Chapter 367: Too Many Worried Hearts
With that, he scrolled through his messages and soon found Sophie’s DM. As if she had somehow sensed that he was online, she called him almost immediately.
He answered at once.
"STAN, you’re back!"
"Yes, I’m back. You don’t have to worry. I’m okay." He smiled softly as he replied.
"I know what I said. I said I would be fine. I said I would not check. I said I would trust the timeline. I have been lying to myself for seventy-two hours."
Underneath the heat there was a small, tight quaver, the sound of a young woman who had held herself together in public for three days and was, on a private line, finally permitting herself not to.
His expression softened slightly.
"I’m okay," he said gently. "On my way home now. Wrapped up early."
"You came back early."
"I came back early."
"...Good." A breath. "Your home, or mine?"
"Mine. First. I need a shower and about ten minutes with a wall."
That earned a faint snort of amusement from the other end of the line.
"Fine. Tomorrow."
"Tomorrow."
"I love you."
"I love you too."
Click. Beside him, the corner of Camilla’s mouth developed the faintest upward inclination. He elected not to comment on it.
Just like that he got his second call, it was from Maya...
"...Stan."
Quieter than Sophie. Steadier. The controlled composure of a young woman who had made a private decision not to spiral before the deadline and had, with visible effort, actually managed it.
"Hey."
"You’re back early."
"Yes."
"Good."
A small, measured breath echoed from the phone as he heard her continue... "I was doing very well, for the record. I had seven more days budgeted. I was going to be very impressive about it..."
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"I believe you. I had a whole speech prepared for day eleven, in case you were late."
"You can still give it to me."
"No." A wry, tired exhale escaped her. "A day-eleven speech doesn’t work on day three. Wrong energy."
"That checks out."
"Come see me. Not tonight. When your head is on straight, or wait, I’ll make up time to give you a surprise visit later..."
"I will." A small pause settled comfortably between them before she spoke again.
"...I missed you."
The smile on his face softened slightly. "I missed you too."
"Stay safe for me, Stan. Welcome back from your business that made you unreachable for three days... I love you..."
Click
The call ended on that note, and his gaze moved to the next name on the list.
’Mia.’ He hesitated for a single beat before tapping her name.
Mia was, of all the names waiting in the stack, the one who worried him most on this kind of call, not because she would be angry, but because she wouldn’t be.
She never was. He called her, and unlike the former two, she seemed to be a little busy. After two rings, she picked up.
"Stan?"
Small. Not sharp, like Sacha. Not blazing, like Sophie. Not composed, like Maya. Just, small. The voice of a girl who had spent three days telling herself she had no right to feel the tight thing in her chest because he had said ten, and three was well inside ten, and being worried already was being unreasonable.
"Hey. It’s me. I’m okay. Wrapped up early."
A very small, very sharp intake of breath. Then silence.
Not the silence of a person who had run out of words. The silence of a person who had suddenly, entirely, forgotten she had been holding her breath.
"Mia."
"...I’m here."
"You didn’t message. I looked."
"I didn’t want to be the one who..." She stopped herself before starting again, softer this time. "You said ten. I was trying to be good."
Something in his chest went quietly sideways.
"You don’t have to be good, Mia. You can just message me."
"...Okay."
"I’ll come see you soon. Give me a day or two."
"Okay."
"You don’t have to say okay to everything."
"...okay, I’m sorry my love." He almost laughed.
She laughed, blushing on the other end of the line, the small, breathy exhale of a girl who had heard his reply and was choosing to be embarrassed rather than upset.
"Come soon."
"Promise."
Click
He rested the phone against his knee for a moment and drew a slow breath.
The faint upward curve at the corner of Camilla’s mouth had settled into something closer to private amusement.
"You seem to have quite the harem," she observed idly. "They all sound rather concerned for you."
Her crimson eyes flickered briefly toward the phone in his hand before continuing.
"I do wonder what strange equipment that is. It allows you to communicate with all of them across such great distances without the slightest trace of Qi. Humans truly are strange creatures."
Her lips curved ever so slightly. "And busy ones, apparently."
Stan glanced at the remaining names waiting for him on the screen before letting out a quiet breath.
"I’m about to become much busier."
He wasn’t about to explain to her that having a harem of girls is not quite the common thing amongst new age humans...
The next was Sarah. Two rings, and she did not say hello.
"Stan."
He winced. "Hey."
"You said up to ten days."
"I did."
"It has been three."
"It has."
"Do you know how many times I’ve checked my phone today?"
"...How many?"
"Enough that my phone probably thinks we’re dating, Stan." He laughed softly at that.
Then her voice softened just a little.
"And before you ask, no, I wasn’t worried. I was merely considering all the perfectly reasonable explanations for why you disappeared. Alien abduction. Kidnapping. Falling off a cliff. Being eaten by a bear."
"What if they were bears?"
A brief silence greeted his words before Sarah spoke again.
"Tell me you’re joking."
"I’m not."
Stan laughed it off lightly.
Hearing his laugh, Sarah became even more convinced that he was simply toying with her.
"Your life is a serious matter, Stan. It’s not something to joke about."
"Okay, Sarah." He replied knowing fully well that it’d be hard for her to believe him if he told her that he had slain a polar bear a few hours ago
Anyways, the bright, brisk indignation lasted only a moment before it softened into something quieter, the shift Sarah always made when she permitted herself to let the gentler version underneath show through.
"Are you actually okay?"
"I’m okay. Wrapped up early."
A small pause followed.
"And you’re going to rest when you get home, right? Not immediately throw yourself into whatever ridiculous thing you’ve decided to do next?"
"...Probably."
"Stan."
"I’m resting."
"Good. Want me to come over tomorrow?"
He could hear the anticipation and eagerness in that voice...