What lies within... Chapter one

 

Michael's heart began to beat faster, his mind kept fluctuating as thoughts flooded his head telling him it was all over. His body became ice cold and yet the temperature around him was not. With his phone in his hand and sadness his heart, he dialed Grace's number once more but the response was still the same, "The number you are trying to call is busy, please try again later, thank you".

"Has she been on another call since morning", the voice in his head asked, stirring up doubts that once laid hidden deep within his heart. Michael had been at this ever since the break of dawn, her number had been busy all through the day and this had him worried that something could have happened to the woman he had considered as the love of his life. The previous night's call with her had ended abruptly, with her not being able to hear a word that he said and after that, came the busy phone.

Suddenly another came to him, "Did she block the line?", the voice asked as there was no other explanation for the recent changes.

"No!", Michael yelled shaking his head rigorously, "why would she do that?".

"She has finally gotten fed up with you, why else would she do this", the voice answered.

"That's not true and I'll prove you wrong", Michael yelled, and then began thinking about those words and also about what he could have done wrong to make her block his line, but there was nothing he could think of at the moment.

"If you want to prove me wrong, try another phone and see what I am saying is true" it said.

Michael turned his sight to his brother, who was only a few years younger than he was, "Please can I use your phone for a call, little John" he requested.

Under normal circumstances, John would never agree to this, but he had been watching his brother in distress, "Sure you can have it, just don't use too much cus I don't have enough" he said with pity in his eyes.

Michael grabbed the phone and dialed the number, his hands trembling with fear as he input t hem.

'Ring! Ring! Ring!', the sound of her phone ringing drew the first tear out of his eyes, as it confirmed the words of the voice in his head.

"Hello", she said answering the phone quicker than the fourth ring could be heard.

Michael's breath seized for a moment and then it came back along with another wave of trembling, he could barely hold himself together as he hung up the phone. In less than a minute, she called right back, but he refused to pick up. Then there was another, the third time was the charm, there was silence from both ends and then he hung up. He tried dialing her with his phone thinking maybe the network had cleared up, but was rather disappointed to see that it wasn't the network providers fault.

"See, she is just like the rest" the voice mocked laughing at Michael's foolishness.

"Don't say that about her, it's just a mistake", Michael yelled. He turned on his data and went on the Google Search engine to find the possible way to bypass a blacklisting, with little effort he got his answer and proceeded to follow the instructions given.

'Ring! Ring!' the phone rang and got no response, but Michael was determined to get his answers and dialed the number various times until finally she picked up.

"Hello?" Michael said but got no answer, "Grace I know you can hear me, if you don't say a word right now I'll be so pissed and you wouldn't like what I'll do when I see you again" he threatened but still got no answer, and then hung up himself.

He dialed her once more, this time she picked without delay.

"Hello?" he said tears still dripping.

"Hello? Can I call you back?" she asked.

"No you can't, I've been dialing your number all morning and now you want to call me back?" Michael yelled at the top of his voice.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean for this to happen, I knew you would take it this way" Grace said.

"Why did you block my line?", Michael asked shivering with every pronunciation that came from his mouth, his tears almost choking him, and his breath heavier with every exhale.

"Wait for it" the voice said

"I'm so sorry, I wasn't in the mood".

"You weren't in the mood to talk to me? How would you have felt if you had been the one who called and I had blacklisted you because I wasn't in the mood?" Michael asked irritated by the way those words sounded to him, "Besides you don't even call, I'm the one always doing the calling, you won't know if I had died until it was my funeral".

"Please don't say that" she said sobbing.

"There is no reason on earth that's good enough for you to blacklist my numbers" Michael said furious and yet still sobbing.

"I know, and I'm sorry for that, please stop crying" Grace begged

"I can't stop it, I was so worried that something happened to you" Michael said breathing in and out heavily trying to stop the tears, but his heart wouldn't stop beating harder.

"You just have to please" Grace begged.

"Okay I will, but tell me why".

"Please I'm almost home, can we do this tomorrow?" Grace pleaded. 

"Like that can ever happen" the voice said.

"Tomorrow?".

"Yes please, I'm sorry for what I did but I have reasons that I can't tell you right now" she explained.

Michael rubbed his hand over his eyes to dry up the tears, "Do you promise?"

"Yes I do"

"Don't be fooled, tomorrow nothing will happen" the voice said but Michael refused to listen.

"Okay then, but will you call me? " Michael asked.

"I'll call you" she answered.

"Okay" Michael said hanging up.

"It's over man, she won't even bother calling you, it's over between you two" the voice in his head said, but Michael was too scared to accept their truth.