Page 103 of Call Me Anytime
Hannah
8:30 p.m.
I cut the engine of my Civic and hop out, grabbing my purse and phone as I do. Once I unlock the front door, the sounds ofNCISfill my ears from upstairs, and I follow the sounds all the way up the steps until I reach the main floor.
Lovie stands at the island, her bag already packed up to head back home. The next two days, she’ll be with her husband.
And my mom is perched on her favorite spot on the living room sofa, fully entrenched in her show.
“Thank you so much for staying a few extra hours tonight,” I tell Lovie as I drop my purse down onto the kitchen island. My new boss, William, offered up a few extra hours of overtime today, and since needing extra cash flow is the story of my life, I jumped on it once Lovie confirmed she could stay late.
“It was no problem at all, Hannah Banana,” Lovie says with a warm smile. “There’s a big container of potato soup in the fridge. I just made it this afternoon.”
“I swear, if you weren’t already married to Norm, I’d propose to you.”
She laughs. “Sherry’s been in a pretty good mood today. Don’t think you’ll have too much trouble getting her to bed tonight.”
“That’s great news because I’m hoping to call it an early night.”
“Be good, Hannah Banana,” Lovie says and gives me one of her big bear hugs. “I’ll see you in a few days.”
“Bye, Lovie.”
“Bye, Sherry Berry!” Lovie calls toward my mom, who barely offers a wave over her shoulder, the show too riveting to pull away from.
Lovie just grins and heads for the stairs, and it’s only a moment or two before I hear the front door clicking shut and the engine of her SUV cranking in the driveway.
After I toss on a pair of sweats in my bedroom, I head to the kitchen and go straight to the fridge, my stomach already growling for some potato soup. But before I can even get it in a bowl, my phone rings from inside my purse. I pull it out to findIncoming Call: Lanaflashing on the screen.
“Hey, girl,” I greet her, but she bypasses a greeting entirely.
“I feel like I’ve been trying to get a hold of you all freaking day!”
“I’m sorry,” I answer as I ladle some of Lovie’s potato soup into a bowl. “I was swamped at work, picked up some extra hours, and ended up with a twelve-hour day.”
“Damn, girl,” she mutters. “Are you sure leaving CMA was the best choice? I mean, I know you’re dealing with a hell of a lot less perverts, but the hours arechef’s kiss.”
I snort. “I’m sure.”Trust me, I’m sure.The whole reason I left CMA was that I quite literally couldn’t do it anymore. I reached a point where my entire body revolted against it.
“Well, Monica and I have both decided that you’re doing lunch with us this week,” Lana says, her voice vibrating from the speaker of my phone. “No excuses, girl. What day can you fit us into your busy schedule?”
“I can probably fit lunch in on Wednesday,” I respond as I grab a spoon from the drawer. “But it’ll have to be during my lunch break atnoon.” I have much less schedule flexibility at Progress Mutual than I did at CMA. Whereas Margo lets her girls make their own schedule, ol’ Willy makes your schedule for you. If you’re supposed to be working, your ass better be in your seat and making insurance cold calls or else you’ll end up in his office getting an earful. I already witnessed this with my thirty-year-old coworker Doug.
Though, in Willy’s defense, Doug can’t be on time to save his life and always smells like stale weed.
“I’m certain we can make that work,” she responds. “Oh, by the way, did Monica tell you about the call she got on Friday?”
“No,” I answer and break off a piece of French bread to have with my soup. “But I’m not sure I want to hear about some weirdo wanting her to shove cucumbers up his ass or something.”
“Girl. It’s nothing like that.” Lana cracks up. “It’s related to one of your old regular callers. Fred, I think?”
“Fred?” I question, racking my brain for an association to the name but coming up empty handed. “I don’t remember a Fred.”
“He’s apparently super sweet. The opposite of all the other freaks that call into CMA.”
I snort at that. But my mind keeps searching through all the Call Me Anytime callers I can remember until it lands on the one man I never actually minded talking to. “Felix, maybe?”
“Yes!” Lana exclaims. “Felix! That’s the guy.”
