at 4316 Sparrow Lane?”
“I am,” he said matter-of-factly.
“Well, I don’t know if I’d say it’s a pleasure to meet you, but it is nice to put a face to a name.”
I’d definitely crossed Mom’s fine line between being direct and being
just plain tasteless. The disciplinarian kicked in. “Now that’s enough. Laila , I want you to apologize to Myles this minute. I
don’t know what’s going on between you two or how you know each other, but you
were raised with manners and that type of behavior will not stand in this
house.”
Without flinching, I
said
,
“Mom, why don’t you ask…Mr. Donovan, is it?” I added for dramatic
flair
, knowing very well
what his name was. “Ask Mr. Donovan what his phone number is.”
“Ok
ay…
Now I’m
really confused. Do you mind filling me in on what you think it is that I’ve done to you because I’m in the dark here.”
“Yes. Laila , let’s get to the bottom of
this right now.”
“Go on
.
T
ell me your phone number.”
I looked him square in his eyes to let him know I meant business.
“No clue what you’re after, but if you must know, it’s 5-5-5-2-3
-7-4.”
The thinly veiled smug grin on my face, disappeared immediately. At first, I thought I’d heard him wrong, but it was no
mistake. Our numbers were nearly the same, except his ended with
a
four and mine with
a
nine. I was so confused. I
distinctly heard my phone number at the bridal shop. “But I heard Betty confirm
the number you gave her?”
“Betty? I don’t know a Betty.”
“Well, that may not have been her name, but I did hear you confirm
your phone number to be 5-5-5-2-3-7-9 at the bridal shop. And that’s my number.” As if I’d been fully
exonerated with that explanation, I pointed my finger stubbornly. “You see,
Mom.” Although, I acted more like my shoe size than my age, it was worth it for
vindication.
“See what?” Raising his hands up in frustration. “You did not hear me
confirm your phone number. If you would have eavesdropped a little longer, you
would have heard me tell the woman that the last number was a four and not a nine.”
“The fact of the matter
,
Mr. Donovan, is that you
are a crook. You have been terrorizing me for what seems like eternity and it’s
about time for it to stop. Every day, some collection company or telemarketer
is calling me asking for Mr. Myles Donovan. Asking for you. Meanwhile, you’re
out all over town at restaurants and bridal salons passing my phone number out
to random people, like it’s a winning lottery ticket. You have the
audacity—”
“It was you!” he
interrupted me mid-sentence. “The dress store. That was you at the counter.”
With all the stifled fury of that day in the boutique, I couldn’t
chicken out a second time. “Yes. And I lost my nerve to say anything to you
that day, when I heard the saleswomen say your name, but I knew I’d get the
chance again one day even if I had to wait a lifetime to tell you that you are
the bane of my existence.”
“You followed me there,” he stated accusingly.
“No, I was there for Lena. What are you talking about?”
I t
urn
ed
away from his knowing eyes, piercing
through me. “I overheard the saleswoman say your name.”
“Then, how’d you know my address?”
“It was on the counter,” I folded under pressure, guilty on all
counts.
“So, you admit to stalking me then, if you stole my information from
the shop?” A smug look passed across Myles’ face. The inching
smirk, evidence of his rapidly
inflating ego. He thought he won his case and I just wanted to
yell, “ You can’t handle the truth ,”
but I stuck to my guns and held on to my last shred of dignity.
“Let’s not get things twisted here. This is my phone number that you’re giving out. You can try to change
your story here to save face, but I heard you.” Weak, but the
only effective point.
“You’re whacko. For the second time, we do not have the same number
despite the similarity.
“I am,” he said matter-of-factly.
“Well, I don’t know if I’d say it’s a pleasure to meet you, but it is nice to put a face to a name.”
I’d definitely crossed Mom’s fine line between being direct and being
just plain tasteless. The disciplinarian kicked in. “Now that’s enough. Laila , I want you to apologize to Myles this minute. I
don’t know what’s going on between you two or how you know each other, but you
were raised with manners and that type of behavior will not stand in this
house.”
Without flinching, I
said
,
“Mom, why don’t you ask…Mr. Donovan, is it?” I added for dramatic
flair
, knowing very well
what his name was. “Ask Mr. Donovan what his phone number is.”
“Ok
ay…
Now I’m
really confused. Do you mind filling me in on what you think it is that I’ve done to you because I’m in the dark here.”
“Yes. Laila , let’s get to the bottom of
this right now.”
“Go on
.
T
ell me your phone number.”
I looked him square in his eyes to let him know I meant business.
“No clue what you’re after, but if you must know, it’s 5-5-5-2-3
-7-4.”
The thinly veiled smug grin on my face, disappeared immediately. At first, I thought I’d heard him wrong, but it was no
mistake. Our numbers were nearly the same, except his ended with
a
four and mine with
a
nine. I was so confused. I
distinctly heard my phone number at the bridal shop. “But I heard Betty confirm
the number you gave her?”
“Betty? I don’t know a Betty.”
“Well, that may not have been her name, but I did hear you confirm
your phone number to be 5-5-5-2-3-7-9 at the bridal shop. And that’s my number.” As if I’d been fully
exonerated with that explanation, I pointed my finger stubbornly. “You see,
Mom.” Although, I acted more like my shoe size than my age, it was worth it for
vindication.
“See what?” Raising his hands up in frustration. “You did not hear me
confirm your phone number. If you would have eavesdropped a little longer, you
would have heard me tell the woman that the last number was a four and not a nine.”
“The fact of the matter
,
Mr. Donovan, is that you
are a crook. You have been terrorizing me for what seems like eternity and it’s
about time for it to stop. Every day, some collection company or telemarketer
is calling me asking for Mr. Myles Donovan. Asking for you. Meanwhile, you’re
out all over town at restaurants and bridal salons passing my phone number out
to random people, like it’s a winning lottery ticket. You have the
audacity—”
“It was you!” he
interrupted me mid-sentence. “The dress store. That was you at the counter.”
With all the stifled fury of that day in the boutique, I couldn’t
chicken out a second time. “Yes. And I lost my nerve to say anything to you
that day, when I heard the saleswomen say your name, but I knew I’d get the
chance again one day even if I had to wait a lifetime to tell you that you are
the bane of my existence.”
“You followed me there,” he stated accusingly.
“No, I was there for Lena. What are you talking about?”
I t
urn
ed
away from his knowing eyes, piercing
through me. “I overheard the saleswoman say your name.”
“Then, how’d you know my address?”
“It was on the counter,” I folded under pressure, guilty on all
counts.
“So, you admit to stalking me then, if you stole my information from
the shop?” A smug look passed across Myles’ face. The inching
smirk, evidence of his rapidly
inflating ego. He thought he won his case and I just wanted to
yell, “ You can’t handle the truth ,”
but I stuck to my guns and held on to my last shred of dignity.
“Let’s not get things twisted here. This is my phone number that you’re giving out. You can try to change
your story here to save face, but I heard you.” Weak, but the
only effective point.
“You’re whacko. For the second time, we do not have the same number
despite the similarity.
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