Hearing this continous ring to her ear is comparable to the torturous beeps of a heart monitor of someone just waiting to pull the plug. Each moment of waiting stretched into eternity, allowing a vocabulary of curses to bubble up from the depths of her soul like waves crashing against the shore. Harsh, cold—

"Hello?"

Regret.

It had been so long since she last heard your voice, a soothing melody that never failed to stir her heart. She remembered the way your eyes boldly traced her vulnerabilities, how the warmth of your presence enveloped her like the gentle rays of the sun breaking through the curtains after a night spent together.

It was supposed to be their last encounter, a promise she made to herself, but like Icarus drawn to the sun, Nat couldn't resist gravitating back to you.

And now, here she was, with the audacity to come back after ending everything?

Natalie swallowed hard, the weight of dread and shame settling heavily in her chest, constricting her throat and drying her mouth to the parchedness of a desert. The pregnant pause worsens her ragged breathing, the only inevitable noise from her end.

Her mouth is parted, unable to utter her reason for calling. But the words, God, they're trapped against a wall of shame to slip past her tongue.

"Who is this?"

The words laced with uncertainty jolts her back to attention. Summoning every ounce of courage she could muster, Natalie forced the words past her lips, her voice barely above a whisper.

"It's Nat," she confessed, her finger tracing a nervous path across her brow, her gaze fixed on the floor in shame.

"Look, um," she continued, the words tumbling out in a rush as she struggled to find her footing. "Sorry, this is just... really sudden."

"But I need your help."