Chapter 324: Pest
After the call ended, Emily stayed very still for a mont, holding her phone in both hands.
She was feeling much better now after her conversation with her mother, and for the first ti since the evening, she felt like she had a real plan. Sothing she could follow without feeling lost.
She lay back on her pillow and pulled the blanket up to her chin. Just as she began to drift into sleep, her phone buzzed softly beside her.
Her eyes opened.
She reached for the phone with a small flutter in her chest when she saw it was a WhatsApp text from Callan.
She hesitated before opening it. His ssage was short.
Cal>: Are you awake?
Emily stared at the words, wanting to respond, but then she rembered sothing and she smirked before responding.
Emily>: Hm.
She had a grin on her face as she silenced her phone and drifted off to sleep, wanting him to have a taste of his own dicine.
Emily woke up the next morning to the sound of her stepmom’s voice.
"Emmy? Are you okay?" She asked softly, "You’ve been in your room for a long ti. I was hoping we’d spend so ti together yesterday. We’ve barely talked since you got here."
Emily sat up, rubbing her eyes sleepily, "Good morning, Mom. I’m fine. I slept late," she said with a yawn.
"Really? Is everything alright?" Jessica asked, sitting on the bed next to Emily.
Emily nodded. "Yeah. What ti is it?" She asked, reaching for her phone.
"It’s almost 9 a.m.," Jessica said, but Emily wasn’t listening as she checked for Callan’s ssages.
Jessica watched Emily’s lips curve with a smile as she looked at her phone.
Cal>: Is it payback ti? I thought I explained and apologised for it?
Cal>: Now you’re snubbing ?
Cal>: Alright. I deserve it. I have no right to complain.
Cal>: I guess you’re sleeping now. Thanks for hearing
out today. Sweet dreams, Princess Em.
Emily was amused to see that there was another text from him already that morning.
Cal>: Good morning, Princess. Hope you slept well? I didn’t sleep a wink. I’ve been thinking about you all night.
Emily felt her breath catch.
Cal>: I guess you are still sleeping. Now that I’ve told you how I feel, I just can’t hold back anymore or pretend to be indifferent.
There were a series of other texts from him which he had deleted, followed by the last one.
Cal>: If I’m being a pest as I perceive I am right now, you can tell
to shut up and go to hell.
Emily giggled, and her stepmom smiled as she watched her, wondering if she still rembered that she was there.
"Am I supposed to excuse you or should I ask who is making you blush that way?" Jessica asked curiously.
Emily looked up with an embarrassed smile. She had forgotten that she wasn’t alone. She giggled. "Sorry. I was just reading my ssages," she said as she set down her phone.
"Good morning, Mom," she greeted again, and Jessica laughed.
"I guess it’s a really good morning seeing as you have greeted
twice," she said, and Emily giggled.
"It is."
"Want to tell
who you’re chatting with? Is it the Doctor?" she asked, and Emily’s brows pulled together.
"What Doctor?" She asked, confused.
"Callan ntioned that you went to your welco party with one of your colleagues. Are things serious between you two?" Jessica asked with interest.
"Callan told you that? Why?" Emily asked, wondering what else he must have told them.
"We wanted to know if he escorted you to the party. He said he didn’t because you had a date," Jessica said easily, still watching her closely.
Emily shrugged. "Well, it was nothing serious."
"Yet your face is all red over his text," Jessica pressed with a mild smile.
"The text is not from him." Emily hesitated for a mont before confiding in her. "It’s from Cal."
"Oh, I see!" Jessica said, her eyes lighting up with relief.
Her sister, Delilah, had told her about her conversation with Callan, and how he had opened up to her about his feelings for Emily. For a mont there, she had been worried that Callan had made up his mind too late and Emily had moved on to soone else.
"Why do you sound so relieved?" Emily asked, waiting to hear what her stepmom would say about her blushing over Callan’s texts.
Jessica shrugged. "I thought you had moved on from Cal."
"Moved on? I never even told you I had feelings for him," Emily said, and Jessica laughed.
"That’s true. But you’ve never said it out loud with your lips, but you’ve never kept it a secret all these years. Everyone with eyes can see you have feelings for Callan. You are always interested in topics concerning him, even when you’re mad at him. And back when he was still in Ludus, you always had a pained expression whenever he was with any girl."
"Really?" Emily asked, looking embarrassed.
"Yeah. When you were kids, we thought you’d outgrow the infatuation or crush you had on him, but it seed to grow the older you got. So, when I saw you smiling at the text on your phone, I thought you had moved on to soone else," Jessica explained. "It’s good to see you smiling at his text for a change. I rember the last ti he responded to your text with a ’hm’ and you kept going on and on about it," Jessica said, and Emily giggled.
"Well, I paid him back last night," she said with a grin, and Jessica giggled.
"Good for you. So, how are you doing? How is Husla? Have you been enjoying the program?"
"That’s it? You’re just going to change the subject now?" Emily asked with disbelief, and Jessica laughed.
"Yes, I am. If you wanted us to talk about Callan, you’d have told
yourself and not waited for
to bring it up," Jessica said, and Emily pouted.
"There was nothing to tell you. I always thought my feelings for him were unrequited, and his mother is your sister. I wasn’t sure how you’d feel about that," she admitted.
"How else am I supposed to feel about it? When you were young, you always told
you were going to marry Callan when you grew up. I never chastised you or shunned you," Jessica reminded her.
"Yeah. I know. But I guess I grew up and realised things weren’t always so easy," she said with a shrug.
"I guess. So, is there sothing you want to tell
now?" Jessica asked with a kind smile. "Is the feeling no longer unrequited?"
Emily grinned. "I’ll tell you about that later. But what do you think? Do you think Dad and Uncle Hunter would mind us being together?" She asked, then Jessica smiled.
"If they say no, would you give up?" Jessica asked, and Emily frowned.
"No. I can’t do that. I can’t imagine being with anyone else but Callan. I don’t even want to try. Even blood cousins get married, talk more of us. We are not blood related. They have to give their consent or I’m going to elope," she said fiercely.
Jessica laughed. "Alrighty. I’m going to give you so ti to respond to the text that was making you blush. Let’s hang out with your sisters before you go back. Your Dad says you’re leaving with Callan on Wednesday. Thankfully, after your program, he’s returning to Ludus," she said as she rose.
"He is moving back to Ludus?" Emily asked, her heart soaring with joy.
"I guess you both haven’t talked about that. You can ask him. You both have weeks alone together in Husla to talk after all," Jessica said with a wink before heading for the door.
Emily smiled as she watched her go. The mont the door closed behind her, Emily picked up her phone and bit her lower lip as she thought about the best response to give to Callan.
She didn’t want to make things very easy for him, but at the sa ti, she didn’t want to deprive herself of this excitent.
Emily>: Good morning. I just woke up.
Almost imdiately, his call ca in, and Emily giggled. She slapped her face gently with both hands, wanting to sound serious.
The mont she received the call, Callan’s voice filled her ears. "I’ve been waiting for your text all morning."
"I never said I was going to text. Why were you waiting?" Emily asked, doing her best to keep her tone flat.
"To hear from you. Did you sleep well?" He asked, walking around his room aimlessly.
"Yes, I did. I hope you did too," she asked sweetly, wanting to hear him tell her how he had been thinking about her all through the night.
"If you saw my ssages, then you’d know I didn’t sleep. What’s your plan for today? Can we hang out? We can go to anywhere of your choice," he offered, his voice full of excited hope.
Emily pressed her lips together to keep from grinning. "Don’t you think you are getting ahead of yourself? I haven’t even forgiven you for what you did, yet you not only asked
to give you a chance to date you, you’re now also asking
to hang out with you today."
Callan winced. "You’re right. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for bothering you. I don’t have any right to be doing this right now. Not after all I’ve done. I’ll try my best to give you the space you need."
His tone made her heart ache and she felt sorry for him. She wanted to tell him she didn’t want any space from him, but she also didn’t want him to think he had easy access to her life and could just walk out and walk in easily.
"I’ll be busy with my mum and sisters. Maybe you can pick
up later in the evening and we can hang out with Jamal and Dawn. I’d like to spend so ti with them before we go back. I’m yet to et Josh," she said and Callan’s face lit up.
"Sure. Let’s do that. See you later. I’ll try not to text you until then," he said, and she smiled.
"I don’t mind if you do. I an if you can’t hold back, you can text . Bye," she said and quickly hung up.
She stuck her tongue in her cheek and giggled happily, feeling proud of herself for handling the conversation well and not easily giving in to him despite how much she had wanted to.
Now she was just going to look for sothing nice to wear that evening and do her best to keep calm.
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