Page 11 of Forever Fickle

“Hey… are you looking for me, honey?”

“NO!” she snapped, getting in her car, and quickly locking the door as someone finally picked up on her phone. She jabbed her key in the ignition, shaking with adrenaline, quickly starting the car.

“Flyboys… can I help y…”

Someone finally answered the phone!

“Who’s this?” Karen blurted out, interrupting the man. “Alpo? Firefly?”

“It’s Armadillo… Karen, what’s wrong? Is everything okay?”

“No, it’s not okay,” she railed in frustration, seeing the man standing directly in front of her vehicle, his arms crossed over his chest, and looking at her with this smug grin. She was shaking terribly and beyond upset. “No!Nothingis okay! I’ve never,everbeen treated like this in my life and…”

“WHAT?” Armadillo hollered in the phone, echoing in the car’s speakers as Bluetooth kicked on.

“I’ve never been sexually harassed so much in my freakin’ life – someone else is going to have to pick up Jace Sorenson! Now I need to call the police because it’s so bad here that some imbecile chased me into the parking lot and is blocking my car in. I literally cannot get away from these sex-starved freaks out here at DFW! Please don’t make me come get the other guy next week…I just can’t…” she heaved desperately, avoiding looking at the man standing in front of her car. “I need to hang up and dial 911, Armadillo.”

“Are you in danger? Did you leave Hot Cakes at the airport? I need to know what he said to you because I’m going to throttle the man within an inch of his life…” Armadillo growled angrily. “We don’t put up with this garbage!”

“Who?” Karen said absently, trying to focus on what he said and why he was the seventh or eighth guy to use that phrase ‘hot cakes’to her within the last hour. Hadn’t Glory said someone…

Ohhhh noooo,she thought numbly.

“What did you say?”

“Hot Cakes!“ Armadillo snapped. “Is Hot Cakes still there at the airport? I thought someone made you a sign and told you to wait in luggage claim? Where are you? Are you in danger? What did he say to you? I can’t believe he would sexually harass you – I’m so sorry, Karen…”

“His name is… Hot Cakes?”

The man unfolded her cardboard sign she’d thrown and held it up in front of his chest, grinning. He pointed to himself and gave her a thumb’s up.

“Jace Sorensen’s call sign is Hot Cakes, and someone was supposed to have made you a sign so he could find you in baggage claim. I can’t believe this is happening…”

Karen felt sick – and extremely embarrassed.

Oh, the sign said Hot Cakes indeed – and she never looked at it, assuming it said Jace Sorensen on it.

No wonder she was being harassed at the airport… and she’d gotten meaner towards the men that were just responding to the sign she was holding.

Was someone playing a sick joke on her, because it wasn’t funny in the slightest. In fact, she was devastated and felt angry tears threatening to fall as she stared at the man before her in dawning realization. She had completely forgotten and hadn’t put the two together from her talks with Glory a few months ago.

“What does he look like, Armadillo?” she whispered. “I think I found him.”

“Wait? What? Hedidn’tharass you? I thought you said he did? What’s going on?” Armadillo asked in rapid fire, his voice full of angry confusion, and she could hear Firefly and Alpo in the background yelling at each other – also upset that someone had bothered her.

“Hot Cakes is about six-foot-tall, a very built guy with a big smile and dark hair. He’s kind of a know-it-all with an attitude…”

The man standing before her car frowned and she realized he could hear the conversation being held on her phone, outside of her vehicle.

“A very big misunderstanding…” Karen said, horrified as she realized that they’d sent her out here with a sign that said ‘Hot Cakes’and not ‘Jace Sorensen’ on it.

These people that she’d been helping, trusted, and had befriended were playing a sick joke on her – and it wasn’t funny in the slightest.

“I found him and heading back now. I quit, Armadillo. I’m so sorry.”

“Karen? Karen…wait… KAREN!?”

Armadillo was hollering in the phone, and she could hear both Alpo and Firefly in the background screaming angrily at each other. She didn’t care who had pulled the prank, but this was beyond anything she could have imagined and absurdly cruel of them.

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