Page 12 of You Spin Me

“You don’t talk to people on the phone when you’re at work?”

“Not really?”

“Well, not knowing if you’re alive or not is really distracting. So, you’re going to have to call.” He clears his throat. “You didn’t get your license last week or something, right?”

“No. I’m, uh, a few years beyond sixteen.”

He must hear annoyance in my voice because he comes right back with, “I’m going to worry either way. I just want to know howmuchI should worry.”

“You don’t have to worry. I grew up in Boston, and I’ve been driving in the weather for some time. I’m legal, but I don’t drink and drive. But wait, what if I go out after work?”

“Use a payphone.”

He’s obviously very serious about this. “Do you worry about every girl who’s out driving late?”

“I worry about everybody out driving late. I feel like part of my job is keeping everybody awake who needs to be.” His sincerity softens my skeptical heart, but before I can promise that I’ll call again he says, “Uh, I have to cue up some songs but I’ll be back. Can you hang on?”

“Um, okay.”

I guess instead of hold music, the station somehow plays what’s on air because I turned down the radio before I called but now I hear not only music but Cal’s patter through the phone. Even though I’m feeling the long day, my hips keep time to the beat as I wait.

“Still there?”

“Still here,” I answer over a stifled yawn.

“Am I keeping you up?”

“Sorry. Kind of.”

“No problem, I’ll let you go.”

The candid disappointment in his tone has me switching gears. “Well, I can talk for a bit. I do have to get up early for work but I’m also pretty buzzed when I get home. It takes me a while to wind down.”

“From the drive?”

“The drive and, like, being on.”

“What is it you do up there an hour’s drive away?”

“I’m an actress. I’m rehearsing a play up in Chichester.”

“Oh, I thought you were a nurse for some reason. On a split shift.”

“Ha. Nope. Nobody would want me to be their nurse.”

“Why not?”

“I can’t deal with hospitals. I had some… icky experiences when I was younger.”

“Huh. Me too.” There’s a long silence before he speaks again. In the background, the song ends and a commercial starts. “So, how do you usually wind down?”

“Um… have a cup of herbal tea.” Holding the phone cord out of the way, I do a few développés as I comb my brain. “Watch stupid TV. Read a book. Sometimes I work on choreography for my classes till I’m exhausted. I also teach dance to kids. For the next couple weeks, anyway.”

“How come only for a few weeks?”

“I got fired. They replaced me with an aerobics teacher.” I’m talking about myself too much. Guys don’t like that, so I switch lanes. “Long story. What do you do after work?”

“That’s another long story, maybe for another night. I gotta go spin some records now.”

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