Page 16 of The Holy Grail
There was only one way to find out … and she needed to find out.
She picked up her phone and saw it was almost 8:00 p.m. A voice inside her brain told her it was too late and she should wait until tomorrow, but another voice told her she wouldn’t be able to wait that long, and she should go for it.
Fuck it, she was going for it.
Before she could change her mind, she quickly dialed the number on the back of the card, telling herself if she found out Malcom was seeing someone else during the course of the character reference conversation, then Jules would tear up the card and not think about him anymore. And if—by some miracle—he wasn’t? Then she would contact him, apologize for taking so long, and see if he was still interested in going out to dinner with her.
After two rings, a woman answered, “Hodge residence.”
For a second, Jules didn’t know how to respond. The tone was professional, not like how the woman of the house would answer. “Hello,” Jules said slowly. “Is this Beverly?”
“No. This is the housekeeper, Yvonne.”
“Oh. I was hoping to speak with Beverly. Is she available?”
“I can check. May I tell her who’s calling?”
“My name is Jules Shaw, but she doesn’t know who I am. I’m an acquaintance of her son, Malcom.”
There was a pause, and then, “Please hold for one moment.”
Jules heard the phone get set down (she’d obviously called a landline) and waited until it was picked up and another woman’s voice (this one less formal) said, “Hello?”
“Beverly?”
“Yes.”
“Hi, my name is Jules Shaw, and I’m calling because your son, Malcom, gave me your number.”
“He did? For what reason?”
“A character reference.”
There was a pause on the other end and then, “A character reference? For whom?”
“For … Malcom.”
This time the pause was longer and Jules could only wonder what Beverly’s expression looked like, given that Jules had never seen the woman.
“You’re calling for a character reference for my son, Malcom?” Beverly repeated.
“Yes, I am.”
“Is this some kind of a joke?”
Jules could feel herself starting to get a little nervous, which rarely happened. “No.”
There wasanotherpause. “Then may I askwhyyou’re calling for a character reference? On a Sunday night?”
Beverly was clearly confused, which led Jules to believe this had never happened before and was a point in Malcom’s favor. It obviously wasn’t a schtick he used on women. However, Beverly also seemed a little perturbed at the timing of the call, and that wasnota point in Jules’ favor, causing her nervousness to grow. What she’d thought would be a cute phone call was turning into something awkward, with the potential to end badly.
“I apologize for calling and interrupting your evening,” she quickly said. “I just … I know this might sound strange, but I couldn’t wait until tomorrow to find out if Malcom was still … available.”
“Available? For what?”
“A date.”
“A date?”
