Work Text:
September 3
MISSED CALL - Oona
Voicemail - 0:38
“Hey. It's me... Obviously.”
“I just wanted to check if you got there okay. You said you were leaving this morning, right?”
“Anyway, call me when you get this.”
“Okay. Bye.”
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September 6
MISSED CALL - Oona
Voicemail - 1:12
“Okay, first of all, you have been gone for three days, which is already annoying.”
“Second, I need you to know that I was right about Sully. I know you can't actually answer this because you're probably busy with your grandpa, but I need you to know that I was right. I bet that he didn't have the courage to jump off the highest rock, and he couldn't, so I won the bet.”
“Call me when you can!"
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September 12
MISSED CALL - Oona
Voicemail - 0:54
“Hi.”
“So... I haven't heard from you.”
“I know you said things were probably going to be kind of crazy over there, so I'm not- I'm not freaking out.”
“I just wanted to check.”
“You don't have to talk for long. Just call me when you can, okay?”
“Okay. Bye.”
----------------‐--
September 19
MISSED CALL - Oona
Voicemail - 1:03
“Okay, I'm starting to think you're doing this on purpose, which would be incredibly rude, by the way. But I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt because apparently I'm a very generous person.”
“So... Call me. Even if it's just for, like, thirty seconds.”
“You can literally say ‘I'm alive’ and hang up.”
“Actually, yeah. Do that.”
“‘I'm alive.' See? Easy.”
“Okay. I miss you.”
“Bye."
----------------‐--
October 2
MISSED CALL - Oona
Voicemail - 2:37
“Hey. I talked to Joe today. He told me he talked to your grandpa on the phone.”
“He said things have gotten worse so... I guess that means you're still there.”
“Which is good. Obviously.”
“I mean, I know you're probably busy. I know you've got a lot going on. I just wish you would tell me that yourself.”
“You don't even have to talk to me. You could literally just text me and say you're okay.”
“Actually, you don't even have to say you're okay.”
“Just... tell me you're there.”
“Because I know you're there now. Joe told me.”
“But I shouldn't have to hear about you from Joe. I should hear from you.”
“Anyway, I'm glad you're okay. I hope.”
“Call me when you can please.”
----------------‐--
October 18
MISSED CALL - Oona
Voicemail - 1:40
“Hi..”
“I had a weird day.”
“I don't really want to talk about it. I just...”
“I don't know, I would've told you. That's usually what I do.”
“You know, when something happens, I tell you. And now I keep reaching for my phone and then remembering you're not here.”
“Anyway... I hope your grandpa's okay.”
“Call me when you can.”
----------------‐--
November 8
MISSED CALL - Oona
Voicemail - 2:08
“Okay.. I'm actually worried now.”
“You don't have to call me back if you don't want to talk.”
“I mean, obviously I'd rather you did.”
“But just- Just let me know you're okay.”
“You can text me one word. You can send me a stupid emoji. You can literally call and breathe into the phone for five seconds and then hang up. I don't care.”
“Just... Please don't make me guess.”
“Okay?”
“Okay, bye.”
----------------‐--
December 14
MISSED CALL - Oona
Voicemail - 0:31
“You know what?”
“I don't even care if you call me back anymore, I just wanted to tell you that I saw the ugliest Christmas sweater in the world today and immediately thought of you.”
“So Merry Christmas, I guess.”
“Don't be a stranger.”
----------------‐--
December 25
MISSED CALL - Oona
Voicemail - 2:18
“Merry Christmas.”
“I know you're probably busy, so I'm not gonna keep you. I just wanted to call.”
“We had dinner at Joe's. Maple got drunk on.. Actually, never mind. She's twelve. I'm not telling that story.”
“You would've laughed, though.”
“Everyone asked about you... to me. Which is funny because I haven't heard from you a single time.”
“I told them you were fine though. I hope you are. I don't really know anymore.”
“I got you something anyway.”
“It's stupid.”
“Actually, it's perfect, you'll see.”
“I guess I'll have to keep it until you come back so you better come back.”
“Okay. Merry Christmas, Ramona.”
“I miss you.”
“Bye.”
----------------‐--
December 31 - 11:47 PM
MISSED CALL - Oona
Voicemail - 3:26
“Hey.”
“It's almost midnight. I know you're probably asleep. Or busy. Or... whatever.”
“I don't know.”
“I just thought I should call before the year ends.”
“This year sucked.”
“Not all of it. But mostly.”
“And I know I haven't exactly made things easier.”
“I keep calling, I know.”
“I know you haven't answered. I'm not stupid. I just...”
“I don't know what I'm supposed to do with all this time. Everything keeps happening and you're not here to hear about it.”
“And I keep thinking, ‘I'll tell Ramona.' And then I remember.”
“Anyway.. I hope next year is better.”
“For you, for your grandpa, for all of us, I guess.”
“I hope you come home.”
“Happy New Year, Ramona.”
“I wish you were here.”
“Bye.”
----------------‐--
January 9
MISSED CALL - Oona
Voicemail - 3:52
“Hey.”
“My mom's here. She just showed up. Didn't even call first. Which is... very her.”
“She's staying for a few days.”
“I don't know why I'm telling you this. I guess I wanted you to know.”
“Maple's really happy and I'm happy for her. I'm trying to be.”
“Mom keeps acting like nothing happened.”
“Like she can just walk in and everything's normal And I don't know what I'm supposed to do with that.”
“Because I'm the one who's been here. I'm the one who gets Maple ready for school. I'm the one who makes sure she eats. I'm the one who knows where her stuff is. I'm the one she calls when she's scared. And then Mom shows up and suddenly she's the mom.”
“I don't know.. Sorry.”
“I shouldn't be dumping this on you. I just wish you were here. You'd know what to say or you'd make fun of me until I stopped thinking about it. Either one would work.”
“Call me.”
----------------‐--
January 14 - 1:16 AM
MISSED CALL - Oona
Voicemail - 4:37
“I don't know why I'm calling you.”
“Actually, I do.”
“Because I can't say any of this to her and I can't say it to Maple because she's a kid and everybody else keeps telling me I'm lucky that she's here.”
“ah.. Lucky.”
“Do you know how fucked up that is?”
“She comes back for a few days and everyone acts like I should be grateful.”
“And I am. I am grateful. But I'm also angry.”
“I'm allowed to be angry, right?”
“Because I am a good person, Ramona.”
“I'm responsible. I take care of Maple even though I shouldn't have to. I make sure she's fed. I get her to school. I make sure she has clean clothes. I know when she's sick before she even tells me. I take care of her like I'm supposed to. Like Mom is supposed to.”
“I do everything right so why does everyone still leave?”
“What am I doing wrong? Because I don't understand.”
“I don't understand what I'm supposed to do differently.”
“I'm here. I'm always here. And people still leave.”
“You left.”
“My mom left.”
“Everybody leaves.”
“And I keep being the idiot who stays. I keep thinking if I'm good enough, or useful enough, or- I don't know.”
“Maybe people stay when you give them a reason to. Maybe I wasn't enough of a reason. Maybe I'm just...”
“Forget it. I'm sorry.”
“I shouldn't have called.You don't even answer.”
“Goodnight, Ramona.”
----------------‐--
January 17
MISSED CALL - Oona
Voicemail - 1:54
“She's gone.”
“Mom.”
“She left this afternoon.”
“She said she'd call but she always says that.”
“Maple cried for like an hour and I told her she'd be back soon.”
“I lied.”
“I don't know when she's coming back. I don't think she knows either.”
“You know what the worst part is? I wasn't even surprised. I knew she was going to leave and somehow it still hurt.”
“So I guess that's what people do. They come back. They make you believe they're staying and then they leave.”
“You didn't even come back. You just... disappeared. And I keep telling myself it's different because it is. I know it is.”
“But it doesn't feel different and I don't know what to do with that.”
"I'm on the dock of the boat right now, smoking. I always leave half of the cigarette for you.”
“I'm gonna go check on Maple. She'll be okay like always."
“Goodnight.”
----------------‐--
January 21
MISSED CALL - Oona
Voicemail - 3:36
“Hey I need to say this.”
“I'm not calling you anymore.”
“I'm serious this time, I can't keep doing this.”
“I can't keep leaving messages for someone who doesn't even answer.”
“And I know you're busy. I know your grandpa's sick. I know you have a lot going on. I've been trying really hard to understand that. But I'm a person too, Ramona.”
“I have things going on. I have bad days.I have things I want to tell you and every time something happens, I still reach for my phone and then I remember.”
“We've been friends since forever...”
“So I'm done.”
"I'm not angry.”
“Okay, that's a lie. I'm a little angry.”
“But mostly I'm tired.”
“And I don't want to keep feeling stupid for missing someone who doesn't seem to miss me back.”
“So this is it. I'm not gonna call again.”
“You don't have to worry about me.”
“I'm fine and Maple's fine. Everything's fine.”
“I hope your grandpa gets better and I hope you're okay.”
“I mean that.”
“Goodbye, Ramona. For real this time.”
----------------‐--
February 25
MISSED CALL - Oona
Voicemail - 2:20
“Hey.”
“Okay, I know.”
“I know I said I wasn't gonna call again and technically I didn't.”
“It's been, like, a month so I think that counts.”
“Anyway.. Maple tried to make dinner tonight. It was horrible.”
“Like, genuinely horrible.”
“She put cinnamon in the pasta I don't even know why.”
"But then she looked at me and said, ‘Ramona would've eaten it.’”
“And I- I don't know... I laughed.”
“I haven't laughed like that in a while and then I thought about you.”
“So I called.”
“I'm not expecting you to answer.”
“I don't even know why I expected you to before.”
“I just wanted to tell you. That's all.”
“Maple says hi, by the way. She doesn't know I'm calling you.”
“Okay. That's it. I'm not gonna start doing this again.”
“I just... I wanted you to know.”
“Goodnight, Ramona.”
----------------‐--
March 7
MISSED CALL - Maple
Voicemail - 1:21
“Hi, Ramona. It's Maple. Oona doesn't know I'm calling.”
“She'd probably be mad at me if she did but I think you should know something.”
“Oona calls you a lot.”
“She says she doesn't anymore, but she does. She hangs up before the voicemail starts to record.”
“Sometimes she calls when she's upset. Sometimes she calls when something funny happens. Sometimes she doesn't even say anything. She just sits there for a while.”
“I think she misses you... A lot.”
“She doesn't really talk about it. I think she thinks if she talks about it, it'll make it worse so she pretends she's fine.”
“She's pretty good at that.”
“Anyway I just thought you should know. You don't have to call her back if you don't want to but maybe you should because I think she'd like that.”
“Okay bye, Ramona."
----------------‐--
March 17
MISSED CALL - Oona
“The person you are trying to reach has a voicemail box that is full. Please try again later.”