Weird Phone Calls
Dahlia
I love my job. I really do, but being sleep-deprived doesn’t make it any easier.
“You’ve reached 911. What is your emergency?” It feels like I’ve said that a thousand times today.
“Well, don’t you sound beautiful,” a male voice answers.
Weird calls aren’t anything new either, but this guy’s voice is creepy. “What is your emergency?”
“Are you as pretty as you sound?”
Definitely a creep. “You’ve reached 911. What is your emergency?”
“Definitely as pretty.”
Why do weirdos think they can call 911? “If there is no emergency, I will be disconnecting this call.”
“Until we talk again.” He clicks off before I can.
“You, okay?” Mindy asks between calls.
“Fine. The weirdos give me the heebie-jeebies.” And that guy was one of the worst, even though he didn’t actually say anything threatening .
“Go tell Adonis. They make a note of the weirdos in case it turns into something.”
Oh, isn’t that just peachy. “Will do.” Even though I would prefer to pretend it didn’t happen, I make my way to his office.
“Prue, what’s up? Come on in.” He stands up, waiting for me to sit down. “Are you not feeling well? You look a bit pale.”
That seems to be a normal state for me lately. “I’m fine. I just got a weird call.”
“Ahh,” he says that like it’s something that happens all the time.
“It was nothing really, but Mindy said you track them just in case.” This is just a formality. Nothing to worry about.
“We do. I’ll take care of everything. Do you want to talk about the call?” Adonis clicks a few buttons on his computer and then turns his gaze to me.
“Not really.”
“Fair enough. If you change your mind, my door is open any time.”
That won’t be happening. “Thank you.”
“Go take a break.”
He doesn’t need to offer twice. My mind needs time to decompress. Or three shots of whiskey if I was a drinker.
A cup of tea and scrolling on my phone at one of the tables in the breakroom will have to do.
Vex: Morning Dahl
He messaged me. Vex actually messaged me.
What do I do?
Why did he wait until today?
Maybe he had something important to take care of yesterday?
Dahlia: Morning
Wow. That was a brilliant greeting.
Dahlia: How are you?
Vex: Better now that I’m talking to you.
I couldn’t have written a better response.
Vex: You at work ?
Dahlia: Yeah. On break for a few minutes.
Vex: Are you alone?
Why does he want to know that? Um…
Dahlia: Yes
My phone rings almost immediately.
“Morning,”
His rough voice sends a shiver down my spine. Did he just wake up? Is he still in bed? Don’t think about him like that! “Good morning. How are you?” Smooth. So smooth. You sound like a prim grandmother.
“Dahl, I should have called you yesterday, but something came up.”
Oh. Oh. See. He was busy, not ignoring you. “That’s okay. I had a long day at work and then my neighbor’s daughter showed up.” There’s no need to mention their intervention or falling asleep in the backyard with Max. As it is, I overshared. Vex doesn’t need to know all of that.
“When can I see you?”
Now! But that isn’t possible. “I work all week.”
“Quit.”
He is joking, but it’s still sweet. “You work weekends, and I work weekdays.” This isn’t going to work.
“But I’m the boss. I can take you to dinner on Friday.”
“You shouldn’t miss work…”
“Are you trying to let me down easy, Dahlia?”
“No. No. Nothing like that. I just…” My eyes go to the table.
“Then what is it?”
How do I even explain it? “Last weekend wasn’t real. And I’m afraid… I don’t know. I’ve never met a man like you. And what if on Friday you’re different? Or I’m different? And you realize we can’t be friends.”
“Dahl, last weekend was very real.”
But I’m working hard to pretend it wasn’t.
“You don’t need to worry. It’s just a meal. ”
But I am worried. I like a man that I shouldn’t like way more than I should. “Just a meal?”
“And a movie afterwards.”
“Will you try not to be too perfect? It’s intimidating.” No. No. No. “Ignore that. I didn’t say that.”
He chuckles.
The joy spreads through me, pushing out the stress of the morning.
His phone rings in the background.
“Do you need to get that?”
“Probably.” Vex doesn’t hang up.
It’s my turn to laugh, but I do it silently.
The caller doesn’t hang up. “Where do you want to go for dinner?” Vex ignores it.
“I’m not picky.”
“Seafood, sushi, steaks…”
The phone rings again.
“You eat sushi?”
“I will if you want to.”
My heart melts. “You’re too sweet.”
“That’s not a term I hear often.”
I bet.
Adonis walks into the breakroom.
My mood shifts. “I’ve gotta go.”
“Everything okay?” Vex’s voice goes hard.
“Fine. I just need to get back to work.”
“See you Friday.”
Adonis leans against the doorway, watching me with his arms folded.
“See you then.” I click off and look up at him expectantly.
“I’m glad to see you called a friend. You have a little color in your cheeks now. I sent the file over to our tech guys. They’re going to see if they can trace the caller. But I wouldn’t worry about it. Most of these weird calls don’t turn into anything.”
The way my life has gone lately, I’ll be the one in a million. “Thanks for taking care of it.”
“Anytime. That’s my job.”
***
“We working together again?” Max walks into my backyard.
“It seems that way.” I spent far too long this evening staring up at the ceiling again. Tonight, I’m going to get work done. “How’s the jet lag?”
Max sits down next to me and flips open his computer. “Not getting better fast enough.”
“Does it ever?”
“You travel?” He shakes his head. “Sorry, you seem a bit like a homebody.”
“I am.” I’d never leave the house if I had a choice. “My mom believed her children needed to see the world. So, every year we spent three weeks in the summer traveling.” Most of the time without my dad because he had to work, but he’d always spend a week or two with us.
“Did you enjoy it?”
“Those were good memories.”
Good memories should help me sleep. But nothing seems to replace Vex’s arms.
Focus on work. Ignore the rest. I settle my fingers on the keys and lose myself in my work.
***
My whole body shifts, waking me up. “What’s going on? ”
“Shh. You’re safe. I’m just carrying you to bed,” Max whispers.
I settle in and fall back to sleep.