The Penny Chapter 2

2

Ann Sterling rose from the table surrounded by her fellow fundraisers and headed for the bathroom to fix her makeup. She gazed into the mirror as she leaned forward to apply a fresh coat of lipstick. Brushing her hair back and examining her look, she paused for a moment and Michael's face crossed her mind.
"I miss him," she thought.
She reached into her purse and pulled out a dime. She left the restroom and found the phone booth in the entryway. She placed the dime in the machine and dialed the phone. The phone rang several times but there was no answer. She placed the receiver back in the cradle and the dime returned. Pushing the slot open she took the dime back in her hands. A feeling on uneasiness settled over her as if she had to protect something but she didn't know what. Ann just wanted to hear Michael's voice. Not being able to do that, she returned to the restroom and started to finish her refresh. The door to the bathroom opened and a tall dark-haired woman walked up to the mirror next to her.
Ann noticed the woman instantly, thinking, "How striking she is."
"You're Ann aren't you?" the woman said.
Ann replied, "Yes," with a smile.
The dark haired woman smiled and said, “Thank you so much for all the work you have done for this charity. We all appreciate it so much."
Ann replied, "You're welcome; it's was a pleasure to be able to help."
"I’m sorry, where are my manners? My name is Charla, Charla Morgan" she said holding out her hand. "That lipstick is a wonderful color for you."
"You think so? I was still wondering about the color, I'm glad you said that, I feel a little better about it now." Ann smiled at Charla and put the lipstick back in her purse.
The conversation went on for a few minutes and Ann found Charla interesting. She ended up inviting Charla to lunch. They were to meet the next day at a little café downtown.
Michael Sterling woke the next morning surprised to find Ann next to him. The sun beamed through the bedroom window at seven AM. He sat up and turned his head towards Ann and took a moment to remember how lucky he was to be next to this woman. He moved slowly out of bed trying not to wake her. Making his way to the bathroom and closing the door, he turned on the shower. A small radio sat on the shelf next to the window. He found that if he listened to music as he bathed, he tended not to mumble some form of musical melody that would scare a cat if they had one. He had played a trumpet in his high school band, but if he opened his mouth to sing the band would stop. He turned on the radio at low volume so he would not disturb Ann.
Shampoo ran down into his eyes and he turned to face the stream coming from the shower head. His eyes were burning and he rinsed them until they cleared. As he turned back he was stunned by the figure out side the shower door.
"Are you gonna invite me or do I have to get tough?"
"Explain the tough thing and I'll decide," he replied.
The shower door opened and Ann stepped in saying, "Never mind, I'll show you."
"Do you know how wonderful it is when you take the initiative and I don't have to answer a question?" he said.
She put her arms around his neck and said, "You'll always be a man," and smiled at him.
He turned her around and gentle soaped her back. She loved being pampered by him. Her eyes closed and she did nothing but enjoy the moment. It was only a few seconds into this pleasure that the sound of the phone ringing opened her eyes.
"I thought I told you to have that thing disconnected," she said.
Michael replied, "Oh, if I did that how would you ever call me?"
Ann reached behind her and touched Michael’s thigh and slowly raised her hand towards his groin and said, "You had better keep it connected then.”
"I believe the only safe answer is, of course I will darling."
Michael hugged Ann and opened the door to reach for a towel. He wrapped it around himself and reached for the phone.
"Hello," he heard only silence. "Hello," he said again.
Still the phone was silent. He put the phone down.
"Who was that?" Ann asked.
"I guess it was a mime," he said.
"I thought you had a mime block on your phone," Ann said as she giggled.
"Who let you in here and remind me to fire them after coffee," he teased back. He dried himself off and put on his robe. Ann was stepping out of the shower when the phone rang again.
Michael picked it up and said, "Hello." He heard only silence again.
"Hello, wave your hands if you can hear me," he said a little louder.
His mouth opened and a chill went through him as he heard a faint whisper, "Michael."
"Who is this," he asked as the phone went dead.
Ann walked by with a towel wrapped around her.
"Was that your mime friend?"
Michael stood there a little dazed and then answered. "No, this one had a voice."
"What did they say?" Ann asked.
"Nothing, well they said my name and hung up."
"Did you know who it was?"
"No," he replied.
Ann reached out and Michael gave her the phone.
Ann put the phone on the receiver.
"Okay, so if they really want to talk to you they’ll call back. Where's my coffee?"
Michael forced a smile, "I guess it was nothing."
He was a little uneasy but he shook it off. They made their way to the kitchen and Michael brewed a pot of coffee.
"You have any plans for today?" Ann asked.
"I brought home a little work but I can do it any time."
"How about I go down to the open market and pick up a few things so I can make us some dinner? A bottle of wine, some soft music, and we can finish what the phone interrupted earlier."
"Well, I was thinking more like a pizza and a game on the couch in my underwear."
"God," Ann replied, "I should have let my hand finish the job in the shower."
"No need, your idea is fine," he said, "It sounds perfect to me. I can do that work I brought home and we can get some lunch and go to the market."
"Lunch," she said with a pause, "I'm sorry, I'm having lunch with a woman I met at the function last night."
"Oh, that's okay," he said, "as long as we can do the dinner thing."
Michael went into the foyer and opened the coat closet to get the papers from his jacket. A small piece of paper fell out of his pocket as he pulled out his work papers. He reached down and picked it up and put it in his robe pocket.
"I have to get rid of that," he thought to himself.
It was the paper with Carla's number on it. He walked back into the kitchen and sat at the table.
Pouring himself a cup of coffee he said to Ann, "How was the function last night?"
"It was okay," she replied, "everything seems to be going as planned."
"Who is the lady you are having lunch with?"
"A woman that came up to me in the bathroom and told me how fabulous my lipstick was. Actually, she thanked me for all the work I did on the project. You know it's funny but I don't remember seeing her at our meetings before. Anyway, she was very nice and we talked for a minute and I invited her to lunch. If I had known I could spend the whole day with you I would have made the lunch date for another time."
"Maybe she will be a help to you on your project," Michael said, "What's her name?"
Ann replied, "Charla Morgan."
Michael repeated the name, "Charla," to himself.
"Did you say Charla?"
"Yes, that’s her name."
The dark-haired woman's face drifted into Michael's mind.
"Charla, Carla," he thought and then dismissed the idea. What are the chances and the name is different. His hand went into his robe pocket and he felt the piece of paper with Carla's number on it. The coincidence made him a little uneasy.