The Unanswered Text

Ines sends Tobias a long message on Tuesday night. She explains why she can't make it to his sister's birthday dinner. She waits for a reply. None comes.

星期二晚上，伊内斯给托比亚斯发了一条很长的消息。她解释了自己为什么不能去参加他姐姐的生日晚宴。她等着回复，却一直没有。

By Wednesday morning, the message still shows only one gray checkmark. Tobias hasn't opened it at all, as far as she can tell. Ines starts imagining reasons why. Maybe he's angry, maybe he's decided her explanation wasn't good enough, maybe he's pulling away.

到了星期三早上，那条消息还是只显示一个灰色的对勾。据她所知，托比亚斯根本没有打开过。伊内斯开始想象各种原因。也许他生气了，也许他觉得她的解释不够好，也许他在疏远她。

She almost texts again, just to ask if everything is okay. But she stops herself. If she sends another message and he still doesn't answer, she'll feel even worse than she does now.

她差点又发了一条，只是想问问他是不是一切都好。可她忍住了。如果她再发一条，他还是不回，她会比现在更难受。

Instead, she goes through her day distracted, replaying the message in her head. Did it sound like an excuse? Did she explain herself clearly, or did it come across as cold?

于是，她心神不宁地过完了一天，脑子里不断重放那条消息。听起来像借口吗？她解释得够清楚吗，还是显得很冷淡？

That evening, her phone finally buzzes. It's Tobias, calling instead of texting.

那天晚上，她的手机终于响了。是托比亚斯，他打来了电话，而不是发消息。

"Sorry," he says, before she can even say hello. "My phone died Tuesday night, and I only got it charged an hour ago. I've had zero signal all day at work."

“对不起，”他在她还没开口说你好之前就说，“我的手机星期二晚上没电了，一个小时前才充上电。我今天在公司一整天都没有信号。”

Ines lets out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. "I thought you were upset with me," she admits. "I've been assuming the worst since yesterday."

伊内斯长长地呼出一口气，她都没意识到自己一直屏着呼吸。“我还以为你生我的气了，”她承认，“从昨天起，我一直往最坏的方向想。”

"I wasn't even close to my phone," Tobias says. "I had no idea you were waiting on anything."

“我当时离手机很远，”托比亚斯说，“我完全不知道你在等什么回复。”

"I should have just called instead of guessing," Ines says. "It felt easier to wait than to ask directly."

“我应该直接打电话，而不是瞎猜，”伊内斯说，“等着比直接问更容易些。”

"Let's make a deal," Tobias says. "If either of us doesn't hear back within a day, we call. No more guessing games."

“我们来约定一下，”托比亚斯说，“如果我们谁一天之内没收到回复，就打电话。不再玩猜谜游戏了。”

Ines agrees, relieved that the whole thing turned out to be nothing more than a dead battery. They talk for another twenty minutes. By the end of the call, she has already forgotten what she was so worried about.

伊内斯答应了，庆幸整件事只不过是电池没电了。他们又聊了二十分钟。通话结束时，她已经忘了自己刚才在担心什么。