I
have wanted to talk to Annabelle for quite some time. We had
dinner, movies, and an afternoon at the park. We seem to be enjoying
one another. I know her job is important and she has many friends,
but really; the constant interruptions by text messages and phone
calls leave little time to end what we have started talking about or
for that fact start. I can’t tell you how many amusing stories I
told her and never have been able to get to the amusing part. When
she returns to the conversation it is as if nothing was said prior.
The
other day we met for coffee. I was not going to insist she put her
cell phone away, but I was determined to stay on the subject.
We
had a formal greeting, ordered our coffee, and sat on the sidewalk
accommodations at our favorite place.
I
smiled politely.
Her
phone vibrated. “Excuse me,” she smiled. “I must return this.”
She
thumbed a return text.
“I
wanted us to talk about…”
Her phone buzzed. “It’s a client.” She spoke and laughed for a moment.
“There
is something important we…”
The phone buzzed again. “It’s my partner. I’ve got to take this.
We’re about to close a contract.”
She
finished speaking and laid the phone on the table. She smiled and
sipped her coffee. “Yes.”
“You
seem to enjoy my…”
Another
text came in.
“My
mother, she just started texting,” Annabelle said. “If I don’t
return it she’ll be crushed.”
I
smiled.
She
stashed the phone in her purse.
I
smiled. “Relationships are funny things…”
There
was another buzz. She fished the phone from her purse. “Oh, an old
friend. Let me get this.”
I
smiled and whispered. “Be back in a minute.”
I
walked around the corner out of Annabelle’s sight and dialed her
phone.
“Hello,”
she said.
“This
is Jonathan. I wonder if we could speak for just a moment?”
“Actually,
Jonathan,” Annabelle said. “I’m with somebody right now, can we
talk later?”
“Sure,
we’ll talk later,” I said. “Bye.”
I
walked back to our table and sat down. “Who was that?” I said.
“An annoying young man who has been trying to get my attention,”
Annabelle said. “Now where were we? You were about to say something
important.”
“Ah,
it seems I forgot,” I said.
“You
know,” Annabelle said. “I really don’t like it when people
start to say something and then it’s ‘oh, never mind.’”
“That’s
right,” I said. “That’s what I wanted to say, ‘Maybe we are
not so compatible. Perhaps it‘s time we not see each other, move
on.”
She
smiled to cover the surprise. “Well, aren’t we something. As soon
as you leave I’ll call the man who just called me and I’ll have a
date just like that.”
“Don’t
count on it,” I said and left.
Making
my way to the corner I turned and looked back. She punched the callback number on her phone. My phone vibrated. Wow, she had no idea who I
was.
