She said, “Of course I do. I miss you every day now.”

“You don’t call me every day.”

She paused. “You would allow me to?”

“I couldn’t stop you.”

“But would you want me to do that? I mean, because I could, but I just figured that you would want to have your space, you know.”

“Shit, I’m a two-hour plane ride away. I have all of the space I need,” I told her.

She chuckled and said, “Well, yeah, I guess you’re right about that.”

I said, “I miss your cute face, that’s why I called you.”

I could imagine her blushing through the phone.

“Oh, well…thank you.”

“I would thank you if I was over there. I’d take everything off and bless you. Would you like me to be there?”

“Of course. Anytime, any day.”

“So, what would you say if I was in Chicago right now?”

She giggled. “I would say that I needed a shower before you come over.”

“Why, you go to bed dirty?”

“Well, no, I just didn’t take a shower yet.”

“Well, if I come over, you’re just gonna get dirty anyway. So what’s the use in taking a shower?”

She laughed again. “Well, wait a minute, wait a minute, you’re actually here in Chicago? Oh my God, you didn’t even tell me you were coming. Well, let me get in the shower then. I look a mess.”

I laughed myself and said, “Hold your horses, girl, I’m not in Chicago yet. I just wanted to see how excited you would get.”

“Aww, don’t do that to me, Terrance.”

“Why, your other boyfriend is in town?”

“My other boyfriend? Who’s that?”

“Whatever guy you were thinking about before I jumped in the way.”

“Well, whoever that was is long gone now, because I only think about one person, and that one person is you.”

She sounded like a Hallmark card, but that wasn’t a bad thing. It was genuine.

“That’s nice,” I told her. “It’s also true.”

I said, “I know.”

She chuckled and asked me, “How do you know?”

“You mean, you would lie to me already?” I insinuated.

“No, no, I would never lie to you.”

I repeated that. “You would never lie to me. You mean that?”

“Yeah. What would I have to lie to you about?”

The girl sounded too good to be true.

“Well, you couldn’t exactly tell me who you got dirty with earlier.”

She said, “Yes I could. I was with my friend Miriam, working out at the gym. And when I got back in I got lazy, so I’ve been lying around the house watching TV before I finally take my shower. But if you were actually here, like you said you were, then I would have jumped right up and gotten in the shower in a heartbeat.”

I corrected her. “I didn’t say I was there, I asked you ‘what if’ I was there.”

“Oh, yeah, you did, and got me all excited for nothing.”