The Phone Call

I walked out onto the balcony and lit a cigarette. I didn't know why it was so hard to tell the Personal Trainer about The Army Recruiter. It wasn't like I had a serious relationship with The Personal Trainer at all.. in reality.. it was only (barely) friends with benefits.

I dialed his number hoping he wouldn't answer, but he did.

"Hey, you busy?"

"Nope, just waiting for you to call me back. What's up with your phone?"

"Oh.. where I'm at I have really bad reception"

"Where you're at?.....(pause) Where are you?"

"Miami" another long pause for both of us

"What are you doin' in Miami?"

"Well.. that's what I want to tell you about. I've been casually dating The Army Recruiter for a bit now and he's the one that invited me down here for a few days"

"Is he there now?"

"No, he's working right now but should be back soon." another pause, so I continued, "So.. umm.. I think it's getting kinda serious with the two of us..."

"Hmm.. O.K... and what does that mean?"

"It means.. well.. I don't cheat."

"What?"

"I don't cheat. If I'm in a relationship with someone.. I don't cheat on them."

"So........"

"So.. I guess this means no more meetings for us. I don't know what else to say. I would say to give me some time and see how things go with him.. but that's not fair to you at all."

"I see.. well.. I would say that I understand.. but I don't. Thanks for letting me know"

And the phone went dead. I was shocked. I couldn't believe he actually hung up on me. It wasn't in an aggressive way.. but he still disconnected the call and that bothered me a little. I felt really bad about telling him the way I did, but I didn't know what else to do. I hate lying.. not that I'm any good at it anyway. On one hand, I was glad I told the truth.. but on the other.. I felt like a total hypocrite.

For the rest of my waiting until The Army Recruiter arrived, I tried to keep myself busy. I called my mom to check in with her, tidied up the hotel some and flipped threw T.V. show after T.V. show to keep my mine off the The Personal Trainer. It was definately eating at me.

My phone rang shortly around 11:20 and I ran to it hoping it was The Personal Trainer calling me back. I kept hoping that he didn't intentionally hang up on me.. maybe he lost signal? Maybe he was at work and had to go really quick? Maybe he was at home.. thought he was alone.. but his wife came back? To my disappointment, it was The Army Recruiter calling to tell me that his meetings were running late and he'd be out later than he expected. He didn't expect to be out before 3pm. I sighed, not because I wanted to see him but because I was bored out of my mind sitting alone in the hotel. I had no way to get anywhere except on foot and I had no where to go anyway. From what I was told by a few people, walking around in Miami alone is not a good idea for a female.. no matter what time of day it was.

As I hung up the phone I wondered.. why was the conversation I had with The Personal Trainer upsetting me more than the fact that I wasn't getting to spend a lot of time with the man I came to Miami with?