****
The next few days were a blur. The only way Caroline could stop thinking about Jackson was to dive completely into her work projects. She stayed late. She got there early. She threw herself into every meeting they would allow.
Her hard work didn’t go unnoticed and before long, her internship turned into a promoted staff position. When she got the news she tried to call Clay, but he didn’t answer. Caroline hated to leave voicemails, so she hung up. She desperately wanted to tell someone so, without thinking, she dialed Jackson’s number.
“Hey, you,” Jackson said as he answered.
“I got hired as staff!” Caroline shouted into the phone.
Jackson laughed at her enthusiasm. “Congratulations, babe! That’s great!”
“I know! I’m so psyched. I just had to tell you.”
“Well, I’m glad you did. Can I call you later?”
Caroline realized that Jackson was in the middle of handling some business and although he didn’t want to blow her off, he really needed to go. She smiled at how considerate he was of her feelings.
“I’ll call you! Talk to you later,” she conceded.
“Okay. Hey, Caroline?” Jackson asked.
“Yeah?”
His voice radiated affection. “I’m proud of you.”
Caroline bit her bottom lip with excitement. “Thanks, Jackson. Call you later.”
She found more happiness in his reaction than she could have imagined. She realized there would be no getting him out of her head now.
Still beaming from her promotion, Caroline walked through her apartment door that evening and yelled out Clay’s name. When only silence greeted her, she took a quick shower, changed into her pajamas, and then snuggled into the couch.
When her cell phone rang she answered it absently. “Hello?”
“Hey, babe. Just calling to let you know I’ll be pretty late tonight. Probably won’t be home before midnight. You okay?”
“I’m fine. Go back to work,” Caroline assured him.
“I love you.”
Caroline smiled. “I love you, too.”
Once she ended the call with Clay, she calculated the time difference in her head and thought for a second that it was probably too late. It was after eleven p.m. there, but she dialed his number anyway. The phone didn’t even ring twice before she heard Jackson’s thick, deep, slightly accented voice. “Caroline,” he said and chills coursed through her body.
“Hi,” she said, half nervous, half confident. Her body wouldn’t stop shaking.
“So, how was the rest of your day?” Jackson asked through a crackled reception.
“Amazing! How was yours?”
“Not amazing,” he joked. “Hey, are you alone?”
Caroline laughed. “No, my boyfriend’s sitting right here.”
“Funny. No really, are you at home?” he asked seriously.
Caroline answered, “Yeah, I’m home. Why?”
“Just wondering how you can call me if you’re home. Are you hiding in a closet? You are, huh?”
She laughed out loud. “No! I’m in the bathroom!”
“You are, aren’t you?” Jackson teased.
“No!” she continued to laugh, “Clay’s at work. He’s gone most nights until pretty late.”
“Ahhhh. That’s got to suck.”
“I don’t mind. I like my alone time,” Caroline confided.
“Well, I don’t mind that he’s gone either.”
Caroline heard his voice cut out toward the end. “Jackson? Jackson?” She pulled the phone away from her ear and held it in front of her. The screen read, “Call Disconnected.”
Before she could redial his number, she got a text message that said, “Sorry. We get spotty service in our apartment sometimes. Call my home phone.” He included the number and she smiled as she dialed.
“Hello?” A male voice that was clearly not Jackson’s answered.
She was caught off guard. “Um, hi! Is Jackson there?” she asked politely, unsure of who was on the other end of the line.
“Depends. Who’s this?” the voice asked with attitude.
“Caroline,” she informed with equal attitude.
The voice on the other end of the line laughed heartily. “Oh, Caroline! The one from California?” he asked, dragging out the name of her state.
Caroline got excited that whomever she talked to knew who she was. “That would be me.”
She heard Jackson and another voice yell in the background, but she couldn’t make out what they said. The voice on the phone remarked, “He’s not here,” and the voices in the background got even louder.
“Oh really?” she asked playfully. “Then why can I hear him yelling in the background?”
“Maybe you’re hearing things.”
Caroline was confused. Was this guy just playing around with her, or did he intend to be mean? Before she could say anything more the voice said, “You know—Caroline from California—maybe you should be calling your boyfriend instead of my friend,” and she heard the phone click.
Caroline’s jaw dropped in shock as all air ceased to exist within her.
****
“What the hell, man?” Jackson yelled at his roommate.
“You’re such a dick,” Alex added.
“Whatever. Why is she calling here? What are you doing, Jax?” Tommy chastised his best friend.