How I became Ms. Crackleberry, Part 3: The phone call.

Click on the links if you missed Part 1 and Part 2!

We were trying to be serious, but obviously I can't hold a straight face!

Where were we, oh yes! It was a lazy summer afternoon and my phone rang....and rang, and rang, and the answering machine picked up. I was sleeping (actually, I heard the phone ring but didn't want to get out of my comfy bed) so I didn't get the message until my sister Shay got home from work and told me that "some strange boy with a weird name" had called. For some reason, I instantly knew it was Mr. CB. His name just popped into my head the moment she told me. Why, I'm not quite sure. I had just broken up with James a couple weeks prior and had just resolved to be single a while because I needed to learn how to be myself without relying on a guy for my identity. I hadn't thought of Mr. CB for 6 months, and suddenly calling him back was THE most important thing in my life. I rushed over to the answering machine (total side note, I am just envisioning the future when our kids are reading this and they turn and ask what an answering machine is! Sorry, back to the story!) and jotted down his number. I dialed his phone and it started to ring....and ring, and ring, and the answering machine picked up. I left a message and hung up. Still I was anxious to reach him, so I called again, being careful to hang up before the answering machine picked up so I didn't come off as desperate (little did I know that Mr. CB had Caller ID so when he came home later he knew I had called twice in a row ~cringe~). It was the strangest feeling, knowing in my gut that I HAD to get a hold of him, but not actually having a logical reason why. My only explanation is Divine Intervention, literally! I truly felt like the Spirit was pushing me towards Mr. CB, and we hadn't even gone out on our first date yet! Whew, talk about intense. But to understand the whole story, we have to switch over to Mr. CB and his reasons for calling.

The same summer afternoon, Mr. CB was sitting bored at his apartment. With nothing to do, he picked up his address book with all his friends numbers in it, and started calling. NO ONE was home. He tried number after number and couldn't reach a soul. As he was flipping through, he kept passing my number and each time had the impression to call me. Each time he thought "No, Cherry and James are probably married by now and she probably doesn't have that number anymore." Still, none of his other friends were home and no one had called him back yet. The impression to call me came more urgently. "Oh, I guess it won't hurt anything," he thought and dialed away. The phone rang, and rang, and....well you know what happened! After leaving a message, there was a knock on the door. One of his buddies showed up, and off they went to skateboard.

So, here I am waiting at home anxiously and Mr. CB is skating around town. What happens when he returns home and finds I've called twice? Does he call me back? Do I call him a third time? Tune in next time for...The Return Call!