Nick held his breath as the rings droned on repetitively in his ear. He had sat in quiet contemplation for a few minutes mulling over whether or not to call her. Deciding whether or not it would be wise to ignore the tumultuous feelings running through him or pursue them.

After much internal wrestling, he had come to the conclusion that he had to call her. What he was feeling was simply too strong to deny. He was so tired of hiding behind the wall that he had built up around himself. He was tired of not allowing himself to care about anything or anyone.

Now, Nick sat rigidly upon his bed, fully aware that a mere phone call wouldn�t be able to quell the compelling feelings that he was experiencing. He continued to wait for what seemed like an eternity. The rings were long and seemingly ceaseless. With each passing one, he felt his heart sink lower and lower.

With a tired sigh, Nick was finally ready to admit defeat. She wasn�t going to pick up. He was about to hang up when suddenly as if by some miracle, the line clicked.

�Hello, � she answered uncertainly, her voice barely above a whisper.

�Is this Jessica Turner?� he asked, his own voice hoarse.

�Yes, she whispered, suspecting from his tone of voice that he already knew who she was.

�My name is Nick. Nick Carter,� he added nervously. �You ran into my car today,� he said slowly, his voice trailing.

�I�m really sorry about that, Jessica murmured monotonously out of habit. �I really should have been paying attention,� she chastised herself a loud. She waited for him to get angry with her, but surprisingly, he didn�t.

�Don�t worry about it,� Nick said. His tone was friendly and warm. He wasn�t accusing or mad in the least bit. Although her mind was swarming with confusion and her stomach a mess of fluttering butterflies, Jessica felt herself relax slightly. There was something soothing about his voice. Something that made her feel comfortable talking to him.

�Look, I know it�s probably not my place to say this, but are you okay?� he paused. �I mean, you just seemed really distracted earlier,� he added quickly, suddenly aware that his question might sound strange since they didn�t even know one another.

Silence ensued on her part. It was agonizing for Nick as he awaited her response if any. At that moment he felt like kicking himself. He hadn�t meant to alienate or upset her. All he had wanted to do was help. �Forget I asked. I�m sorry. I didn�t mean to up �� he began.

�It�s alright,� Jessica whispered cutting him off. �I�m fine really. I was just really pre-occupied with something,� she said squeezing her eyes shut as she attempted to convince herself of her own words.

�Sometimes talking helps,� he offered. �I know we don�t know each other, but sometimes talking to someone you don�t know is easier,� he said sincerely.

Jessica smiled slightly at how nice he was, although she couldn�t help wondering why he cared so much and what his true motives were. �Thanks, but this is something I�d prefer to deal with alone,� she said morosely. Talking can�t help anyhow,� she added almost to herself. What could he do for her? Everything was her fault. Nothing and no one would ever be able to change that.

An uncomfortable silence followed as neither of them knew exactly what to say to the other. Nick finally piped up, breaking the silence. �I guess I should let you go then,� he said quietly.

Jessica remained silent for a few moments. For some reason, she didn�t want him to go. Suddenly she blurted out �Please don�t. Don�t go.� Her heart was desperately aching for companionship of any sort. This was the closest she�d come in a long time. All she wanted right now was someone to talk to. Someone who could take her mind off her mother for a while. Nick heard the pleading tone in her voice and sensed her need for companionship. His heart went out to her and he easily agreed not to hang up.

The two talked for about another full hour. Time seemed to fly by as they chatted animatedly. First they started off with idle chit chat and then slowly ventured into deeper subjects. The only uncomfortable moment in the conversation was when Nick inquired about her family. She fell silent then but quickly countered by posing a question of her own.

When the conversation finally came to an end, the two regretfully hung up, both of them totally oblivious to the fact that they hadn�t even bothered to discuss the damage to Nick�s car.

Jessica sighed loudly to herself as she hung up the phone. This was so uncharacteristic of her. She usually refrained from talking to strangers unless it was absolutely necessary. Sure, she talked to people at work all the time, but she never held conversations with any depth to them. She made certain of it. She always feared that if she let anyone get close to her, they would somehow know all the sordid details about her life. With Nick however, she wasn�t worried. Her usual guarded attitude seemed to disappear when she talked to him. This perplexed her because she couldn't understand what it was about him.

As Jessica closed her eyes and laid her head down upon her pillow, a strange sense of calm washed over her. She didn�t even have his phone number, but somehow she wasn�t worried. Her eyelids soon became heavy with slumber and she quickly fell asleep, snippets of her conversation with Nick running through her mind.

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