waves, and looks back at it again.
"Uh...no, actually I'm Liz." She says, gesturing toward herself. "And I'm a huge fan of you both-"
"Oh! Hello Liz!" I say, cutting her off.
Dan looks up from his phone and shoves it into his pocket, grinning. "Hi, Liz."
Liz squeals and puts her hands up to her face. "If its not too much, could I get a photo?"
Dan and I nod our heads, and get closer together as Liz pulls out her phone. "Okay," she gets in between Dan and I holding her phone out. "Smile!"
She takes the picture and then hugs us both. "I can't believe I met you guys." She grins. "My face hurts because I can't stop smiling, I'm sorry I love you."
"I love you too." Dan says, holding his arms out for another hug, to which she accepts, following into my arms again. I greet her with an 'I love you too.' and then she says she has to be off and that she has to meet up with a friend. She heads off, smiling and squealing.
I look at Dan. "Should I ring Jess?"
Dan shrugs his shoulders, pulling out his phone again. "If you want to. I couldn't care less."
I roll my eyes and pull my phone out to ring Jess.
"Hello?" She says. "Who is this?"
I clear my throat. "Uh, it's Phil. Phil Lester."
"Oh!" She sounds alarmed. "I've been searching for you, where are you?"
"By the big oak tree." I say, looking around for someone else with a phone held up to their ear. "I'm with my-uh-" I stop. Roommate or boyfriend? If it's a fan . . . "-Roommate, Dan." I finish, playing it safe. "It'd be hard to miss us." I look down at my feet. I hear Dan move, and look to see he sat down on the park bench. I look back down at my feet.
"Oh! I think I see you!" She exclaims.
"Oh that's-" I hear a beep. "-great." I finish, sliding my phone back into my pocket.
I look up from my feet and see a woman hurrying toward us, a small child holding her hand. The woman looks like she is in her mid-twenties. She has light brunette hair from what I can see.
Still holding the little girl's hand, she looks up."Ava, hurry up! C'mon." The little girl's legs walk as fast as she can, still holding onto her, probably, mum's hand. I can't help but smile as I watch the child run toward us.
They soon reach us, the little girl waddles over toward the park bench and climbs up next to Dan, who is playing on his phone. "Hi!" she exclaims, trying to look over his arms to see what he was playing.
"Ava!" The woman who is most-likely Jess scolds. "Get over here." She looks over to Dan. "Sorry she's a bit friendly."
"No, no. It's quite okay, actually." Dan smiles, looking at the little girl named Ava, who had started toward her mother already.
"Jess?" I ask. Holding my hand out to shake hers.
"Yes!" She forces a smile, and shakes her hand out. "And you're Phil, right? Where's your roommate?" She looks around.
I laugh, and throw my hand behind me. "That's actually him." I point to Dan, who waves a hand at Jess and introduces himself.
"Oh, okay." Jess looks over at Ava. "I guess you may sit by Dan."
Dan pats a seat next to him that Ava takes and watches as Dan plays his phone. He offers her to play it, and laughs as she tries to play Flappy Bird.
Jess sighs. "I guess you're wondering why I brought you here today?"
"You could say that." I chuckle. "So are you a fan? Old friend that I don't recognize, which by the way, if you are, sorry about that." I ask, bringing my hands to my pockets and raising my eyebrows.
"I'm sorry," She bites her lip. "Fan?" Jess questions.
"Uh yeah, fan. Like youtube and radio one. Those things." I say, with a chuckle.
"I'm basically an internet cult leader." Dan intervines, then continues to watch as Ava tries to play Flappy Bird.
Jess laughs. "Oh. No, not a fan." She looks down at her hands, playing with her fingers. "Look I know, you want me to get to the point, but this is going to be awkward for both of us so, I'll just say it." She says it quickly. I don't think she could talk any quicker than she did.
"I'm ready. . ." I say, suddenly quite scared of what she may say.
"Okay, so a few years ago, well actually 3 years and 9 months to be exact, something may have happened. A completely intoxicated one-night-stand something. And something- no, somoene was conceived that night. And. . ." she laughs nervously. . "Meet your daughter Ava."