Kyle slowed to a complete stop to let the fox cross the road. As he sat there, mindlessly, he felt guilt at not thinking about something – it was stupid, he knew that. But he felt it nonetheless.
Oh. Matt. He hadn’t thought about him in a while. A while to Kyle was two days. He wondered how he was getting on in the new job which must have started today. What day was it? Maybe yesterday. Why wonder, he thought, I’ll call him. With a few clicks on the steering wheel the phone rings.
Whilst it rings, the fox eventually clears the road and Kyle gently accelerates. He’s normally in a great rush but tonight he felt a weird peace that seemed to take over, as a guest host for the evening. The empty roads also allowed him to plod at a leisurely unpressured pace, too. Something rather rare since the new build has caused a lot more traffic recently. The line goes to voicemail.
He must not have got to the phone in time. Kyle presses redial immediately. Three rings this time.
‘Kyle.’
‘Hey Matt. How are you, bud?’
‘Bit tired, but okay. Everything okay?’
‘Yeah, me too. Long day. No, no, just seeing how you are. How’s the new job?’
‘Ah cool. So just a casual 2:30 am catch up, is it?’
‘Shit. Is that the time? Shouldn’t you be sleeping?’
‘I was.’
‘Well, silly having your phone on loud, ey — some idiot might not realise the time and phone you!’ he laughed, a friendly playful chuckle.
‘Yeah, some idiot rang twice within quick succession, which my phone seems to think is an emergency so turns itself off do not disturb. But I might get around that in future by blocking said idiot!!’
Kyle could hear the smirk in Matt’s voice. They had this understanding and friends-first relationship.
‘Smart. So how are you doing?’
‘No no, you carry on. I’m awake now, might as well keep you entertained for your 20-minute drive.’
‘Might be 30 with the amount of dozy foxes out tonight, bud!’
Although he had been woken up by the call, truth was that Matt was really grateful for the call. He had not been in a good place recently and the stress of the new job hadn’t helped. The real truth was — he was cripplingly lonely. Kyle knew this. Although it hadn’t been directly mentioned.
‘So, how are you? I mean, really?’
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