Romans & histoires Number Phobia

The screen glowed with the words: PRIVATE NUMBER. A feeling of dread, colder and heavier than any I had ever known, climbed up my throat and wrapped around it, squeezing. This was bigger than the fear of the police. Bigger than the nightmare of my dead wife. This was the feeling of the other shoe dropping. The final, terrible bill coming due. This was the call you never want to get. I looked at Jaxon over the broken glass. His eyes were locked on the phone, wide with the same knowing terror. I swallowed hard, my mouth dry as dust. I raised the phone to my ear.

Had spent years trying to forget those numbers even existed. But I'd never been able to. They were burned into my brain, ten digits that connected to a man I'd spent my whole life trying to escape. My fingers shook as I dialed. Each number I pressed felt like sealing my fate. Like stepping off a cliff and hoping I'd somehow learn to fly before I hit the ground. The phone probably wouldn't even work. It had been almost two decades. He'd probably changed numbers, changed countries, disappeared into whatever hole men like him crawled into when they wanted to vanish.

Sophia pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at the screen, stunned. "What…?" she whispered, eyes wide. She quickly hit redial. But this time, a cold robotic voice echoed through the speaker: ‘The number you are trying to call does not exist.’ Her hands went numb. She stared at the screen, redialing again. Again. "The number you are trying to call does not exist." "No… no, no…" she muttered, her chest rising and falling with panic. "It was real. He answered. He spoke. I’m not crazy."

There were around 10 contacts saved in my phone. Except for my insurance company, bank, and my phone operator there was Ellen's, Peter's, Simon's… and Kaisei's phone number. That short list proved that my life was far from being normal, and any psychotherapist would announce me as antisocial type. Somehow, I was fine with it.

You are so over him so there's nothing to worry about. I was about to call Leo but for goddamn sake, I heard my phone rang and an unknown number registered on my phone screen but I knew very well who was calling me. Every digit of Leo's cellphone number is still clear in my memory. My hand trembled as I accepted the call. I am unable to speak because of the various emotions that pervade my system.

The number isn't registered, and it made me feel like it's a ghost of my past. I dialed the number and called it many times. I failed to contact the number because it said that it's not reachable anymore. “Argh! Fuck! Who the hell are you?!” I shouted before I put my phone on the bed. I stood up and started to step all over the room. I think that my mind is about to explode. I can't think straight. I suddenly stopped breathing for a while when I saw that my phone was moving due to vibration. Someone is calling.

It fits my new phone, but that’s it. Honestly, I shouldn’t even need my old phone. I won’t need any of the numbers on it, won’t need access to my bank. The new phone, with only their numbers in it, feels like a lifeline I’m clinging to. Even though I’m terrified, they’ll push me away, I can’t let go of the connection we have. I slip the phone into the bag, my heart pounding with anxiety.

Christian asked, and Riya quickly told him the digits. Something shocking came into Christian’s view as he saw three missed calls from the same number, the date was the same as when he had an anxiety attack back in London and he was repeatedly disconnecting the call from an unknown number and when he called back on the number next morning, nobody talked to him.

He could only keep working, buried himself into the documents to paralyze his nerves! Suddenly, his mobile phone rang. No one had ever called on his personal mobile phone... Nathan took it out, which showed a strange number. Nathan’s heart seemed to be numb. He had been waiting for her call for the first few days. He had dreamed that she might have wanted to call him. Therefore, he had never changed his mobile phone number. After so many days, the cold lips slowly hooked up... He picked it up, but after hearing the voice over there, his expression changed rapidly, his eyes became cold and dim, later he threw the phone to the ground.

My eyes widened a little bit more and vanished my sleepiness away as I stare at the phone number, +14288297799. Am I hallucinating or is that my own number calling me? No. My eyes must be playing tricks on me, why would I see my phone number calling me? I ignored it and wondered, "Who the hell is calling me at 2AM? You better be an important person for disturbing me." I muttered as I pointed at the number and was really convinced that it was really my phone number. How the hell would I be calling me if I have my own phone number? I answered the call anyways and placed the phone against my ear. "Hello?" I yawned.