“No, no, no..Oh God, please tell me I didn’t just do that.”
Joy stared at her phone in fear and disbelief, the call timer still running. Two minutes and forty five seconds. She had mistakenly dialed Festus. FESTUS. Of all the people in her contact list.
Festus was her ex. The one she was already over.
She ended the call in a panic and threw her phone onto the bed like it had personally betrayed her. Maybe he hadn’t heard anything. Maybe he’d ignore it. Or maybe, just maybe, she had just humiliated herself beyond repair.
Her phone rang. It was a message.
“Festus: Hey. You called?”
Joy buried her face in her pillow. She could ignore it. Pretend it never happened. She left the phone for 2 minutes then picked it up. She had to send a response not to be rude.
“Joy: Sorry, accidental dial. Didn’t mean to call you.”
She set her phone volume on silent and hoped that everything would end with her response.
A few seconds later, her phone buzzed. He was calling back.
Her heart did a strange flip, but she ignored it. After a few seconds, she picked it up.
“Uhm..hi.”
Festus chuckled. “Hey, Joy. Been a while.”
“Yeah, it has.”
“So..what exactly did I overhear during that accidental call?”
Joy’s blood ran cold. “Hold on.. you heard something?”
“Oh yeah. Something about ‘Uhhm, why did I ever let him go? Why is he still in my head? I hate this’.”
Joy bit her pillow so hard.
And there was silence for seconds.
She considered throwing her phone out the window or maybe leaving the country.
Festus cleared his throat. “Were you perhaps talking about me?”
There was silence again and then he continued “Joy?”
She squeezed her eyes shut. “What if I was?”
There was more silence. Then, he sighed. “Joy.. I never wanted to break up with you. You were the one who said we needed time apart.”
Her chest ached at the memory. “Because you were moving to Abuja. I didn’t think we’d survive the distance. It looked so far away.”
“And yet, here we are. Six months later, and you’re still thinking about me.”
Joy swallowed hard. “Are you saying you still think about me too?”
Festus exhaled. “Every damn day. Everyday Joy.”
She pressed a hand to her racing heart as if to held it in place. “Then, why didn’t you call?”
“Joy, I didn’t think you wanted me to.” He chuckled softly. “Guess your phone had other plans today.”
A nervous laugh escaped her lips. “So, what now?”
“I’m in Lagos this weekend,” he said. “Can we meet up? No pressure. Just.. let’s talk.”
Joy bit her lip, thinking about all the consequences, the risks, the reasons they had broken up. But also, the way her heart still skipped at the sound of his deep voice.
She inhaled deeply. “Okay. Let’s talk then.”
“Thank you Joy and thanks to your phone for bringing us back together.” he said before she dropped the call.
Thank you for reading my story.