Make Me (Editing)

thirty six

"Please pick up," I mumbled to myself quietly as I held my phone up to my ear. The ringing sound dragged on for what felt like forever, before the dreaded voicemail came through for the umpteenth time.

"Tyler Gray is unable to come to the phone right now," the automated recording seemed to taunt me. "Please leave a message after the beep."

"Tyler, baby, it's me - Ally," I cringed at sound of the words coming out from my mouth. "Please call me back, I just want to know that you're ok."

I placed my phone back in my pocket as I waited by the taxi terminal for a ride back into the city. I'd just landed in New York after catching a sort of emergency return flight. Tyler had appeared to have upped and left Melbourne without my knowing, leaving me to assume that he was now back in The States as well. But since he wasn't returning any of my calls, my guess was as good as anyone's.

To make matters worse, Rico was currently away visiting family in Maine, which meant that I had to make the trip in to Manhattan without my trusty confidante. I'd been too late to catch Tyler, and too early to catch Rico. My luck couldn't have been any worse if I tried.

Once I'd managed to secure a cab, I loaded my suitcases into the trunk and got in the back seat, not really wanting to encourage small-talk by taking the passenger seat. Luckily, he got the memo, and hardly said a word the whole trip.

By the time I arrived back at my apartment, it was almost eleven o'clock on a Friday morning here in New York, and I couldn't decide whether my fatigue or starvation was my most pressing concern. I concluded that both would have to be addressed effective immediately, and got to heating up some leftovers, which I quickly downed before falling fast asleep on the couch.

Three hours later, I woke to the sound of a text notification, which I eagerly checked on the off chance that Tyler had finally texted back.

Becca: Hope you arrived safely. Make sure you update me with any developments. We're all rooting for you guys.

Although my heart dropped as I saw who the message wasn't from, my best friend's words still brought a smile to my face, reminding me that no matter how it felt, I was far from alone in this situation. I sent a quick reply, letting her know that I was home and well, before switching off my phone and heading to the bathroom to freshen up.

It was at this point that I came to the realisation that I had literally no idea what my plan was now that I was back in the Big Apple. Although I'd supposedly followed Tyler home to tell him I loved him, I had literally no clue where he was, let alone what I'd say to him once I found him. He didn't really seem to go too many places, so I could pretty much narrow my search locations to the office and his apartment. And in regard to the second issue, I guess I'd come up with that once I figured out the first one.

After checking my phone to make sure I had enough time to reach the office before the end of the work day, I threw on some jeans and a baggy knit sweater, pulling my hair into a messy bun before taking off for Gray's Consulting. I was still on leave for a few more days, which allowed me to get away with a casual fit as I visited the workplace.

"Oh my god Ally!" Bella's smiling face greeted me as I walked through the glass doors. "You're back early."

"Yeah," I replied simply, doing my best to hold myself together. "Is Tyler in by any chance?"

"He's not, no," she shook her head. "Didn't he tell you that he was taking time off this week?"

"Oh, right," I feigned oblivion, since I'd insisted we don't tell anyone that our respective leaves were related. "I guess it slipped my mind."