(male voicemail response — continuation) beep …Hi. It’s me. I didn’t expect you to call back. Not really. I thought I’d said everything I was ever going to say the first time… and then you went and replied like that and now I’m just sat here trying to keep up with my own head. I’ve listened to your message a few times. Which probably sounds a bit pathetic when I say it out loud. But it’s true. Every time I hear it, I catch something else in it. Like you’re not just replying… you’re undoing things I didn’t realise I’d tied up so tightly. You remember the café. That’s… mad, actually. I convinced myself for years I was the only one holding onto that like it meant something. Turns out you were there too. Just… quieter about it. Of course you were. That’s always been you. You said I mattered. And I don’t know why that hit harder than anything else. Because I think I spent a long time building this idea that I was just… a passing thing in people’s lives. A good moment that fades. Not something that stays. But you didn’t describe it like that. You made it sound… permanent. And I don’t know what to do with that, honestly. Because I’ve spent years trying to turn you into something I could file away properly. And you’re not that. You never really were. You said we didn’t end because it meant nothing. Yeah. I think I knew that. But hearing you say it… it makes it real in a way I can’t argue with anymore. And I don’t know if that’s comforting or just… cruel. Probably both. You said you still remember me in quiet moments. That part got me. Because I thought I was the only one doing that. Turns out we’ve both just been walking around with the same ghost in different rooms. I don’t know what this is now. I don’t know what we’re supposed to do with it. We’re not who we were. I get that. I do. But when you say you’re still here… When you say you heard me… It makes it really hard to pretend that part of me ever left. I’m not asking for anything. Not trying to open something that we can’t close again properly. I just needed you to know… Hearing you say all that back to me… It didn’t fix anything. But it didn’t break it either. It just made it real. And I think that’s worse. And better. Like everything else with you, honestly. Right… I’m rambling again. You always did that to me too, by the way. Made me overthink simple things until they weren’t simple anymore. Anyway. I’m glad you replied. I’m glad you’re alright. Or at least… as alright as people ever really are. And if this is where it stops again… I think I can live with that. I just… won’t forget it this time. Alright. Take care of yourself. Yeah? …It’s me. beep
