1
She heard the gentle ring of the phone and struggled to find it. Somehow she had knocked it off onto the floor and as she twisted to pick it up she was intensely reminded that she had a very sore ankle. A yelp of, "Shit," and she had the phone.2
"Hello," she said, strained and a little gruff.3
"Hey," was the quick response and then a short pause. "What’s the matter – you sound mad?"4
"Phone was on the floor and I gotta sore ankle."5
"And you were asleep too, I can tell from your voice."6
"Yup, I was." She pulled herself to an upright position on the couch, grimacing as the ankle now seemed to be more tender and sore than it had been. And, she could see that it had swollen quite a bit too.7
"What’d you do today?"8
"Nothing much, just worked and stuff." Then, suddenly sensing the same tone she had heard from Van, she squinted into the phone. "Why are you asking that, Kit."9
Her best friend giggled gently. "Just being friendly, lady. You sound suspicious."10
"You talked to Whit this evening?" She probed gently.11
"I did a while ago, why?" The innocence in her sweet young voice fairly oozed out of the phone.12
"I guess it’ll be on the national news next," she snapped as the rosy glow crept over her face again.13
"Who is he?" Kit said excitedly. "Is that the guy you were telling me about from before - that decathlon man or whatever? Is he back in town now? Whit said you were with a great big good looking guy and you two were just sitting there in the park eating together and it looked so neat."14
"Ya’ll through now?" came the quiet reply.15
"You’re not mad at ME, are you?" Kit sounded concerned.16
"No, I’m not mad at you – of course not. I’m just . . . well, I don’t know."17
"Heeeeyyy," Kit said, drawing out the word and the smile in her voice was obvious. "What’s up with this?"18
"Nothing’s up with this." She hoped she sounded convincing but wasn’t at all sure she did.19
"Right. Listen, I want to meet this guy that’s got you talking like this."20
"Talking like what – I’m not talking like anything."21
"Right. But I want to meet him anyway. I think he’s got you tied up already."22
"Damn it, Kit, I’m not tied up and . . . "23
"Right. Whit said he looked like a real hunk. She was practically drooling over the phone. I want to be there when he comes over so I can meet him, ya hear!"24
"He ain’t comin’ over, Kit. We just had a sandwich in the park. Now break it off, girlfriend."25
"Right . . . " 26
"If you say that one more time your butt is black and blue the next time I see you." She tried to sound serious but the huge grin on her face made it hard to do.27
"Oh, almost forgot. What happened to your ankle?"28
"Well . . . " she hesitated. "We were running and ran into each other and I sprained my ankle."29
"Wow, cool!" she exclaimed. "What happened then?"30
"Well, he picked me up and carried me home."31
"Oh – my – gosh! Did you have your arms around his neck while he carried you? Carried you home! Oh – my – gosh."32
"No, my arms weren’t around his neck, just one and . . . "33
"I knew it. Did you kiss him when he got you home, kind of a thank you thing? Or, better yet, did he kiss you?"34
"Kit, I’m not even going to answer that. Now get on over here and we’ll get something to eat put together."35
"Okay, I’m about ready, but I do need to call Butch and tell him where I’ll be in case he calls."36
"Kit, you’ll have the cell phone with you so it doesn’t matter whether he knows where you are or not." She wanted to say that it didn’t matter anyway because Butch never called but she didn’t want to hurt her friend who still seemed to be expecting that call at any minute.37
"Yeah," Kit replied. "I’ll be there in a few," and she hung up.38
She disconnected the phone, staring at it for long seconds. When it rang she nearly dropped it. Recovering from the start she glanced at the screen but didn’t recognize the number. She debated but decided to go ahead and answer.39
"Hello," she said cautiously, as she always did when she didn’t recognize the caller.40
"I figured you’d still have the same number," he said, his voice smiling through the phone.41
"You’ve still got my number?" was all she could think to say.42
"Yep, and there were several times that I had it there on my screen. All I needed to do was push the send key."43
"Why didn’t you?" she asked softly, as she fought the breathlessness that was gripping her again. Dang it, her mind was saying but her heart was loving every air starved moment of it.44
"Well, once I was in Russia and I didn’t think the call would go through. Lord, I was lonely that day." There was a long pause and she was sure she could hear him breathing as she pressed the phone tighter against her ear. "Once I was in an airport in Tokyo – same reason. Once I was sitting in my room in a hotel somewhere here in the US. That one would have gone through. But . . . " He stopped again.45
"But what," she encouraged, anxious to hear the answer.46
"But I was lonely and injured and . . . and scared. So I didn’t push that button."47
"Scared?" she said and that was all.48
"Hmmm," he mumbled. "Scared. Of what? That’s the question isn’t it." Another pause and she closed her eyes. "Scared that the injury was going to end my career. Scared that it wouldn’t but I couldn’t get to the level where I’d been. Scared that people would forget me. Scared that you’d forgotten me, or worse yet you hadn’t forgotten but weren’t interested in letting me into even the smallest part of your life. Being alone in a hotel room is an exercise in misery, you know." His voice had continued to soften as he talked.49
"You should have called," she said. "No matter what had happened, if you were lonely I’d have talked to you."50
"Well, I guess I should have known that shouldn’t I. Listen . . . "51
"Yeah, come on back over," she said. "I’ve got a friend that wants to meet you."52
Author notes
Kit, a friend enters the story. And, the D Man shows a different side. What will he reveal next?
What did you think? Please comment!
Comments
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Pretty much everything said above is what I was going to say.. so just re-read that. It keeps getting better and better - can't wait for the next one.
Becca -
Ahhh, so she is now ready to introduce this mystery man to a friend! Oh my! I love the way you pulled off the dialogue in the phone conversation here. That was so realistic. You did a fabulous job! You have presented this in such a way that I each chapter is becoming more and more irresistable, making it hard to wait for the next. When I started this series I was rather pleased with myself, thinking it was complete and I was at the advantage of reading it all at once. You drew me in, captivated me with your delightful characters and now I find myself hanging on by a thread, waiting for the next installment. Very sneaky!
♥ Kimberly
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