I've been working on Growing Older with Phil and since I have promised my wonderful supporters at least one story a month, I thought it would be fun to share another first draft of one of the stories that will be in the book. This one is titled Second Phone Call and is a continuation of the story I shared last month, titled First Date (The Phone Call—which was our first phone call—already exists, but you'll have to wait until the book comes out to read that one).
If you haven't read First Date yet, I suggest you read it first. While not strictly necessary, it will provide some context for Second Phone Call. You can find it here:
Book Announcement and Story: First Date — Nancy Golden
So, let's get started:
Second Phone Call
I must admit, between the Nissan Axxess van, the cat, and Phil’s relationship goals, I was ready to stop the possibility of a romance before it even got started. I picked Josh up after work and went home, preoccupied with my thoughts. I was also a bit concerned about bringing Josh with me in Phil’s vehicle. When it was just me, I was cautious but not overly so. I had some reference to who Phil was from our time at DeVry. Still, I needed more reassurance regarding my son, so I called Danny. You may recall from The Phone Call story that he was the one that told Phil about my change in marital status.
After Danny and I exchanged greetings, I got down to the heart of my concern.
“Phil is taking me and Josh to the zoo tomorrow. I don’t know him very well and so I wanted to check with you. Is it safe to bring Josh with me and we ride in his van?”
Photo by Vincent M.A. Janssen: https://www.pexels.com/photo/close-up-photo-of-grizzly-bear-3048722/
Now, I am sure Danny must have thought the question was absurd, but perhaps he understood a mama bear’s fierce protective instinct for her cub. I could tell the laughter on the other end of the line was not directed at me, but at how ludicrous he considered it to be for Phil to be a danger.
“No need to worry. Phil is the best. He’s golden!”
The play on Phil’s last name was sincere. Danny truly thought of Phil as a man of integrity and great character and was his best friend.
Having Danny’s assurance made me feel confident of our safety, but I still had the misalignment of relationship goals to contend with. To that end, after dinner I made sure Josh was occupied with some toys while I sat at the table to write down my thoughts. Phil had gotten into the habit of calling after his last class (he was teaching night classes at DeVry), so I knew I had until around ten-thirty that evening to sort through my feelings.
Image by Gizelle Kei from Pixabay
Josh was tucked into bed, and I sat with my yellow notepad in hand nervously waiting for the phone to ring. I had scribbled down what I wanted to say. Finally, the phone rang. Normally I took our nightly call in the living room, cuddled up in the big recliner. But not tonight. I paced the kitchen as we talked about our plans for the morning. Finally, I gathered my courage.
“I need to talk to you about what we discussed over lunch today.”
Momentary silence, then, “Okay.”
I swallowed and licked my lips. I glanced down at the words I had scribbled onto the notepad to get my bearings.
“I think you are a really nice guy, but I just don’t think this is going to work.”
Momentary silence, then, “Okay.”
“You want to date around, and that’s fine. There is nothing wrong with that. But that is not me.”
“Okay.”
“I have never been able to date more than one person at a time. I need to date someone that feels the same way.”
“Okay.”
“And what happens at Thanksgiving? When you are over at Mary Lou’s house and Josh and I are here alone? I just can’t do that.”
“Okay.”
As Phil replied, “Okay,” to all of my points, my heart sank but I knew I was doing the right thing.
“One last thing. Since I promised Josh we would take him to the zoo and he is very excited about it, are you still good with us going tomorrow for his sake?”
“Sure.”
We agreed on what time he should arrive in the morning and hung up. I wasn’t looking forward to the next day because I thought it would be incredibly awkward, but I also wanted to keep my promise to my son. That's what a mama bear does...