She Calls.

I throw my backpack on my bed like I always do when I get home from a long day at the rat races. I have no clean clothes from my return back home, so I set our quarters for laundry. I'm getting tired of my Best of America cd, so I make a play list and prepare to burn it.

Toss some bread in the toaster, crack open a Progresso's Chicken Gumbo and plop myself in front of the boob tube to watch Jeopardy. I draw a crude scoreboard to keep track and taunt Leo about my amazing knowledge of the natural world and how he is, "going down."

Suddenly, my phone vibrates. A number I don't recognize.

So@24: Hello?
Mystery Call: Hi.
...
...
So@24: Uh. Hi.
Mystery Call: -nervous chuckle- Hi.


My eyes bulge and I look over to Leo panicked. "What!? What!? Who is it!?" he mouths to me. No time, I b-line it to the front door.

I haven't heard from her in almost a year and at 6:52 pm PST, she calls me out of the blue.

We both admitted that we were nervous and our hands were clammy. But we calmed down after a few minutes and fell right back into place. The obvious question that people keep asking me is, "why now?" but I didn't question her on why. I guess I was too excited just to talk to her.

We caught each other up on what we've been doing the past year. Jobs, what our friends were doing, plans for the new year, etc. And after exactly 3 hours and 29 mins, her phone battery started to tell her it was time to get off.

Lynn: I hope you don't get the wrong impression about this phone call, I don't want to set you back or anything...
So@24: No no no! Absolutely not. Trust me.
Lynn: Well, you have my number now. But no drunk dials! -laughs-
So@24: I think I'm past that stage. Don't worry, I'm not going to barrage you with calls or anything. Just call me when you feel like it.
Lynn: Okay.
So@24: Alright, bye.
Lynn: Bye.

I went back inside and tried to recap for a very stunned Leo. I popped a couple sleep aids (who could fall asleep after that kind of high?) and went to bed.

I never got a chance to answer Final Jeopardy. My mix never got made. My clothes are still in a crumpled mass next to the washer.

I'm at work in the same clothes I wore yesterday. And I'm cool. I'm calm. I'm collected.