A Proposition

Andrew

Cranking the stereo’s volume, I cruised into my neighborhood. The street lights were coming on, taking the day into the first minutes of dusk. After talking to Bob the morning before, every minute following had been nothing less than perfect.

Seeing Lanie again—and this time with Bob’s approval—meant that I’d been in a good mood all day long. Work had flown by, and the only time I’d felt any sense of irritation was when I looked at my phone and found no texts from Lanie.

Call me spoiled, but I wanted to hear from her each and every hour.

As the garage door opened, my phone rang as if on cue.

“I was just thinking about you,” I answered.

“Good things?” Lanie asked with a laugh.

“Bad things,” I growled. “Really, really bad things.”

“Oh. That’s, uh.” She cleared her throat, and I laughed.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Just making some dinner. Is it okay that I called? I wanted to, you know, say hi.”

“Stop. Hearing your voice is the perfect ending to my day.”

“That’s sweet,” she c