Late Night Caller

　　Irena's POV

　　"Who's this?" I asked after waiting for two seconds and getting no word from the receiving end.

　　"Urm hey, it's Alexey," the caller replied.

　　I didn't like that my heart skipped a beat as soon as I heard his voice.

　　"You called," was all the reply I could make. My voice was a little shaky, but I did well concealing it. I got on my bed and made myself comfortable, resting my head on a pillow and placing the phone on top of my exposed ears.

　　"Yeah, I called. Way to travel impromptu,"

　　"I don't owe you an explanation do I?" I asked him, raising one eyebrow.

　　He laughed, " so where are you?" His voice was so raspy and it made me feel hot, reminding me of nasty things.

　　"Somewhere," I answered promptly. I wonder why he called, would his dumb reason be that he misses me? "Why did you call?"

　　He sighed and chuckled lightly, "can I just call to check up on you?"

　　I rolled my eyes, " I'm not your girlfriend or wife," he doesn't have to do stuff like that, even though deep down I appreciate it and it feels nice that someone noticed my absence for genuine reasons- I hope.

　　"You're right, you're not my girlfriend or wife, if you were, I would be aware of your trip to Russia because you'll tell me about it," he replied. He sounded like he was smiling and I rolled my eyes as I thought of his good-looking face that has a mouth that spills out annoying words on top of a body that I keep yearning for even when I don't want anything to do with him.

　　When last did I have sex? Two years ago? Ten years ago? I honestly needed some good physical attention and hearing his hoarse voice next to my ear thought the speaker wasn't helping.

　　Wait, did I hear him say that I left for Russia?

　　"Who told you that I left for Russia?" Leslie, that snitch! I have a feeling that she's subtly shipping me and Alexey. That would be in her wildest dreams.

　　"No one," he answered quickly, "I figured it out,"

　　"You liar, you didn't figure shit out," I retorted. " You're a fucking creep,"

　　He laughed, "maybe I am a fucking creep,"

　　"Maybe?" I couldn't believe that he was putting the chance of himself being a creep on probability. "You are a creep, there's no other way to put it, and there's no maybe to it. You are a creep,"

　　" You've missed me," he said out of the blue. Why would he just randomly say that? That wasn't an expected reply to what I said.

　　"Whatever makes you sleep at night Alexey," even if I did miss him, there was no way that I would admit it, especially to him. I didn't even miss him so I don't have to be worried about admitting anything.

　　"I would beg to differ, I know you've missed me, you haven't even noticed the excitement in your voice," he sounded like he was smiling again. And I unintentionally caught myself imagining his smiling face.

　　"I think you're the one with the attachment issues here Alexey," I retorted.

　　" When are you coming back," his voice was low, very low. A fucking whisper. Why was he whispering? I feel like it's intentional.

　　"Why are you asking?"

　　"Why do you want to know," his voice was even lower and even though his voice was coming through the phone I shivered from the effect his voice had on me.

　　My thoughts were staying further from the conversation and I could feel the familiar dampness between my legs.

　　"I want to know because you're the one that asked," my voice was in a whisper too, even before I realized. I cleaned my throat in an attempt to direct his attention away from the curiousness my reduced tone must have caused.

　　"What are you doing now?" He asked, I heard a shuffle of sheets and I figured that he was on his bed too.

　　"Nothing," I whispered, "you?"

　　"Nothing," he whispered back and I could feel the ache between my thighs even more.

　　"I'm coming back tomorrow," I blurted out. Fuck! Why did I fucking tell him that?

　　"Really? Great! Because I have the date planned already, it was supposed to be today, but I found out that you weren't around and that kind of ruined it," he complained, making me smile.

　　" Oh well," I said.

　　"Oh well?" He asked, sounding surprised. Why was he surprised? He wasn't expecting me to feel pity for him or something was he?

　　"Yeah, you heard me right, that's what I said. Oh well."

　　He hummed. " So will it work when you're back tomorrow?" He sounded serious like he really wanted me around. It was almost as if he was missing me. I suppressed the urge to ask if he missed me, I shouldn't care about it.

　　"You want me to go on a date with you the same day I come back from my trip?" I was surprised. Sometimes it seemed like he believed he could tell me anything and I'll just do it. "you're not the boss of me Alexey, I would rush to a date with you the same day I come back from a stressful trip just because you said so,"

　　" You don't have to. I could move things to the day after, would that be okay?" Wow, he wasn't even making any snarky remarks.

　　" Alright, the day after would work," I could make a few arrangements, it's just one date and besides this while date thing has been on for too long, I want it to be done and be over with.

　　"But- there's a but,"

　　"But what?" I asked, rolling my eyes.

　　" It's not a one-day kind of date," he answered and I started laughing, he couldn't be serious.

　　"What do you mean by it's not a one-day kind of date? You realize that I'm a busy woman right? What makes you think that I could make time for dates that just wouldn't be over in an evening or afternoon or whatever time you decided to set?"

　　" Hear me out first, you've been stressed, and trust me, you'll enjoy yourself, I promise. And I'll try my best to do nothing to annoy you," he sounded honest and concerned and I found myself thinking about his proposal.

　　"How many days are you talking about?" If it's more than two or three days, I'm not going to agree to it and we probably won't even have a date.

　　"Two or three days, it depends on you,"

　　Did he read my mind or something? " Hmm alright,"

　　"Thank you," I could tell that he was excited but he was trying his best to not disclose it.

　　"Where are we going for this date?" In case he decided to kidnap me or something, not that it would work.

　　"It's a secret, but you should know that you'll be taking a flight," he replied. I caught a hint of cheerfulness in his hoarse voice.

　　Another flight?

　　"Great, so many flights in one week, I love it," I complained, ensuring that my voice reeked of sarcasm.

　　He laughed, "you'll be fine,"

　　"You think?"

　　"I know,"

　　There was a comfortable silence between us.

　　" How did your day go?" He asked and I was surprised. Two things, it's either he is honestly a nice person, or he's being nice so I won't have double thoughts about going on the date with him.

　　"Why do you care?"

　　"I've told you before, there's no point asking that question," he answered, sounding a little disappointed.

　　" It was stressful," I answered. I'd rather be honest because there was nothing there to lie about or maybe his hoarse voice just made me feel comfortable and at ease.

　　"Why was it stressful, do you want to talk about it?"

　　I shook my head, forgetting that he wasn't in the same room with me. "No, not really. I just had to deal with some disgusting people," kill a bad and listen to his threats. And also, the blood that got on clothes from killing him scared my little girl.

　　"Is everything okay now?" He sounded genuinely caring and interested and it honestly made me feel better.

　　"Yes, everything is okay now, thank you," I was smiling in satisfaction.

　　" You're smiling," he stated.

　　"I'm smiling,"

　　"Good, I want you smiling, I like it when you're smiling," he sounded like he was smiling too.

　　" Why?"

　　He laughed, "that isn't something we have to talk about now,"

　　"Come on," I urged. " tell me, I want to know,"

　　"I wish it's something I can tell you, Irena,"

　　He had called my name and I wished he could say it again. I imagined him next to me, whispering my name, making me feel good, touching me everywhere.

　　"What are you thinking about?" Alexey asked again.

　　" I would like to go to sleep now," I lied.

　　" Really?" He sounded disassociated.

　　" Yes, really. Is that a problem?" Why did he sound like that? He didn't get the answer he wanted to hear? Or he didn't want me going to sleep?

　　"No, no, that's perfectly fine. I'll see you soon then?" It sounded like a question.

　　" Yes, see you soon."

　　He hung up immediately and I was glad about it. The last time I had a conversation with someone like this, she ended up waiting for me to hang up, and well she never called me again because I was never one for that nonsense.