Chapter 11

I was in the master bathroom brushing my teeth when the telephone rang. I looked at the clock on the counter and saw that it was 10:10. I thought that it must be Mike calling to get my version of what happened tonight at the Hilton, so I just picked up and said, "You want to hear the story, too, huh?"

"What story did you have in mind?" the woman's voice said.

It wasn't Mike after all. It was Colleen!

I took a deep breath before I went on. "Let me go spit and rinse my mouth. I'll be right back," I told her.

"Don't splatter on the mirror," she admonished.

I didn't bother to respond.

After I'd done what I said I was going to do, I returned to the telephone. "How can I help you, Colleen?"

"You can start by forgiving me and telling me, 'Now that you've gotten your head screwed on straight, Colleen, you can come back home where you belong.' That is, if you even want a stupid fool like me in your life anymore."

Don't ask me why because I cannot explain it, but all the anger about the last few days' happenings welled up within me again. The little red angel with the forked tail on my right shoulder was shouting something about all the hell she had put me through during the last week, and the gall she had to presume that it's going to be so simple to resolve our problems.

The little white angel on the shoulder over my heart patiently waited for the red one to finish, then she reminded me of my words: "When you're truly sorry, call me and we will meet and talk."

So, I said, "Are you saying that you're truly sorry and you're calling me so we can meet and talk, Colleen?"

"Yes. Is tonight too soon?" She asked.

"I'm afraid it is," I responded. "However, if I can get a baby sitter, we could meet for brunch tomorrow at Ruby Tuesdays(r), say about noon."

"I guess I'll have to settle for that if you're going to make me wait that long," she said.

I spoke as calmly as I could, "I think it would be best not to talk here with the children so close by. If they were to wake up, I wouldn't want to give them any false hope. Let's just wait until tomorrow."

What she said next almost floored me: "I hope you're still in good shape because I'm going to ravish your beautiful body the first chance I get. And, by the way, you looked really out-of-place in that baseball cap tonight, but I still love you in spite of the funny way you dress."

And this time, before I could say anything, she hung up first.