Page 4 of Hotline
"See, you are clairvoyant. And you're so good at it! What were the odds that you'd pick a girl instead of a boy?"
I laugh and roll my eyes.
"Trust me," she says. "This is the best money you can get without taking your clothes off."
"Okay," I say with a serious nod. "I've got this."
"Good," Marilyn says with a little smile as she grabs my hand, "now let's see if you can be more convincing with the callers."
My stomach churnsas my phone rings and Marilyn motions toward it.
"Answer it!" she whispers.
"Is it okay if I use the actual phone instead of the headset?" I ask as the phone keeps ringing. "For some reason, I don't like the idea of being… hands-free…while I talk to strange men. It's a reminder of what's happening on the other end of the line."
Oh my god. Am I really doing this?
"Fine, whatever you want, but just answer it," she says. "Every second you're not on a call is money that's not going into your pocket."
I let out a breath and grab the phone.
"Hello?"
Marilyn rolls her eyes.
"Um, hold on just a sec," I say as I put my hand over the phone and turn to Marilyn, hissing out a whisper."What?"
"You said hello like you work at the cable company," she whispers. "Give it a little oomph."
She cups her boobs and smooshes them up.
"Oomph," she whispers.
"Hi," I say in the most sultry voice I can manage, twisting my fingers through the coiled phone cord. Marilyn carefully grabs my ponytail and slides it out of its elastic tie, making my long brown hair bounce down my back. "How are you doing this lovely evening?"
Marilyn leans in, and I hold the phone between us so we can both hear.
"Um, I'm okay," the guy says. The sound of a TV in the background sends a static vibration through the phone.
Marilyn scribbles something down in her notebook and shows it to me.
First-timer, it says.
"So, what do you want to talk about?" I say.
“Things are over between me and my girlfriend. I haven’t seen her in weeks," he says. “And I’m afraid I’ll never see her again.”
I can feel the genuine sadness in his voice. He actually sounds very sweet.
"That must be rough," I say. “What's she like?"
"God, she was amazing," the guy says. "She was beautiful. Smart. Lit up every room she walked into.”
Marilyn grabs the phone out of my hand and lunges over me to hang it up.
“Gah!” she shouts.
“What the hell?” I say, my mouth agape in confusion.
