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º No Face º

New Chat

  • From - ArchJ

"Just got off work. You good?"

  • Today 9:18PM -

Squinting at the screen's brightness, Collien smiled at the new message from her part-time friend slash part-time shrink. Stress and exhaustion left her just about paralyzed in bed since she drove home with her mom a few hours ago. She didn't even bother to eat dinner and had fallen asleep still wearing her undershirt and office skirt. She sighed. Being a rookie corporate accountant just sucked the life out of her these days.

A minute later, another message came:

[I can see you're reading my texts. How's work? ;)]

Hmm. The guy seemed a tad eager to chat her up tonight. Collien yawned and tried to rub the glue out of her eyes. She was too tired to text, honestly, but she owed him at least a decent few minutes of chatting for being her impromptu therapist the other day and last night. The guy even took some time off his work day just to listen to her rant about her family problems and work issues.

It wasn't much of a rant, though, as far as she recalled. More like, him trying to calm her down for half an hour while she cried her eyes out like a baby that badly needed a diaper change. That happened the other day. Indeed, it was no longer a mere girl-flirts-with-random-guy-online kind of thing. In fact, he barely even tried to flirt with her in the past weeks they'd been communicating online.

It was why she chose to keep chatting with him, even though she wasn't the type to talk to complete strangers online. She was too introverted and socially inept lately. It was probably the drastic life changes she was going through. The grief and daily stress of thinking about her family's mountain of unpaid bank loans added to the anxiety, too.

Another text from “ArchJ”popped up again. [Stop. Ignoring. Me.]

The new text made her laugh this time. She'd been staring at her phone screen for minutes now and still couldn't type a proper response. He wanted to chat for a while tonight; she could tell. So she finally sent a reply:

[Just woke up. Sorry late reply :)]

The guy read her chat and the bubble icon showed he immediately started writing another text. Excited? Was he glad she was in the mood to talk again?

ArchJ sent another message seconds later:

[Apology accepted, sleepyhead. What time did u get home?]

As she read his reply, Collien couldn't wipe the grin off her face. What if she called him again? They were both trying to keep it private whenever they talked online, but, at the moment, she just needed to hear his calming deep voice again.

The first time they tried a video call, he didn't even show his face. She never asked him to. It was enough for her to hear his actual voice. Of course she wouldn't force him now if he still didn't want to. Tonight, though, she wanted to hear his voice again.

[VC? No face if you still don't want to.]

His new message didn't give her much time to think. Before she could send another reply, the guy was already trying to video call her. The glaring notification sent a slight shock to her heart, leaving her holding her breath.

Sure. It was just a casual, harmless conversation. He was only trying to be friendly, and she didn't have to show her face, anyway. No harm, no foul. Just a quick friendly chat.

"Hi there," she greeted with a pleasant tone. He might hang up if she sounded like a hormonal angsty teenager again. Feeling her heartbeat accelerating, Collien left the front camera disabled as she watched the video feed on her screen.

His gray shirt looked as loose as his black joggers while he put his right leg over the other. He was wearing socks, too. "Am I disturbing your nap time, sleepyhead?" the guy asked, his tone pleasant like the last time.

It was only their second time hearing each other talk over the phone, but she could already recognize the nuances in his voice. He sounded like a guy in his 20s...or late 30s. Just a gut feel, but he did mention one time that he was within that age range. A businessman. Not married. Living and working in the same city. She hadn't asked any more personal questions; she could tell he valued his private life. "No. Thanks for leaving me on 'read' last night, by the way."

"Sorry." He chuckled. "Had to go out." They both fell silent afterwards. Then he spoke again, his camera still showing just his bedtime clothes. "How's your nap? Had dinner yet?"

"Good. No; I haven't. Still in my work clothes, honestly." She laughed and kept her back camera focused on her pillowcase. He wouldn't see her face at all—her room was almost pitch-black. "What about you?"

"You should eat."

"Too tired. Went through a dozen more reports."

"Huh. Figures," he murmured. "Glad I never thought of being an accountant."

She combed through her messy hair and almost laughed at his honesty. "How's work?"

"Same old, same old. How's your mom?" He uncrossed his legs and sounded genuinely interested.

It made her smile like a hormonal highschooler secretly texting her longtime crush for the first time. "Pretty tired, too. But she's probably watching another cooking show downstairs."

"Sounds fun. You like to cook?"

"Sometimes. Our stay-in help quit to take care of her parents back home, so...I gotta cook or we'll starve." She got up to sit on the bed. She held her phone while she fumbled with the pillows to find her headset. Her stomach was starting to complain, too. Time for a snack.

"Holy fu—"

"What?" Immediate panic broke off her thoughts when she heard his expression of shock.

Holy crap. She accidentally pressed it. She actually pressed it. Her breath caught at why he almost swore. The second video feed now showed a grainy view of her tight-fitting red camisole, her black bra straps, and three-fourths of her bare face.

"I knew it." The guy sighed after suppressing a quick laugh. "Damn. You're pretty."

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