Nick settled back down onto the sand and pushed his shades up his nose. “She was cute.”
Howie agreed, watching her walk away. The sway of her hips were mesmerising. And those long tanned legs… He shook his head with a sigh. Like he would ever see her again. But he wanted to. He didn’t quite know why, but he did. That girl.
Sally leant over to Maria while Jay was occupied with sorting out some printing problem. “I can’t believe you sometimes Ria.”
She shrugged. “It wasn’t intended. I just tripped over his feet.”
Sally giggled. “I bet he’s got great feet.”
Maria rolled her eyes. “I didn’t exactly look.”
“And you don’t know their names?”
She shook her head. “Well, I have a two in five chance of guessing.”
Sally giggled again. “Go on then. Entertain me.”
“Hmm.” Maria leant back in her chair. “The blonde one was Brian?”
“Nup.”
“Then he must’ve been Nick.”
Her friend laughed. “You got it. Now try for the dark one.”
“Hmm… Kevin?”
“He was short, right?”
“A little taller than me I guess.”
“Then, no.”
“Ok, AJ’s the tattooed one huh?” She nodded and Maria smiled triumphantly. “Then it was Howie.”
Sally gave Maria a mini round of applause. “Well done Sherlock.”
“Thanks.” Maria grinned at her and went back to her writing. A few hours later, her cell phone rang and she grabbed it out of her bag, showering the place with sand and causing Sally to laugh and Jay to roll his eyes. “Hello?”
“Hey, either you been inhaling helium or you ain’t my bud.”
“Huh?”
“Ah, put him on.”
“Who?” Maria pulled a face at Sally, convinced she had a crank caller on the line.
“You know who.”
“I don’t.”
“You do.”
Maria rolled her eyes. “Look, I DON’T. Now either tell me straight or I’m hanging up. I don’t have the time to get into a do-don’t thing with some crank right now.”
“Crank?!” He laughed. “You think I’m a crank?”
“Aren’t you?”
“Nup. I’m thinkin’ you’re either a stalker or a thief. Which one?”
“Neither. This is my phone, and if I was stalking YOU surely I’d be calling you and not the other way round?”
He chuckled. “I meant stalking Howie.”
“Why the hell would I be stalking Howie? Who the hell IS he anyways?”
“Howie Dorough.”
Maria repeated the name and Sally’s eyebrows shot up. She mouthed ‘The Backstreet Boys’ to Maria and it finally clicked. “Ohhh, Backstreet Boy Howie?”
“Yup.”
“Well, I’m not stalking him. Though I did trip over that blonde guy you have on the beach and Howie got my bag together for me. Is that stalking?”
He laughed. “That would be Nick. And no, that’s not stalking. So, why’d I get you instead of Howie?”
“Beats me. Did your finger slip when you dialled?”
“He’s on my speed-dial.”
“Oh.” She thought for a while and then things began to make a little sense. “Oh!”
“What?”
“Maybe our phones got switched when he picked my stuff up earlier.”
“Sounds about right. Check the phone address book. First one should be Alex.”
She checked the phone. He was right. “Yup, it is. I’ve got Howie’s phone.”
He laughed. “He’ll be goin’ ballistic without it.”
“He’s got mine remember?”
“Better prepare yourself for a huge bill then. That guy is NEVER off the phone.”
“Great. Just what I need. Well, I’ll call my phone and arrange to swop back. Shall I tell him you called?”
“Nah, I’ll catch him later. It wasn’t important.”
“Ok, well bye.”
“Hey, what’s your name?”
Maria laughed and told him her nickname. “Ria.”
“Hmm, nice. Goes well with the voice. I always had a real thing for English accents.”
“Wish I could say the same for American accents.”
“Owch.” He chuckled. “So, what you doin’ right now?”
She started giggling. “Is this going to denigrate into phone sex?”
He laughed. “Hey, if you want.”
“Down boy, I’m at work here.”
“Damn.” He chuckled. “I guess we’ll just have to do it in the traditional way.”
“In your dreams.”
“Always,” he chuckled. “So, can I get your cell number? The real one.”
“To call Howie?”
“If that makes you give me it then…yes.”
Maria laughed. She wasn’t exactly in the habit of giving out her cell number to strange guys but his voice was damn sexy. Kinda rough and chillsome. What the hell. “Ok, it’s...”
“Thank you Ria. Damn, I love your voice…”
She laughed. “Well, it’s been an experience. Bye…err, who ARE you anyways?”
“AJ, but you can call me Alex.”
“I’m honoured.”
“You should be.”
“Bye Alex.” She hung up and looked at Sally who’d been blatantly eavesdropping the whole conversation. “That was AJ. I have Howie’s phone.”
Her eyes widened. “AJ? You do? Gimme!” She grabbed the phone before Maria could react and started flicking through his numbers. “Nick… Oh man.” She drifted off into a daydream and Maria grabbed the phone back. “Hey! I didn’t get time to memorise it.”
Maria laughed. “Bad luck.” She dialled her phone. After a few rings a man picked up.
“Hello?”
“Hi. Is that Howie Dorough?”
“Yes.” He sounded wary. “Who is this?”
“Oh you don’t exactly know me. My name’s Maria. We kinda met on the beach earlier when I tripped over Nick’s feet.”
“Oh yeah.” He chuckled. “How you doin’?”
“I’m fine, thanks.”
“Not to sound weird or anything, but how’d you get this number?”
She laughed. “Easy. It’s my phone.”
“Huh?”
“I’ve got yours. They must’ve got switched when you were picking my things up earlier. I only realised a few minutes ago when AJ rang.”
“Oh right.” He laughed. “Man, you must think I’m real dumb mixing up our phones!”
“Easy mistake. I grab my housemate Sal’s phone ALL the time.”
He chuckled. “Well, I guess we need to do a swop. When could you meet? Tonight?”
“Hang on.” Maria looked over at Jay who’d got dragged into the whole saga and was trying not to listen intentively. “Jay?”
“You can go when you finish that story.” He responded, blowing his cover.
She laughed and put the phone back to her ear. “I guess I’m free in about 10 minutes.”
“Great. How about the beach? Where Nick tripped you?”
“Yup, ok. See you there.” They hung up and Maria turned back to her computer, trying to ignore Jay and Sally’s stares.
Sally couldn’t hide her curiosity anymore. “Well?!”
Jay jumped in. “You’re meeting him?!”
Maria glanced up at them calmly. “Yup.”