Page 26 of Wrong Number

I wasn’t really secure enough to call him out of the blue, so on my way to the sandwich shop, I called Megan.

“Hey, how was your weekend?” I asked.

“Pretty good,” she said. “Remember that guy I was seeing, Corey?”

“Sure.”

“It turns out that he was still pining for his high school sweetheart, so we ended it on Thursday.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” I said.

“No, actually it was fabulous,” she laughed. “It was totally mutual, and we’re absolutely fine with it. But when I accidentally ran into him at the liquor store Friday night, he was with his friend Brian. We totally hit it off and went out Saturday night.”

“That’s amazing,” I said.

It had always been so funny to me how Megan could just snap her fingers anytime she was in the mood to have a boyfriend. She was absolutely fine being single, but if she didn’t want to be, bam. A guy would just appear out of thin air.

“But enough about me and my exploits,” she said. “Tell me how your weekend went?”

I couldn’t walk into my usual sandwich shop during this conversation, so I went around the corner to sit on a bench on their patio. Thank goodness no one was around, because I already felt myself starting to blush.

“He came over for a little while Thursday night,” I said, trying to sound casual. “Then he came over Saturday night.”

“And?”

“We watched a movie,” I said. “And he stayed over.”

“Well?” Megan practically squealed. “Please tell me you finally had sex. I mean, all the way, kind of sex.” I paused for a little too long, so she burst into laughter. “I knew it! I am so proud of you, girl.”

“Quiet, it’s private,” I said quickly.

“Oh, whatever. There’s nobody around that can hear. So, was it amazing? Was he extra sweet?”

“It really was amazing,” I whispered. “I thought that we were getting along really well.”

“Uh oh,” she said hesitantly. “What’s wrong?”

“Probably nothing,” I said. “He’s been working crazy hours, and there have been some problems with his company. Nothing major, just things taking extra time. You know how it is.”

“So, what are you saying?”

“I just sort of expected a call by now,” I said. “But I’m being silly, right? He sent me a couple of texts yesterday saying that he was really busy and having a rough day.”

“Did you respond?”

“Yes. I sent him a photo of one of the giant ferns at the office wearing a pair of thick old man glasses.”

Megan was silent for a second. “I assume this means something to you guys?”

“I send him funny photos of myself in glasses to cheer him up,” I explained. “I figured if it was a really bad day, he might need something stranger.”

“Okay, that makes sense.”

“He texted back a smiley face, but nothing since then.”

“And you’re wondering whether you should call him?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

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