Just in Case

Late night phone calls and ambient lighting.

My phone buzzed a third time as I continued to stare at the number on the screen. I was frozen. Do I answer? A fourth buzz. Of course I answer. A fifth buzz. All I'd have to do is flip the phone up and we would be connected. Live. Voice to ear and ear to voice. A fifth buzz. Jesus help me, I flipped the phone up and pressed it to my ear,
"Hello?" That's right Amber, just play cool.
A pause. "Uh, hey. Is this Amber?" God, he sounded so hot. Images of a shirtless Justin sprawled on his bed completely shrouded in darkness and moonlight flashed in my mind. My stomach turned flips in my abdomen and I flipped myself all the way over so that I was laying tummy down on my bed.
"Yeah, this is Amber, who's this?" Yes, good job. Make him think that you have so many people calling you. Wait, does that make me a hoe? Shit. A laugh rumbled across the speaker,
"It's me, Justin," another pause and then, "The guy from Walmart." God this was awkward. Now what? What did I say? 'Gee thanks for calling me back'? 'Wow you're so hot' ? There was a slight awkward pause as I figured my life out. Luckily, Justin must have understood my dilemma and stepped in to fill the awkward silence thanks to yours truly.
"I got your message earlier but I was still at work and we aren't supposed to use our phones while out on the floor, otherwise I'd have called you back sooner." I flicked my eyes over to the clock on my nightstand. The time read 11:45.
"You work this late?" Great. Now I sound like his mom.
Justin let out another laugh. The sound made me smile.
"No, I got off at seven, but my brother and I went to go skate for a bit. I just got home."
"Oh." I said nodding my head. When I realized he couldn't see me I rolled my eyes at my ignorance and flopped over on to my back. I stared at the ceiling trying to think of what to say. I'd had so many questions for him earlier and while I did want to ask, I didn't want to seem annoying. Chel would probably just pepper him with questions rapid fire. I thought as I rolled my eyes at myself once more. This was not going the way I'd envisioned.
"Do you work?" He asked. I could tell that if I didn't start talking and make more stimulating conversation that we would hang up soon and I'd never talk to him again. I didn't want that to happen and when I realized I was slowly losing his interest something inside me snapped to attention.
"Yeah, I work at Vans skatepark over on International drive." I knew this would make me sound cool. He was a skater, and while I was too, there was a certain level of authenticity that came with not only skating for fun, but having the knowledge and know how to build boards for other skaters.
"Oh yeah?" He asked. I could tell from the tone in his voice that I had impressed him. I smiled smugly to myself. Maybe I did have a few things to offer him.
"Yeah. I build boards, sell parts and memberships. I've never had to work the gate though." I said. I tried to be as ambiguous as possible. The truth was I was one of three girls that worked at the skate park. Melanie was the retail manager and handled the clothing and shoe sales on the retail side of the park. Amy and myself worked the actual skate park side. While we both were responsible for running the register, selling memberships, and getting pads for the skaters in the park, I was the only girl there who knew how to build boards. I took pride in the fact that Pete, one of the park managers, had personally taken me aside one day and had shown me all the parts that went into building the perfect board. Now, I was just as well versed in the world of trucks, bearings, and grip tape and the rest of the guys who worked up there. I just couldn't skate as well as they could. They had a skate instructor there, Daniel, who I had contemplated asking to give me private lessons on the weekends, but I could never seem to get over the social anxiety of having to actually walk up and ask him.
"Yeah, I don't think they should let girls work the gate in all honesty." Justin said. I could hear rustling on his end of the line and visions of him shirtless popped, once again, into the forefront of my mind.
"Oh really?" I said haughtily.
"Yeah, really. Some of those guys up there are assholes and I've seen one or two of them get rough when they're thrown out. I don't think they'd hit one of the guys up there, but there's no telling what they would do if it were a girl throwing them out on their ass." Justin laughed to himself. "Matter of fact, I'd like to see a girl throw some of those guys out."
I smiled. "Yeah, those guys can be rough sometimes. The BMX riders are better about it though." The park allowed BMX riders to come in the first Tuesday of every month to ride. We stayed open an hour later, order pizza, and blast the music. I liked BMX night because you didn't have the clatter and clang of board hitting the rails and half pipes. The bikes were quieter thanks to the rubber tires and those guys usually brought their own pads and gear so cleaning up for closing meant I wouldn't be on pad duty.
"I've always wanted to learn how to BMX" Justin said, and then almost as if the thought just occurred to him, "do you skate?" He asked eagerly. I almost laughed out loud.
"I work at a skate park, what do you think?"
Justin laughed at this. A real laugh, not the breathy laugh from earlier. It was music to my ears. His voice was loud and deep and rich. His laugh made me smile. I felt special that I was able to make him laugh like that, and I realized that in that moment I wanted to be the only one in the world who ever made him laugh like that.
"Touché." He said. He had won me over just like that. Based on a two minute conversation about work, and with his gorgeous laugh and correct usage of the word 'touché', I knew that I had a major crush on this guy and that I would do what ever was necessary to win him over.