Call Me!

So, my friend gave Moe my telephone number, but he didn't call me. I visited with him while he ate dinner the next Friday night, but still, he didn't call me.

“I wonder if he's just not interested?” I told my sister when she asked me how things were going. “I mean, Don keeps telling him how wonderful I am and that he ought to get to know me. Maybe he's just not looking for a girl friend.”

“Who's Don?” Linda wanted to know.

“Oh, he's a guy in our ward. He works in the Temple on Friday nights with Moe, and he gave him my phone number and told him he should call me.”

That Friday Moe came through the cafeteria as usual, grinning from ear to ear when he presented his tray for me to ring up his dinner. He sure didn't look like he was trying to avoid me or anything. As soon as I'd rung up the rest of my customers I picked up my dish-cloth and started wiping off tables. Moe grinned at me again and waved for me to come over.

“How was your week?” he began as soon as I'd walked up.

“Really nice,” I told him. “And yours?”

“Busy,” he answered. “I work at Sky Harbor Airport, and there's never a dull moment there.” Moe went on talking about his work, the other people sitting at his table interjecting questions and comments along with me. Their half-hour break went quickly, and too soon Moe was getting up from his dinner, walking his tray full of dirty dishes over to the cleaning counter while I walked beside him back to my job as cashier. Never once did he mention my phone number or the possibility of calling me.

“Did he ask you out?” Don questioned an hour or so later, as he poked his head in to say goodbye before I went home.

“No,” I laughed.

“What's wrong with that guy?” Don wondered, shaking his head. “I've told him and told him he needs to grab you up fast before someone else does.”

“I don't think he needs to worry about that,” I replied sarcastically. After all, I'd been single for going on six years.

“Well, has he at least called you?” Don wanted to know.

“No. Are you sure you gave him the right phone number?”

“I gave him the paper you wrote it down on. Did you give me the right number?”

“Yeah,” I sighed. “I guess he just doesn't want to call.”

“Or he's too scared,” Don suggested. “I'm going to have to work on him some more.”

The following Friday I drove to the Temple wondering what was going to happen. All week I'd waited for Moe to call, but he never had. On the other hand, my sister-in-law had. There was a fellow in her ward that wanted to get to know me. He was just going through a divorce, and someone had told him about me. He called Tammy and asked her what I was like, so she called me and told me he'd like to meet me.

“Is he divorced yet?” I'd asked her.

“No, his divorce has just started,” she told me. “But he's a really neat guy, and he's really interested in you. What should I tell him.”

“Tell him I'll talk to him after he's divorced,” I told her, perhaps a little too sharply.

“But he wants to meet you now,” Tammy plead. “Couldn't you at least talk to him?”

I really didn't want to. I still remembered vividly the heartache I'd endured when Garth's wife decided she didn't want a divorce after all, once she realized someone else was interested in her ex-husband. There was no way I was putting myself through something like that again.

“Couldn't he come down to the Temple on Friday night and meet you in the cafeteria?” Tammy suggested hopefully. “It's not like you'd be going out on a date with him or anything. He just wants to get to know you.”

“I suppose,” I finally gave in, perhaps a little curious about this guy. After all, if Moe wasn't ever going to call me or ask me out, maybe he wasn't the one. Maybe this other guy was?

I had just begun filling salt shakers in the dining room when the door opened and a dark, kind-of nice looking fellow walked in. He came right up to me, stuck his hand out, and introduced himself as the friend of Tammy's who wanted to meet me. OK. He seemed nice enough. We made small talk for a few minutes while I finished filling the shakers, but really I just wasn't that interested. I don't know why, I just wasn't.

Customers began straggling in through the cafeteria, so I needed to go man my post at the cash register. Tammy's friend hung around a few more minutes, then told me he was going to go on into the Temple and go on a session. “I'll come back afterwords,” he promised.

“OK,” I said, concentrating on making correct change.

A little while later Moe walked up to my register. He showed me his customary prime rib dinner, and grinned while I rang it up.

“So, how was your week?” he wanted to know.

“Oh, fine,” I answered, thinking inside, “It would have been better if you'd called me on the telephone though,”

“How was your week?” I asked him.

“Great!” Moe told me happily. “Come talk to me when you're done ringing these people up and I'll tell you all about it.”

There was more of a crowd right then than usual, so I didn't get over to Moe's table until it was almost time for him to leave.

“Sorry I didn't get to hear about your week,” I apologized. “I guess you'll have to tell me about it later.”

“OK,” he said with a big grin before hurrying back to work.

“So much for getting to know you better,” I thought glumly as I watched Moe walk out of the cafeteria. How will I ever get him to ask me out on a date if I can't even talk to him?”

About 7:30 Tammy's friend stopped back by the cafeteria, but I was still busy and didn't make time to talk to him. He gave up and left after fifteen minutes, and I breathed a sigh of relief. At 8:00 I emptied out the salad bar, wiped down the tables one last time, and started closing out the cash register.

“Is it too late to ring one more thing up?” someone asked, and I looked up to see Moe standing in front of me, holding a huge cinnamon roll on a plate.

“No, of course not,” I said, my fingers suddenly fumbling around on the keys.

“Did you all of a sudden just get an urge for something sweet, or did you decide you missed me?” I quipped, embarrassed at myself the second the words slipped out of my mouth.

“Maybe a little of both,” Moe grinned. “I got a break, and suddenly a cinnamon roll sounded like just the thing I needed.”

“Well, I hope you enjoy it,” I told him, handing him his change. But Moe didn't just take his roll and go sit down.

“You know, I didn't get a chance to tell you about my week,” he laughed self consciously. “I've only got a minute, but if you're not in a hurry you could come talk to me now.”

“I could do that,” I said, smiling. “Or........you could call me sometime and tell me about it on the phone.”

“Yeah, I suppose I could do that, too,” Moe agreed, laughing.

“Don did give you my phone number,” I reminded him. “At least, he said he did.”

“Yeah, he did do that,” Moe laughed again. “But I wasn't sure what you'd think about me calling you.”

“It would be fine with me,” I prodded him hopefully. “I like getting phone calls.”

“Well, I guess I'll have to do that sometime,” he said.

Yes, like maybe this week,” I suggested even more forcefully.

“Are you sure that would be OK with your kids?” Moe asked, laughing.

“Just call me!” I laughed. “It will be OK.”

(post note: Just for your information, Moe has always claimed that I stamped my foot when I told him to call me, and how could he ignore a demand like that? I don't think I really did, but whatever......he did call me, and that's all that matters.)