authors note: It is set right before the outbreak, so it's bittersweet. I just love the song Bless the Telephone by Labi Siffre, so I was inspired. I keep deleting my fics, but this one I think I'm gonna keep up.
word count; 750
warnings; Pre-outbreak, Joel's birthday, no physical description of reader, long distance, fluff but really sad when you realise what's happening right after lol, but It's sweet prom!!
song; Bless the Telephone - Labi Siffre (listen if you haven't!!! there's also a Kelis version which is also good)
Business trips weren’t her favourite. Being separated from her family was a foreign feeling, sort of. She worked a lot, but she always came home before the clock struck twelve. She always tucked her girl to bed and kissed her husband good night. But business trips don’t give her that luxury.
It was just a five-day excursion, but she found herself calling home every chance she got. She was glad Sarah was now old enough to have a phone, so she could stop bombarding Joel with questions about her day. Even though he didn’t mind. Oh, Sweet Joel. It was his birthday this week, yet she wasn’t even there to celebrate it. She tried everything in her power to get out of this trip, yet her boss didn’t budge one bit.
She made it back late from a night out with her colleagues. It was a distraction to stop calling home, Joel’s constant nagging of wanting her to enjoy her time overseas and there was nothing to worry about back home. Giving in, she went out with them and had a few too many to drink. Her drunken giggles filled the empty hotel room as she stumbled into bed. It was almost twelve a.m., and she couldn’t even open her door without help from the hotel staff, let alone crunch the time and figure out what it was back home.
“Pick up…” her desperate calls ring him. Her legs are tucked snugly into the expensive sheets of the hotel bed as she waits for him to answer.
And he does, of course, “Damn it, girl, do you know what time it is?” his groggy voice rang.
“Mmmm,” a drunken giggle slips as she lays comfortably against the pillows. The room was dimly lit as she looked at the ceiling. “No, what is the time?”
The sound of sheets rustling can be heard on the other line, the thought of those sheets felt more expensive than the ones she was in now. Those sheets were tainted in Joel Miller, it was covered in it. “3 a.m..” his voice pulled her out of the daze.
“3 a.m.?” she gasps, and guilt fills her heart, she mumbles a drunken apology.
“No, it’s fine.” his small laugh can be heard, she envisions his naked body wrapped in their sheets as he, too, looks up at the ceiling. She can’t wait to come home, to shower him with love and make up for forgetting his birth-...
“Wait…” she sits up immediately, and a look of realisation appears. “It’s your birthday.”
“Ah…” he realises as well. “I guess you're right, technically.” his voice, smooth as butter, filled her ears again. A relaxing tone that sends shivers down her spine.
“Technically?”
“Well, my birthday doesn’t start till I see you…”
“In that case, I better get home quickly…” her small smile pressed against the phone screen, her hunger to be near and hold him and give him the best birthday. A yawn escapes her mouth as she pulls the comforter closer to her chest. “It’s so cold here.”
“I heard,” his rough voice rings, “Sarah said she has a surprise for me tomorrow, it’s gon’ be grand, apparently.”
She smiles, remembering what they bought for him. A watch. It was Sarah’s idea, she wanted to give him something he could wear all the time, no matter where he was—a constant reminder of his two favourite girls. “It is, my love. It is something you would not expect.”
“Oh?” his interest peaked. “Are you gonna tell me what it is?”
“Nope. You’ll just have to wait and see.” She bites her lip, “I wish I were there to see your reaction.”
“You’ve got two more days, you can do it.”
“I gotta remind Sarah to record it.”
A chuckle is heard from the other line, “That girl doesn’t even know how to use her phone yet, she's gonna forget.”
“Well then, you're gonna have to reenact it for me.” she teases. Her eyes grew heavy as the illuminating light from the screen became more painful. “Two more nights, then I’ll you both again. I can’t wait any longer. I’m not ever going on these trips again. I can’t wait to get back home.”
“I’ll always be here waiting for you.”
“And I’ll always come back to you…” her eyes slowly begin to close, the line becomes more quiet. The couple falls asleep in each other's embrace, just as if they were at home, in bed, together.
And as the music fades out, the final notes still bouncing delicately off the wall, there’s a feeling within you that feels like feather-light lead. With the decrescendo of the final stanza, and the release of the final breath, time seems non existent.
There is only the moment of accepting the final act, the momentous grandeur of accomplishing something so beautiful you’re left almost in tears. And if you weren’t anticipating the addictive feeling of success, those tears would roll down flushed cheeks while your lungs begin to regulate it’s breathing.
And your heart -God, your heart- it feels like a dying bird on it’s last migratory flight. There’s a bitter sweet feeling of love and completion that the performance has come to an end.
In the top of your stomach it feels like butterflies, cliché I know. But that is exactly what it feels like. Similar to when the person you love stares at you with adoration in their eyes, and you get giddy all over.
There is nothing like the final bow, the roar of the spectators, the last exhale, the knowing that hours and hours of practice, frustration and tears paid off.
Despite a rush off emotions, you feel almost calm, like the silence before the chaos. For me, the minute I step off of the stage my laugh is uncontrollable and I smile until my cheeks cramp up. The atomic rush is addictive, and I need to do it again. I want to get back in front and do it all over, but I know that I can’t right then and there. The next time that I feel the atomic rush will be the next time I perform, and the feeling never gets old.
The feeling in the end is every atom in you body buzzing in unison, it is a satisfying release and tempting need to be greedy and dive right back in. It is red, blue and purple. Fulfilling and heartbreaking. The feeling in the end is what makes me go forward, looking for my next finale.
Reasons to just keep having kids forever... 1) Cuz while your paying attention to the baby, the oldest is getting away!! #wearethecaspers #bittersweat (at Milwaukee County Zoo)
