15. Jack

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

jack

I'm still lying on my sleeping bag with my eyes closed when my phone vibrates.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Jack." A woman's voice comes from the other end of the phone, but I don't recognize it.

"Uh, hi?"

"It's Clara, remember? We've been talking on Instagram and I asked for your phone number."

Oh, right. Clara. My old friend in high school set us up the day after graduation. She's his cousin. I haven't seen her or heard from her since that night. She was nice and all, but she wasn't who I was interested in back then, or even now. But when she reached out a few weeks ago and we started talking again, I thought, why not?

Mom would be proud of me for trying to date again. But I forgot about Clara. As soon as I saw Maggie, I forgot about any woman that wasn't her.

"But you hadn't called, so I figured I'd take my shot."

"Uh, yeah," I sit up and the world spins. I really need to get off this mountain. "I've been busy with work stuff. And…I met someone."

That's the simplest way to put it, to let her down.

"But we would have been so good together," She whines.

Is this woman for real? I didn't think I gave her that much of an indication that I was interested. We mostly chatted about work and food on Instagram. Not exactly romantic. She may have kissed me six years ago when we went on that date, but I wasn't interested then, and I'm not now.

"I'm really sorry, but it's just not going to work between us, Clara. I'm also on a hike, waiting for my group to get back from a part I can't do, so I need to go."

"Well, then you and I could be a little secret. I travel to California a lot for work. Let's meet up."

"I'm not that kind of guy, Clara."

"Chad said you were," she says. "After all, I'm pretty sure you kissed me the night you were supposed to meet your girlfriend. Plus, he was the one who told me to reach out again."

"Chad's an idiot. And I didn't kiss you, you kissed me." I didn't have a girlfriend back then, let alone one I should have been meeting. "I'm hanging up now."

She starts talking again. "It's your loss. It's good to hear your voice. Message me if you change your mind."

I make a disgusted face. Not that she can see it.

"Guys like you are always the same. You'll get bored and message me. I know it."

Before I respond, she hangs up.

That was the most random, bizarre phone call in my entire life. Why reach out now? What's the point of that? I mean, sure, we've been messaging a bit and she is funny, but she's not Maggie.

The high I felt after calling my dad is completely gone. Now I feel confused. Guys like me? What kind of guy is that exactly? A flirt? Sure, I was a serial flirt in high school, but not anymore. Now, there's only one woman I want to flirt with, and that's Maggie. The only woman I want to be with is Maggie, and once she gets back to me, I'm going to tell her that.