Broken Hearts and a Small Glass of Lemonade

17

1 Night Later:

A scrap of paper.  My cell phone.  A name in legible handwriting.  Riley Marcus.  What a lovely name for a handsome guy.  I dial the number slowly.  My right hand trembles as it starts to ring.  Suddenly his deep voice is on the other end and I lose confidence.  The phone goes dead.

I dial again.  My heart beating even faster than in the gas station.  My hands are sweating and, even though he can't see me, I make sure I'm presentable.  My hair, my clothes, my eyes.

"Hello?" his deep voice again.  I lose confidence, but before I can hang up again, he says, "Is this Mandy?"

I am stunned.  "How did you know my name?"

"I have connections," he says jokingly.  Suddenly my brain is thinking of all the people I know, but I can't place where I've seen Riley before.  "Your friend, Lillie, told me."

"Ah," I say knowingly.  This has happened before.  The last one she set me up with was a guy named Mike Whooley.  I wince.  "I see."

"So, why are you calling?" he asks.  I can imagine him in my mind: all laid back, sitting on a sofa.

"You gave me your number, I just assumed you wanted me to call," I nervously say.  The conversation is quickly spiraling into awkwardness.

"Of course," he says, heaving a fake cough.  "Well, I was just wondering... would you like... to go on a date?"

My heart stops beating and I smile.  Little did I know, at the moment I said yes, I would lose my best friend, my boyfriend, and my right arm in little over a month.