Friday Fiction – A Man and His Phone

Welcome to A Man and His Phone – a weekly series of relationship mishaps!

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Jane’s adrenaline burst into overdrive when she heard what could only be Chris’s footsteps as he slowly climbed the zig-zag steps to the second floor. She’d never been able to light a fire under Chris and for once she appreciated his laid-back style. But even though he was taking his time, Jane and Adrienne had only seconds to act.

“Quick!” she hissed over to Adrienne. “Get up, and do it fast!”

Adrienne looked at Jane’s face, now spewing authority. She’d always had the upper hand with Jane, but something had shifted. Leaning on her good leg, she pulled herself up to a crouch and whisper-screamed back, “Help me!” And like a 120 pound forklift on jet fuel, Jane went behind her friend, boosted her up to her feet, opened the door to the second floor hallway and pushed her through.

Jane’s plan was for them both to escape the stairwell before Chris got to the top of the second floor landing, but there was no more time.

_____

Something strangely pleasant was itching at Chris. As he climbed the stairs from the lobby to the second floor, he reviewed the recent events. Jane had entered this stairwell just moments before. And only shortly before that, the lovely young woman whose name he didn’t know, with the less than sensible shoes had begun her descent from the eighth floor. They both claimed to have friends in the building. “Hmmmm,” he thought. Well, maybe that was technically true.

As he reached the midpoint, he heard some fierce whispering. He smiled and turned slowly to climb the second half of the steps, hoping to hear what they were saying. Because this was getting interesting. Instead, what he heard was the door slamming and, when the landing came into view, there was Jane, looking charmingly frazzled, holding a familiar-looking pair of shoes.

“Where’s your friend?” he asked.

“What friend?” Jane replied, trying her best to look blank and stall. But by the amused look on Chris’s face, Jane suspected that her answer could get her into an even bigger mess.

“The one who’s missing a pair of shoes,” he laughed.

“What do you mean, Chris? These are my shoes.” And like a gift from above, a brand new story popped into Jane’s head. “I told you I knew someone in your building. You’re not the only one who lives here, you know. She had borrowed my dancing shoes and I told her I absolutely needed them because tonight I’m hitting the dance floor at Karma.”

“Oh, my darling Jane,” he answered. “Those can’t be your shoes because I’m sure I saw them on someone else tonight.”

“What are you, the shoe police? Besides, these shoes are the rage this year. Everyone has them.”

Chris was certain he had just caught Jane in her second lie of the evening. Yet he did not seem mad. In fact, what was that look on his face?

Jane had no idea, but it was a pretty good look.

Thank you for reading – come back next week!

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