just had to make a call

[Topstudent]

I wrote this. It's part of a dialog:

So we just sat there, next to each other, drinking in silence for about half an hour, until she suddenly turned to me and asked if she could borrow my phone as hers had run out of battery. She just had to make a call. So I lent her my phone. Got it back. After that, we got to talking...

Is the bold-faced part perfectly natural here? Or would you find 'She just needed to make a call', 'She was just going to make a call', 'She just had to call someone' or something else more natural for this context?

 

[jutfrank]

They're all equally natural. In fact, the whole passage is written in native-like English.

If you're trying to choose what to say, think about any subtle differences in meaning between your options.

 

[Topstudent]

Does 'just had' make it sound like a necessity (which is not what I want) or not necessarily? I'm more going for 'She just had to make a call, that was all'.

 

[SoothingDave]

I initially read it as "she needed to make a call and not do other things one does on a phone." But it could depend on how it is said. "She just *had* to make a call" would impress the urgency of needing to make that call.

You can say "she only needed to make a call" to make it clear.

 

[Skrej]

My initial interpretation was one of annoyance by the speaker. We sometimes use 'had' to express annoyance or sarcasm. Stressing 'had' can suggest that the speaker is being facitious, or doesn't think the action was truly necessary.

I was enjoying the silence, but then she just had to go and make a phone call.
You just had to go and bring up that topic again, didn't you?