"you never want me to be in anything!" her mother fired back at her daughter at one in the morning.

the young eighteen-year-old was growing tired of the argument, and it wasn't because it was late at night either. her mother never listened to her, no matter how many times she's tried to explain the situation to the older woman.
"mom, would you just listen to me?" she asked, growing frustrated.

"no!" her mother snapped, "i don't want to talk to you. i'm tired of you."

before her daughter could utter out another word, her mother stormed off into her room--- slamming the door in a rage.

picking up the phone, she took a deep breath and exhaled.

"does she get like this whenever an event happens?" his voice asked, startling her slightly.

the girl nodded. "almost all the time," she replied.

"you know, one of these days she's going to push you so far away that you'll never want to go back."

before valerie could reply, her phone died.

sighing, she sat up and placed her phone on the charger and waited for it to charge.

~

after ten--possibly twenty--minutes of waiting, she turned her phone on and ended up getting a notification that she received a voicemail.

going to her voicemail box, she typed in the code that allowed her to access it. for some odd reason, valerie was on edge.

then the person who left her the voicemail began to fill her ears. he sounded a bit off from the phone, but she could hear him nonetheless.

"hey boo, it's me. i'm just calling to let you know that i am about to go to bed. i'll talk to you tomorrow.

... i love you... more than you can ever imagine. goodnight. i love you."

she went to bed with a grin plastered on her face--she was finally at ease.