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“Not yet. But it’s a little early, don’t you think?”
Carla had already kicked off her shoes and was unbuttoning the front of her uniform. “It’s not nearly early enough. I guess I can wait a few more minutes.” In some ways, she’d been waiting a lifetime for Philip.
“What makes you so sure he’s going to phone?” Nancy asked, following her down the hallway to the large bedroom they shared.
Carla laughed as she pulled the uniform over her head. “Easy. He’ll want to know if I broke the date or not.”
“And did you?”
“Of course. I’m not all that interested in Cliff, anyway.”
Nancy released a sigh of relief. “I’m glad to hear that.”
“Why?” Carla turned to her roommate as she slid pale blue cotton pants over her slender hips.
“Because he asked me out.”
Carla was shocked. “Cliff did? Are you going?”
Nancy’s eyes were evasive. “You don’t mind, do you?”
Carla couldn’t have been more shocked if Nancy suddenly had announced that she’d decided to date a monkey. Her roommate had practically jumped for joy because Eduardo had phoned her, yet she was going out with Cliff. It didn’t make sense.
“I don’t mind in the least. But…but why would you want to? I thought you’d really fallen hard for Eduardo.”
“I have,” Nancy admitted freely. “Maybe too hard. I want to know if what I feel is real or something I’ve blown out of proportion. We were only together for six days. And although I’ve been miserable without him ever since, I need to test my feelings. Eduardo’s culture is different from ours, he thinks and reacts to things completely opposite of the way I do sometimes, and that frightens me.”
Nancy revealing she was frightened about anything was a shock. Of the two roommates, Nancy was by far the more stouthearted. But she was the type who would be very sure before committing herself to Eduardo and once she did, it would be forever.
“But why date Cliff?” Carla wondered aloud.
“To be honest,” she said a little shyly, lowering her eyes, “I’ve always been attracted to him, but you were seeing him and I’d never have gone out with him while you were.”
“You like Cliff?”
Nancy nodded, indicating that she did. “But if it troubles you, I’ll cancel the date.”
“Don’t,” Carla said without the least hesitation. “As far as I’m concerned, Cliff is all yours.”
The doorbell chimed and Nancy glanced at the front door. “That must be Cliff now. You sure you don’t mind?”
“Of course not. Enjoy yourselves, I’ll talk to you later.”
Too excited to bother eating dinner, Carla brought in a chair and placed it beside the phone. As an afterthought, she added a pencil, some paper, and a tissue box, in case she ended up crying again. Satisfied, she moved into the living room to watch the evening newscast.
When the phone rang, she was caught off guard and glanced at her wristwatch before leaping off the sofa.
“Hello,” she answered in a low, seductive voice that was sure to send Philip’s heartbeat racing.
There was a lengthy pause on the other end of the line. “Carla?”
“Mom.” Embarrassed, Carla stiffened and rolled her eyes toward the kitchen ceiling. “Hi…I was expecting someone else.”
“Obviously. Is it someone I know?”
“No, his name’s Philip Garrison. I met him in Mazatlán.” She briefly related the story. “I thought he might be phoning tonight.” Take the hint, Mom, and make this short, Carla pleaded silently.
“You and…Philip must have hit it off for you to be answering the phone like a seductress.”
