:bull:
Bull Rush stared at the phone. Its silence mocked him. Of course she wasn't calling, she was too busy with Jose or Herman or Kyle or whoever. Despair really really sucked. Her yet again failing to call when she said she would drove him absolutely mad. The house had finally gotten painted, the walls patched, and the carpet redone. It was starting to look like a good house now. It was missing one very very important thing.

His fiancee. She needed to be here, not gallivanting around with Harrison Ford wannabees digging for artifacts. Or at least, she needed to be where he was. He would have been quite happy digging for artifacts, but she insisted that she go alone. And so he moved to Sacramento, got them a place, and then sat patiently, very very patiently, staring at this phone why won't IT RING??

Deep Breaths, deep breaths. She's obviously working on that latest discovery. It was a big surprise and it did dramatically change things. And with her seniority she might just make 3rd author on the paper. She could probably continue on to a PhD on the work if she wanted, but Bull Rush knew her well enough. She was most unhappy at new years, and her birthdays weren't to be mentioned. He had seen plenty of the journal articles about "female fertility decline" and "Primary ovarian insufficiency" and knew where she was going.

6:29 PM Ring Ring Ring
"Hello?" Bull Rush snatched up the phone and hit the accept button so fast the phone was still ringing when he held it up to his ear.

"Hey man, is Tod around?" Bull Rush was silent for a moment as his rage blew past any barriers he might have hoped to contain it.

"NO TOD IS NOT AROUND! YOU ARE WASTING MY GODDAMN TIME BY CALLING THE GODDAMN WRONG NUMBER! YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF SHIT!" He clicked the phone off and dropped it, before banging his hand on the desk. Solid Oak. He had picked that for this very reason, as his hand throbbed, and the desk stood resolute. He picked up the phone and put the battery cover back on. 6:32pm

The phone didn't ring. Bull Rush knew, because he stared at it, from 8 o'clock at night until 8:30 in the morning. Willing it to ring. Demanding it. And yet it did not. Tired, upset, and more than a little annoyed, Bull Rush took his phone with him to work, where he fell asleep around 2, watching the phone. At 2:54, his phone registered a missed phone call made the day before at 6:31pm.