Page 33 of Call Me Anytime
Monica smiles. “Almost a year.”
I shake my head. I’ve only been doing it for nearly two weeks at this point, and she’s been doing it for ayear. I can hardly even fathom it.
“Three hundred and sixty-five days of phone sex? And you’re not flipping exhausted from it?”
Monica laughs. “You’re just in the first-month hump. It’s tough in the beginning, getting used to all the crazy shit and figuring out what to say, but don’t worry. Pretty soon, you’ll be on autopilot like me. And it’s so easy compared to, like, waitressing or something.” She shakes her head. “I sit there and talk. Not so bad, really.”
“Sit there and talk about dicks, you mean,” I expand, and she snorts.
“Among many other things I compartmentalize every day.”
I nod at that. Compartmentalization feels pretty key for survival in this job. “Well ... I commend your positive attitude.”
I try to come up with something affirming of my own, and immediately Dom’s face appears in my mind. It’s wild to think about how if I hadn’t lost the job at Alliance, I’d never have met Monica or Shane or Dom at all.
Monica’s phone buzzes on the table for the tenth time since we sat down, and she flips it up to check the screen. A smile catches on her lips as she reads yet another text message. The first two were from some guy named Cameron she said she’s “sort of dating.” And a few others were from some of her friends, telling her about a frat party on campus that she tried to invite me to, but I had to politely decline because ... of course I did.
Her fingers move quickly across the screen as she types out a text, and I go back to eating my salad. When she puts the phone back down, I can’t stop myself from asking her a question that’s been on my mind.
“Just curious ... have you ever felt unsafe working at CMA?”
“Nope.” Monica shakes her head. “No way. The anonymity of it all is pretty great. I don’t tell people I work there, and they don’t ask. No one even knows I’m Diamond.”
I fiddle with my napkin on the table, and she reaches out to pat my hand. “I know you’ve had the cops involved in your stuff because of the last girl, though, so I’m sure that doesn’t feel good.”
“Did you know her?”
“Not really.” She shrugs and takes another drink of her iced tea. “She was pretty flighty, to be honest. She started taking calls from home a few months ago, so I pretty much never saw her.”
I nod in understanding and take a bite of my salad, but Monica leans closer to me to whisper, “So ... why exactlyarethe cops involved? Like, I know Heather died, but ...?”
I grimace. “I wish I could tell you, but the detectives have given me explicit instructions not to talk about anything.”
“Damn,” Monica mutters. She snaps her fingers in disappointment. “I had a feeling you were going to say that, but I’m just too curious not to ask.”
I grin at her. “Trust me, I wish I could tell you. I wish I had someone else I could talk to about this whole thing besides the cops.”
“The cops, as in”—she waggles her brows—“those two hot men in suits that have been roaming around the building.”
I roll my eyes.
“Oh, c’mon, Hannah,” she says and even reaches over the table to shove me playfully in the shoulder. “You can’t deny they’re both insanely attractive. I wish guys who looked like that went to my college. The things I’d do to them ...” She pauses and shakes her head as her eyes take on a dreamy expression. “Oh boy.”
“You’re so bad,” I tease, and she just nods in confirmation as she takes another sip of her tea.
“I might look innocent, Han, but I am a dirty, dirty girl when it comes to men in uniform.”
“Now I’m starting to understand why it always sounds like the Diamond line comes so naturally to you.”
“Girl, my line is filled with freaks,” she retorts with a sigh. “Some days, I wish I could scrub my ears out with bleach. I’d take the Ruby line any day of the week.”
“And I’d take anything but the Ruby line.” I snort. “Give me one thousand people to call about extended car warranties? Sign me up if I don’t have to hear another guy jerk it in my ear.”
“Aw, Han,” Monica says with a soft tsk. “I know it’s rough sometimes, but it’s all going to be okay. I mean, just look at us now. We’re out in the middle of the day, having lunch in the sun! What more could you ask for?”
I laugh, nodding along as I fall helplessly into Monica’s bright beam of light. I feel so fortunate to have made a friend like her, even if our meet-cute was highly unorthodox.
“You’re right. Today is a good day. I’m going to change my outlook and—”
