The Slow Lane: A Short Story From Meet Cute Read online

up things. Oh, he wrote ‘call me.’ That’s so sweet.” She had already found my admittedly short list of contacts while talking. She was finding a pen to copy down the number when our receptionist poked her head into the room.

  “Mia,” she said. “There’s a call for you. I’m sorry, he said it was really important.”

  I nodded and she said, “Line 2,” before disappearing again.

  “You guys aren’t going to do anything stupid like call the guy while I’m gone, are you?” I was satisfied when Kim looked scandalized at the suggestion. I already knew Michelle and Ryan wouldn’t.

  When the customer said his call was important I think the word he was actually looking for was long. It was a good thing I had finished eating before he called because I was on the phone the rest of the lunch hour. I could tell by the looks on Kim and Michelle’s faces that they weren’t finding any information on Shawn. Ryan brought my phone back to my desk along with my change from lunch. His thoughtful brown eyes seemed to be trying to tell me something as he set it down. I was still on the phone and couldn’t ask what it was.

  “Yes, sir, I’ll look that up right away,” I said into the phone. Then I pointed at it and moved my hand like a long-winded puppet. Ryan smiled sympathetically before walking back to his desk.

  Kim confirmed later that there was no new information to be had. I wasn’t concerned. I had a fun story and that was all I thought I needed from the encounter. I was looking forward to telling it again the next day when I met Shannon at the gym.

  We did a class first, something with lots of jumping around and complicated moves that I almost followed. We rode bikes for a while afterwards and I told her about meeting Shawn. She was disappointed that he wasn’t nicer so I felt like I told the story well. Then we cleaned up and headed for our milkshake rewards. She had the usual chocolate. I felt like a minor change and ordered strawberry. I had just had my first sip when Shannon said, “Let me see his number.”

  “What? Why?”

  “I don’t know. Have you tried looking it up to figure out his last name?”

  “Yeah,” I pulled the phone out of my bag as I talked, “well, I didn’t, but someone at work tried and could only find something that said ‘cell phone user.’ That’s not exactly… oh my goodness!”

  “What?!” Shannon asked eagerly while I gaped at the screen of my phone.

  “Oh my goodness!” I said again. “There’s another new contact here.” I put one hand over my mouth and used the other to hold the phone in front of Shannon. Right above where it said ‘Shawn (call me)’ it now said ‘Ryan (call me instead).’

  “Is that Ryan from work?” she asked.

  “It must be… I don’t know when… oh, yeah, he did have my phone for a minute.”

  “You should call him.”

  “Really?”

  “Oh, come on, you talk about him all the time. You know you want to go out with him.”

  “But… what if he only meant it as a joke or just to talk or something.”

  “You talk all the time at work. I think he had to have meant it like you want him to have meant it.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “There’s one way you can find out.” She looked pointedly from the phone to me and back again.

  “What if I’m chicken?”

  “I know you are, but you should still call him.”

  “I’ll think about it.”

  I paced around my apartment for almost an hour after I got home thinking the whole time that Shannon was probably right. I did want to call Ryan. That was why I was clutching my phone the whole time. But I worried that I was also right. Maybe he added his name like that to be funny. Maybe he was regretting adding his number because of what I might think. I needed to give him some sort of out. I decided to text him first. I sent: This is Mia. Is this a good time to talk?

  I figured he could say he was busy and then that would be that. I would get the hint; he would be off the hook. No awkwardness at work. We could just go back to normal.

  That’s not what happened. My phone began to buzz in my hand and ‘Ryan (call me instead)’ flashed on my screen. I swallowed hard to push down my nerves before I answered his call.

  “Hi, Ryan.”

  “Hello.”

  “So I… I noticed you put your number in my phone.” I winced at my lame greeting.

  “Just now?” he asked.

  “Um, a little while ago.”

  “How long is a little while?”

  I smiled, starting to relax. “I guess it was more like two hours.”

  “Two hours? Here I am going out on a limb and you leave me hanging two hours after you notice? Did it take that long to decide how to turn me down gently?”

  “No… I wasn’t sure what you wanted. What do you want?”

  “Are you busy tonight?”

  “You just want to know if I’m busy?”

  “Are you?”

  “No.”

  “Want to do something with me? Movie?”

  “Okay. You know, I didn’t think you were ever going to ask.”

  “I didn’t think you were ever going to call.”

  Did you enjoy The Slow Lane?

  Why not check out the other stories in Meet Cute right now? That’s 4 more stories for only $0.99.

  Romantic Novels by Amanda Hamm

  Jealousy & Yams: Stories From Hartford (2014)

  Andrew’s Key: Stories From Hartford (2014)

  The 4th Floor Lounge (2012)

  Weathering Evan (2012) (free!)

  Dear Jane Letters (2007)

  Her other titles

  Double Take: My First Year as a Mother of Twins (2010)

  Zero Station: A Science Fiction Novella (2007)

  Reviews are always appreciated.