Let's Talk

Day 1 - Monday

In this story I want to try as much as possible to avoid secondary descriptions.

Explanations: > and < characters indicate messages. In this case, boldface is Sam, italics are Penny. All telephone calls are conducted like a normal dialogue.

Have fun while reading.

-------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------

>10:12- Hey, Pen. Boyce was stressing. Had to go. I'm really sorry. I would have liked to say goodbye to you. Good luck and even better luck that the week goes smoothly 😉<

>14:48- Hey, Sam. Hope you arrived safely? Sorry, the operation took longer than expected. Would have liked to have been there to say Good bye to you. Wish you a pleasant week and a lot of luck with the youngsters 😣<

Penny opened the door and was never as happy as she was that evening to finally be home. It was a day like any other and yet different. Sam wasn't there and he wouldn't be there all week.

Frustrated, she threw her jacket over a chair in the kitchen and turned on the kettle. What suddenly bothered her so much about it? One of them always had a week's vacation every now and then. She wasn't so upset about it either. So why now?

She was startled when her cell phone rang and briefly wondered who else was calling her at 8:30 p.m. Then a smile came to her face.

"Hey, Sam. Are your ears ringing?"

"Hey, Pen. I don't have tinnitus. Why?"

"Just so. I was just thinking about you."

"Do you already miss me?" She could practically hear his wide grin.

"It's strange that you're not here," she replied with the same grin, but tried to sound calm and poured hot water into a cup.

"I've had several vacations, as you know, just like you."

"As if that had stopped us both from coming to the station every now and then?!"

"Or running into us in Pontypandy."

"Or that," she replied with a smile, suddenly knowing what was bothering her. She actually didn't have a chance to see Sam in the next few days. "What can I do for you?"

"For me?"

"Well, you called?!" She put a tea bag in her cup and smiled at Sam's sudden confusion.

"Oh, sure. I...um...wanted to hear how it was going. Yes, exactly. How was the mission today?"

"It went well. Norman tested the fit of his head on Station Officer Steele's garden fence today. That was the problem. We weren't allowed to use bolt cutters or spreaders." She sat on the couch and put her feet up. Somehow her day didn't seem as bad as it had 10 minutes ago.

"And how did you get him out in the end?"

"I sent Elvis and Ellie to Dilys to get her entire supply of butter." Sam laughed out loud and she waited a moment until he calmed down again. "It worked, just getting all the butter back off the fence was quite a task."

"Something like this can only happen in Pontypandy. I would have liked to have been there."

"If you had been there, I'm sure you would have come up with something better. As always."

"I think I won't sleep all night because I'll think about how this could have been solved differently."

"Oh dear, then your students will tear you apart tomorrow morning. Tired teachers are easy victims."

"You have more experience than me, so I'll listen to you and better go to sleep." A brief moment of panic overcame her. Did he want to end the conversation already?

“How was your first day anyway?”

"I was already overwhelmed by all the teachers, but when they introduced me to the 4th grade, my potential for receptiveness was completely exhausted." Now it was Penny's turn to laugh.

"The more you do this, the more names you'll be able to remember."

"This is and remains a one-time thing. I'm sticking with it."

"Why so stubborn, Mr. Jones? Is the big wide world nothing for you?"

"Cardiff is hardly the big wide world and yet it's too far away from...Pontypandy for my taste...If you have everything you want there, why would you want to leave?"

"I agree with you. What are you doing today?"

"Not much anymore. There's nothing on TV, I forgot to pack a book and the mini-bar in the room only has water. So it's going to be an non entertaining evening."

"What's the name of the hotel?"

"Cardiff Inn."

“Room number?”

"Do you want to visit me and make my evening?" Even though she had been thinking about something else, she found herself looking at the clock.

"Hardly. I wouldn't even be able to say hello to you if I wanted to be at the station on time tomorrow morning."

“You looked at the clock, right?” Sam's teasing voice made her blush and she remained silent as she couldn't lie to him or wanted to admit it. "255," he then added and she imagined him smiling as he did so.

"I'll see what I can do for you."

"I'm excited to see what you're up to."

"You'll have to be surprised." She smiled mildly as she looked at the clock again and had to stifle an unintentional yawn.

"I'll let you sleep now. Goodnight Penny."

"Good night Sam, sleep well and have nice dreams."

"Well hopefully not from butter." She laughed again and knew he was smiling too. "Thanks, Pen."

"For what?" she asked in surprise, after his gentle tone sent a pleasant shiver over her skin.

"For the nice conversation." He paused briefly before continuing almost inaudibly: "It was nice to hear your voice. Goodnight."

"Good night," she replied quietly, still completely overwhelmed by his surprising compliment when he hung up.

Maybe Sam's absence could be more pleasant than she thought...or at least not quite as bad as she had feared.

To be continued...