Cathy and more unanswered questions.

“Hi hun …”

It was Cathy’s voice, but it sounded quite strained, rather hoarse, and ****. I couldn’t hear any other background noise as I tried my best to concentrate during what seemed like an elongated pause of silence.

“Is everything okay?” I had to ask, the conversation not being of the usual nature.

Again, a long pause of silence was followed by a brief response. “Umm … yeah...”

I waited for an explanation, yet again, received none. More silence ensued, only adding to my frustration. “CATHY!” I had nearly screamed into the phone, forgetting that I was at work. I was glad no one paid any attention to my irritated state, lowering my voice again. “What’s going on? You called me! Now tell me, what’s happening!”

I thought I heard a sharp intake of breath followed by a long exasperated sigh. I was fairly certain that I heard, “mmmmm,” even though it was muffled.

“Sorry hun …. mmph … I … ummm … got a lot going on.” There was another long period of silence, and it seemed as if her hand was over the receiver, because all I could hear were muffled sounds. Cathy came back with a sudden burst of clearness. “Look … I just wanted to call and say hi. It looks like it’ll be a long day at work! I’ll call you later.”

Before I had a chance to utter a reply, the unmistakable click of the phone signaled the end of our conversation! I practically slammed the phone on the hook, cursing under my breath, already playing out the confrontational scenes that were destined to play out this evening when Cathy walked through the door!