“Yes? Who’s this?”
I clear my throat. “Hi, Charlotte.” I swallow hard. Shit. My throat is dry. “This might sound crazy, but this is Ryan Morgan, the guy you and your friend Samantha met about three months ago at The Pine Box?”
There’s dead silence on the other end of the line.
“In Seattle?” I add.
More silence.
Shit. Did Henn get the wrong redheaded Charlotte the Flight Attendant for Delta? I clear my throat again. “I bought you and Samantha drinks at the bar and then you went to sit with some guys at a table in the corner and—”
Charlotte cuts me off. “Yeah, I remember you, Ryan. I’m just shocked to hear from you after all this time.”
“But you remember me?”
“Of course. You’ve got pirate-tattoos all over your arms. Blue eyes. Chiseled jaw. Ridiculous muscles. Cocky grin. Swagger, swagger, swagger.”
I exhale with relief. “Yeah, that’s me. Well, I don’t know about theswaggerpart, but, yeah, I’ve got—”
She cuts me off: “You wanna know why I remember you so well, Ryan?”
Uh oh. I don’t like the tone of her voice.
“Because it’s not every day my best friend says yes to a date with a guy—in fact, other than you, it’s now been a full year since she’s said that magic word to a single guy—and, believe me, she gets hit ona lot.”
I know I should feel bad about Charlotte’s revelation, but I feel nothing but elated. “Wow, that’s—” I start to say, but Charlotte interrupts me.
“Let me cut to the chase here, Ryan,” Charlotte snaps. “To be honest, my friend thinks you’re a complete asshole and so do I. You—”
“But that’s why I’m calling,” I blurt, cutting her off. “If you’d just let me explain—”
Charlotte cuts me off again. “No,asshole. You’re gonna let me talk, or else I’m hanging up.”
I take a deep breath. “Okay.”
“Like I said, my friend thinks you’re a complete asshole and so do I. You shamelessly pretended to be Prince Charming to get into my friend’s born-again-virgin pants and then let her get blindsided by your blonde pterodactyl-girlfriend! You think my friend’s forgotten what your girlfriend told her about you? About how you hit on some woman at dinner earlier that same night, the minute your girlfriend got up to use the bathroom? About how you lied to your girlfriend and told her you were meeting your sister’s boyfriend that night? And let’s not forget the lovely things your shrieking blonde pterodactyl of a girlfriend screamed at my friend, too! Nice language. What a classy girl you’ve got there, Ryan. It was no wonder my friend ran out of there, crying.”
“Samanthacried?”
“Fuck, yes, she cried. Here she thought she was making this amazing connection with the perfect guy who was looking for something ‘real,’ and the next thing she knows his girlfriend shows up and starts calling her a ‘cunt’ in front of the entire freaking bar? And then she finds out you’re actually the kind of guy who trades phone numbers with women when you’re out on a date with—”
I cut her off. I can’t help it. “No, no. That was bullshit. I didn’t ‘trade phone numbers’ with anyone. Please, listen to me—”
But Charlotte doesn’t listen to me. Instead, she talks right over me, obviously enraged. “So if you think you can call me after all this time and just expect—” She abruptly pauses. “Hey.How the hell are you calling me after all this time? I didn’t give you my number.”
Shit. Why didn’t I anticipate this question from Charlotte? “Um...” I begin.
“How’d you get my number, Ryan?”
Oh, shit. I’m fucked.
Should I tell Charlotte I have a buddy that works for Delta? Or that Samantha gave me Charlotte’s number or that...Shit.My thoughts are racing. What lie can I tell and get away with it? I gaze down at the koi pond in front of me for a long beat. If I tell Charlotte the truth, she’s gonna think I’m a stalker and not let me near her friend. Will she hang up and maybe even call the police? But if I don’t tell her the truth, how the hell will I convince her to trust me enough to give me Samantha’s phone number?
I exhale a deep, long sigh. I know it in my bones: if I’m gonna have any shot at getting this woman to lead me to Samantha, then I’ve got to take a leap of faith and lay myself bare to her. And so, that’s exactly what I do.
I tell Charlotte the entire story of the past three months, omitting Henn’s name and how I hooked up with him in the first place, beginning with the true story of what happened in that restaurant with the blonde and ending with my sudden idea to seek out Charlotte’s phone numbertoday.
When I’m finished talking, I wait for Charlotte’s reaction, my heart clanging fiercely in my chest, praying from the depths of my soul Charlotte won’t freak out and hang up on me.
