Archive for July 15th, 2010
From Rome
He called me today from faraway Rome. His voice was soft so as to not disturb other patrons of the hotel through its thin walls. It made him sound tired, sad, forlorn and lonely all the way across the world. We shared stories about our days; his was more exciting than mine. I made the mistake of telling him that a guy who had been texting me sporadically since June had contacted me again today. He didn’t say anything for a long time, and then when I prompted him, he admitted him that he was annoyed at the persistence.
“Why do you keep bringing it up, anyway?” he challenged me.
“I…because, well, there’s just not that much to tell you about my day.” I didn’t want to tell him the other reason, because that would mean admitting that I liked being pursued by another guy—and what girl doesn’t? It makes us feel special, wanted, desired. We changed the subject.
He sounded so far away, so despondent. I wished he didn’t have to speak so softly, because it only illuminated the fact that I couldn’t reach out to touch him. Finally, he said “I should be going.” We said our goodbyes. I waited for him to hang up. Instead, the grainy silence persisted.
