Dear Aaron

by Mariana Zapata

“I can’t believe you.” “You sound like you work for those phone sex lines,” he finally managed to get out, sometime ten minutes later. What? “No I don’t.” Had he not ever listened to his own voice before? “Have you heard yourself? I was watching TV last night after I messaged you and the commercials for those chat lines came on. You sound just like those girls….” He trailed off for a moment, his voice changing. “Are you sick?” I had no right to smile as wide as I was, but I did it anyway. “No, I’m not sick anymore. This is my normal voice, thanks.” There was another pause over the line and then, “Are you really Ruby?” “What do you think?” I snorted. “Do I need to ask about your butthole for you to believe me?” Aaron choked. I didn’t need to see him to know he’d done it. He didn’t try to hide it or pull the phone away from his mouth. “Now I know it’s you for sure.” I was a fool, and it didn’t matter. “Are you sure? Because I can,” I offered him before I could shut myself up. “I’m sure.” “If you change your mind…” Aaron shot out another laugh. “No, I know it’s you. We’ve been on the phone… four minutes and you’ve got me laughing more than I have in weeks. It couldn’t be anybody else but you, Ru.” I couldn’t count the number of times he’d said something to me like that in written word, but just like every other time he had, I felt like… I felt like I’d done something amazing. And I needed to get it together and control myself. I needed to act normal. Normal, Ruby.

MAH HEART <3