Unknown Number

by Victoria Hyder

  “We’re going to head out within the hour so you might want to get dressed.”

  “Are you going to tell me where we’re going?”

  “Don’t be daft, it’s your birthday!”

  He huffed a small smile and turned his laptop off before stretching his muscles. “Fine, give me half an hour and I’ll be ready.”

  “I hope that includes a shower!” she called after him.

  He flipped her off as he made his way to the bathroom and closed the door. It didn’t take long for him to get ready. Once he’d styled his hair and given himself an extra squirt of aftershave, he trotted down the stairs to grab his jacket. His mum came out from the living room, smiling brightly.

  “This came for you,” she said, holding out a package. “We called up, but I guess you didn’t hear us.”

  Cavan frowned at the parcel and tore it open. Inside was a cheesy little bear holding a stuffed number ‘21’ in bright colours. There was a tag wrapped around its neck with a note typed onto it;

  ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAVAN! HOPE YOU HAVE A GOOD DAY! LOVE, BONNIE, FLETCH & LUCAS X’

  His heart thumped heavily in his chest. “Ugh thanks mum. I’ll just run it upstairs.”

  He took the stairs two at a time, barely daring to breathe as he sat the bear on his desk. He flipped the packaging inside out in case there was another card inside, with no such luck. However, there was a billing address. Holding it up under the light, he squinted at the small print and felt his stomach twist inside him.

  He had the address! At least the building address, but it was still something! Saving it onto his phone, he shut off all the lights and hurried back downstairs where Arthur and Sophie were growing impatient by the front door.

  They took an uber to a venue hall that Cavan remember going to for one of his cousin’s parties -probably his twenty-fifth? -and he could hear and feel the music thumping through him as soon as the uber pulled up outside the hall. “Ow!” Cavan winced as a sharp hand swatted him upside the head. Rubbing his head, he glared at Sophie as she unbuckled her seatbelt. “What was that for?”

  “We’re here,” she said.

  Being abroad hadn’t changed Sophie’s attitude all that much. The only difference in her was that she wore skirts a little more now that it was warming up and had taken to growing her hair out a little. She even had a red braid woven through it from when she’d visited Sweden. Cavan scowled at her as he unfastened his own belt and opened the door. Stepping out in the carpark, he saw that they were at a hall that usually hosted graduation after-parties, or other large events.

  “Hurry up! Everyone’s inside!”

  It was dark and cold on the street, but the windows of the building were illuminated with neon strobe lighting. Cavan hurried to catch up with the other two and grinned, finally getting into the spirit of things as he followed his sister and friend through the main doors.

  The hall was packed with friends from all the parts of his life; primary school, secondary school, friends-of-friends and other halves. The place was jammed!

  Once they walked through the door, Cavan blinked adjusting to the darkness. Bright lights flashed here and there, disco balls and decorations hung from the ceiling. The air was thick with sweat and alcohol as people danced, getting buzzed as someone DJ’ed in the far corner.

  “Wow …” Cavan gushed. “Guys this is too much!”

  “Shut up,” she elbowed him with a grin. “It’s your twenty-first!”

  Cavan felt somewhat uncomfortable at the effort that had clearly been made. It was too much, really, and it had no doubt cost a lot to organise and get together. Still, he knew Sophie would continuously punch and pinch him if he carried on saying so, so he kept his mouth shut. Looping an arm around her shoulders, he pressed a chaste kiss to her forehead.

  “You’re amazing!” he exclaimed, “I can’t believe you guys managed to pull this off!”

  The music was growing louder, slowly but surely. Cavan could feel it vibrating in his chest. He felt almost breathless as he veered off to one side and grabbed a bottle of cider. He’d move onto the harder stuff later in the evening. Sophie shook her hair over her shoulder; she was wearing a silver halter top that looked great on her. Cavan was sure that if they weren’t related and he wasn’t gay, then he’d go for it! Maybe she was trying to get someone’s attention? He craned his neck over the throng of dancing bodies –and grimaced when he saw Jean.

  Leaning close to Sophie’s ear shouted, “What’s that dickweed doing here?”

  Sophie rolled her dark eyes. “Oh, come on! You guys are friends!”

  “Nuh uh!” Arthur interjected loudly. “They’re frenemies!”

  Cavan laughed at that. Arthur was too damn smart even when he was on the verge of becoming drunk. Wrapping an arm around each of his friends, Cavan squeezed them tightly. So far this was the best birthday he’d had in ages –and he’d only just arrived! A new song came on and Cavan’s eardrums exploded as Arthur dragged him deeper into the crowd to start dancing.

  Within the hour Cavan was pleasantly buzzed, jumping and dancing about with all his relentless energy and sweating. He was wearing a thin shirt but that didn’t stop his entire body from burning up. Unwinding himself from the bustling group of steamy bodies, he clumsily made his way to the bar and grabbed a bottle of beer. He wasn’t too fond of the stuff but if he was going to get nice and hammered, he needed to start on the stronger stuff. He thanked the girl behind the bar and turned back towards the main hall.

  Edging along the walls, he made his way to the bathroom and ducked inside. Balancing his beer bottle on the toilet tank, he dropped the lid with a bang and sat on it, leaning awkwardly against the back wall as he dug his phone out of his pocket.

  ~

  (21:14) Lucas have I ever told you that … I’m really glad I text the wrong number at Christmas? :3

  (21:17) You keep me sane! I didn’t realise how mad I really was before you!

  (21:19) They’ve gotten you to do shots, haven’t they?

  (21:22) Only like … two?

  (21:23) Light-weight.

  (21:24) Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

  (21:26) Wait no! Don’t shhhhh!

  (21:28) Go and have fun, kid.

  ~

  Frowning at the words blurring slightly before him, Cavan raked his hair out of his eyes and tried to take deep, calming breaths. He needed to try and keep a clear head, even if it was his birthday. He just wanted to somehow get to Lucas’ flat and make sure he was okay, was that such a bad thing?

  It’d be better if he didn’t have to shell out for an uber. Then again, he could get an uber anytime. The least he owed it to Sophie was to stay until the party started to wind down, after all the effort that had gone into organising everything.

  Dragging himself out of the bathroom, Cavan down his beer and made his way over to the bar for a pint of water and then one of lemonade. When asked about it he’d lied and said it was a G&T.

  The party continued until 1am. Cavan had scarcely checked his phone and for the most part he was glad. As the evening was winding down, the DJ played cheesy nineties hits that they used to dance to at the school discos. By the time they were told they needed to leave, everyone was hugging, laughing and stumbling out onto the street. There were a few designated drivers who were offering lifts to people who lived nearby.

  Cavan hung back, determined to get the uber that would take him to Hayes.

  “Cavan, aren’t you coming in with us?” Sophie called, half-inside the uber that had pulled up.

  “Er … I wasn’t going to go home tonight,” he shrugged lamely. His tongue felt a little thick in his mouth.

  Sophie frowned. “Well, where do you plan on going? We can make two trips.”

  “Um … to Hayes.”

  Sophie’s face was blank. Arthur wriggled out towards the door, “Oh, is that where your guy lives?”

  Cavan blushed a little and nodded his head, eyes fixed on his shoes. Sophie glanced between them; her lips tw
isted a little. “I … are you sure that’s a good idea, Cavan?” she asked, her breath rising between them.

  “I just wanted to see him …” God, why did all his emotions come out sounding like a lame, thirteen year old girl?

  “What about mum and dad?”

  “Say I’m with a guy?”

  “Pfft! As if!”

  “Fine, say I’m crashing at Jean’s or Arthur’s or something. If er … that’s cool, Artie?”

  Arthur shrugged; his eyes were already heavily lidded. “I’ll cover for you, bro, but I hope this guy is worth the risk.”

  Cavan bit back a smile. He hurried over to the side of the uber and ducked inside. “Is that alright if we make two trips?” he asked the driver.

  “Where to?”

  “Uh … Hayes?”

  “That’s a long way out of my way kid.” He paused for a moment and then tapped something on his phone. “There, I deleted your booking. Now quickly make another one and add three drop-off trips. I’ll accept.”

  Sophie fumbled around with her phone, but Cavan was faster. He made the booking, the driver accepted it, and he blanched a little at how much it’d cost but he assured himself he didn’t care. He wanted to see Lucas and there wouldn’t be anymore trains heading that way until the following morning. He wanted to see the man now!

  With a lurch the uber moved along the semi-empty roads towards Arthur’s house first and then to Sophie and Cavan’s. As she wriggled out of her seat, Sophie pulled her coat tighter around herself.

  “I don’t like the idea of you going up there alone?”

  “I know,” he muttered.

  “What if something happens?”

  “I’ll text you the address if you’re so worried.”

  She shook her head, her mouth turned downward. “It just … worries me, considering how you started talking to him.”

  “I’ve met him already, Soph. It might sound dumb, but I trust him, and I really want to see him. I -I hope you understand that.”

  “Oh, I do. I just feel like you’re being reckless again.”

  “Maybe I am,” he shrugged. “You won’t change my mind, you know?”

  “I know,” she finally gave him a little smile. Squeezing his hand, she leaned up and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Text me when you get there, okay? So that I know you’re alive.”

  Cavan chuckled and nudged her towards the door. “Thanks. I’m sorry for making you lie to mum and dad about all this?”

  She waved him off. “As far as I’m concerned this is now part of your birthday present. Don’t expect it to happen again.”

  “Thanks Soph.”

  He sat back in his seat and watched as she carefully picked her way along their front garden, fumbled for her keys in the dark and then crept into the darkened house, throwing her wave over her shoulder as she closed the front door.

  “You ready to go?” the driver asked.

  “Yes,” Cavan said, still not taking his eyes off the front door. “Yes, I’m ready.”

  Saturday AM

  Cavan had felt incredibly drowsy as the car cruised along the empty motorways. He was still a little amazed that the driver was willing to go such a distance and back again on a Friday night. The hot air that puffed out from the heater at the back made his eyelids droop. To keep himself alert and entertained, he started up a conversation with his cab driver, Ahmed. He was married and had two kids under ten, but they’d had to put their dog to sleep last weekend because she’d had cancer in her nose. Cavan said how sorry he was, even though he and Sophie had never been allowed to have anything bigger than a goldfish they’d won at a raffle.

  Through the art of conversation Cavan had ended up explaining how he and Lucas first came to talking -which led to a small tangent about ‘stranger-danger’ and how did Cavan know he wasn’t being groomed? -and how they’d gotten to know one another just through messages. Ahmed had agreed that it was a good way to get to know someone and that a lot of the mystery of romance had vanished in the last few decades.

  When asked how he’d met his wife, Cavan found himself surprised that it had been an arranged marriage, yet it worked out well. Ahmed and his wife loved and doted on one another. They were one of the lucky couples, Ahmed stated, as it was not always the case for a happy marriage.

  Thanks to their on-going conversation, Cavan was stunned when the uber pulled-up outside a block of flats and the lights flickered on. “Oh,” he said, rubbing at his eyes that had grown accustomed to the dark. “Are we here already?”

  Ahmed laughed, “Afraid so. Have a good night, brother, and keep safe you hear?”

  “I will, thank you. You’ve been great!” Cavan grinned as he climbed out of the uber and closed the door, patting his pockets down to make sure he had everything.

  With a ‘don’t forget to rate me!’ called out of the window, Ahmed pulled away from the pavement, waving as he sped off down the road. Cavan waved before turning to the building behind him.

  Suddenly all his bravado vanished.

  What if Lucas didn’t want to see him? He wasn’t entirely sure of the older man’s address, but he knew he lived in the building at least. Edging closer towards the main doors of the building, he grimaced that the door wouldn’t budge. Glancing up at the doorbells, he was glad that he saw ‘L. Trunell’ in sharp script written beside number ‘37’.

  Jabbing at the button, Cavan’s heart leapt into his throat as he waited.

  It took a while for anything to happen, so long so that Cavan was tempted to press the button again, when the intercom crackled to life.

  “This better be important,” came the rough voice. Cavan barely had time to think of a reply before the door buzzed and, when tested, swung inwards.

  Hurrying up two flights of stairs, Cavan carefully counted the door numbers until he was standing outside number 37. His insides were rolling around and knotting up as he raised his hand to knock gently on the door. He was sweaty, he could feel it, and he was sure any trace of his aftershave had been sweated off two hours ago. He was buzzing with energy, his legs jiggling as he waited an eternity for Lucas to get to the door.

  “You’d better not -Cavan?” Lucas croaked, his grey eyes growing wide. “What the -hell are you doing here?”

  “I came to see you!” It sounded so lame, saying it out loud. Cavan wanted to smack himself in the head. Rubbing a hand down his face he rambled, “Well, I just missed talking to you and I know you’ve been ill without telling me what’s up, so I thought I’d come and see how you were doing and it’s my birthday and I just … well … yeah.”

  The strange, stony expression on Lucas’ face made Cavan feel exceptionally small.

  He hunched his shoulders and shifted as though on hot coals. “I -fuck -I’m sorry. Did I … did I do wrong?”

  Blinking slowly, Lucas stepped to one side. “You’d better come in instead of giving the neighbours a late-night show.”

  It wasn’t exactly the welcome committee, but even Cavan had to admit he felt like an idiot loitering on the doorstep. He edged into the darkened flat, wincing as the door closed and locked. He dared to glance behind at Lucas; the man was leaning back against the door, looking exhausted, his arms folded across his chest and an unreadable expression on his face.

  “Cavan -how did you even find out where I live?” Lucas’ voice was raw and scratchy. It pained Cavan to hear it.

  “Bonnie sent me a birthday present and the billing address was on the label so … I just um … got a cab here …” he trailed off, Lucas’ gave making him feel ridiculous. “Sorry, I should’ve called first.”