Welcome to the Call Me MAYbe Flash Fiction Challenge!!
All stories begin with "The phone rang" and are no more than 1,000 words. Deadline to submit is May 31. For full contest rules and prize list, visit this link: http://mystiparker.blogspot.com/2013/04/next-month-call-me-maybe-flash-fiction.html
#19: Who Ordered Pizza?
by
Judy Beaston
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6kP8l2ACh0hV6PgBF8UR9zG6eOMQeJz5Maken-P-LfuwF_oTaQgbIqDIkt-aZAcP66-eReMpLSY1A0bp44rC0SWZghdvgFNreeRgQImPK6buPLX664ivVNjCWl9C_npqKErnFMQLw_PY/s1600/tin+house.jpg)
Tricia
peered over the top edge of Dan Brown’s latest thriller. “How about that time
Tom called, and you picked up the phone and said ‘Get lost’?”
“Ah,
see, my story didn’t end when the phone rang. There was more to follow. There’s
always more to follow.“
“Speaking
of follow.” Tricia’s eyes were focused on some point behind Mandie. “Guess who
just walked in the door.”
Mandie
turned and found herself face to belly with Tom, who never did understand the
concept of personal space. As she shifted her chair away from him, Mandie
noticed a pair of long, shapely legs planted close to Tom’s. The body and face
above those legs belonged to a Victoria’s Secret model. She couldn’t begin to
imagine why a beautiful female would hang out with a loser like Tom.
“Hello,
Mandie – Tricia.” Tricia nodded, Mandie stared, her mouth open, until Tricia
kicked her under the table.
Blushing,
Mandie cleared her throat. “Hi, Tom. Long time no see.”
“Who’s
your new friend, Tom?” Tricia asked.
“Yvette.”
He drew her closer to his side. “Yvette, meet Mandie and Tricia, old friends
and classmates from Dartmouth.”
“Would
you like to join us?” Tricia’s invitation received an evil-eye look from
Mandie.
“Thanks,
but we must decline. We’re meeting a wedding planner.” Tom searched the coffee
shop. “I don’t see her yet, but there’s a free table over there that I’d better
grab while it’s still available.”
Yvette
still hadn’t said a word, her face frozen in a model’s unnatural smile.
###
Mandie
kept sneaking glances of Tom and Yvette, catching them once with their hands
entwined like snaking vines, another time with their noses touching. “Oh, yuck!
Get a room!”
Tricia
rolled her eyes. “Why are you so interested anyway? You always said he was a
self-centered loser.”
“Yeah,
but he was my loser,” she sighed. “At least he was until I intercepted that
phone call from his brother.”
“Who
told you about Tom’s latest tryst with an old high school flame.” Tricia closed
her book and set it down. “And from where I sit, that makes him a total jerk
not worth the time of day.”
“Or a
phone call,” Mandie added, laughing. “Not even one that ends a story.”
###
Two
evenings later, Mandie found a note tacked to her apartment door. The paper was
bright pink and the ink purple. The message was simple: He’s mine now.
“How
creepy,” Mandie said to her cat. “A note from Tom’s new friend.”
Mandie
set her keys and the note on the sideboard near the door. “Just wait ‘til I
share this tidbit with Tricia. She’ll love it!”
Before
she could place the call, Mandie’s phone rang. She glanced at the screen. “Private Caller” was displayed.
“Hello?”
“Tonight.” Then silence. The call ended.
Mandie’s
heart skipped a beat. Now she really needed to talk with Tricia. She called her
immediately. “C’mon, Trish, answer the phone.”
“Hi! This is the voice of action,
as in “Trish isn’t here right now, just me” So please leave a message and I’ll
be sure to get it to her.”
“Crap.
This is yoga night.” Mandie turned back to her front door and flicked the
deadbolt.
“Okay,
Mandie, calm down. The phone call was probably just a wrong number.”
Before
she could move, a loud pounding rattled her door. Holding her breath, she
peered through the spy hole. An agitated Tricia stood in the hallway.
Mandie
fumbled with the locks and pulled the door open. “Tricia! What are you doing
here? Don’t you have yoga?”
Tricia
was already halfway across the room. “Close the door.” She hurried to the
window, closed the open blind, then peeked around the edge.
“What
is going on, Tricia? Who are you looking for? Were you being stalked or
something?”
Tricia
turned her flushed face toward Mandie. “It’s that new friend of Tom’s.”
“What
is?”
“She
followed me to my yoga class, then just stood in the doorway eyeing me.” Tricia
headed for the kitchen. “Do you have any wine?”
“So
she was checking out the yoga class. So what?” Mandie pulled two glasses from
the cupboard. Tricia grabbed the wine from the refrigerator.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBCBMi6EUm-ztOftaLe6BEEraL1vL1mcP1vVmD63SYErTCGXLT7G2bp7_ppNHQsBhr30b9wJaQfMM0O7eQPTN0GNtfo53T3uR0qx0GrqViYsZ467vBID6-3_q9MzqSQaXnu4hbOoh1p0s/s320/Luigi's.jpg)
They
both jumped when the intercom buzzed.
“You
invited somebody over tonight? I’m sorry, Mandie, I didn’t mean to intrude.”
Mandie
shook her head and poked at the intercom button. “Who is it?”
“Pizza
for Mandie.”
“I
didn’t order a pizza.”
“It’s
paid for already. Should I just leave it here or bring it up?”
Tricia
mouthed “leave it.”
“Just
leave it. Thanks.” She looked at Tricia. “Why’d you say that?”
“Too
many creepy things happening today.” She headed for the door, then turned back.
“I’m not going down there alone.”
Mandie
shook her head and followed her to the lobby where they found a pizza from
Luigi’s, their favorite pizza parlor.
“I
didn’t order pizza,” Mandie insisted as they headed back to her apartment.
She
set the box on the kitchen counter and opened the lid. “Oh-my-gawd! It’s
Hawaiian with artichoke hearts, my favorite. But, only Tom and you knew that.”
She eyed Tricia suspiciously. “YOU ordered this, didn’t you? And YOU made the
call earlier to me. You’re just trying to creep me out, aren’t you?”
“What’s
that paper stuck under the crust?” Tricia reached across the pizza and freed
the note. “Your life is in danger tonight,”
she read. “What does that mean?”
“C’mon,
Tricia. Game is O-ver. Fun is fun, but this is enough.”
Before
Tricia could respond, the lights flickered and went out.
And
then the phone rang.
****
Judy Beaston draws her inspiration from the interactions of people and nature. Some of her favorite haunts for inspiration include The Japanese Gardens, ocean beaches and any coffee shop. When not lost in the words of poetry and stories, she enjoys the creative connections found playing tenor saxophone. Three grandchildren help keep her views on life youthful.
Thanks, Mysti, for the fun contest theme. And you are so awesome with the images you find/create for these stories you post. Thanks. - judy
ReplyDeleteWow, Judy, that was great, but ...you can't end a story like that. lol I gotta know what really happend.
ReplyDeleteYou did leave plenty to think about, which would make this a good expanded story.
Best wishes, Leo
ha, ha -- thanks, Leona but, see, I was writing and then,
Deleteall of a sudden, the phone rang.
Neat story, Judy :) I hope everything turns out good in the end though ;) Great job on this and way to go as far as leaving the reader hanging by a thread :) Happy writing!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Leila -- glad you enjoyed it
Delete- judy