Luke felt his heart drop. “This is Luke. Is Anna there?”
“Damn, dude. She is busy, man. Give her some damn space. You are worse than a stalker.”
Luke stood at the entrance to his vehicle, confused. Silence fills the space with Luke finding himself at a loss for words. He began to respond but heard the phone transfer from one person to another.
“Hello, Luke?” Anna said. “Hey, how was work?”
“Work was fine, sweetie. Who was that guy that answered the phone?”
Anna began to laugh. She took the phone from her ear to speak a few muffled words to another person. She returned to the phone. “Oh, that is nobody, just my friend, Calvin. I gave him my phone because some weird guy from one of my classes keeps calling and texting me. It was really freaking me out! I mean, he won’t take the hint! But he is scared of Calvin.”
Luke got into his vehicle and after buckling his seatbelt he started the engine and pulled out of the parking lot. While driving onto the main road he responded, “Well, I don’t appreciate the attitude. I mean, if I call to talk to my fiancé, he needs to back off. I appreciate him looking out for you and all, but damn…”
“I’m sorry about that, honey. I will tell him to be nicer to you.”
Luke soon ended the call as he got closer to his apartment. While waiting at a red light, he kept thinking about the name Calvin. It sounded so familiar to him, but he couldn’t figure it out. He felt his stress level begin to rise while waiting for the light to turn green. Having trouble with accepting what type of friends Anna was making in Oxford, Luke decided to pull into a gas station for something to help take the edge off.
He parked in front of the automatic door and got out. He walked into the store and requested a pack of light cigarettes. He handed the clerk a ten dollar bill and received a small rectangular box and a petite lighter.
He walked out of the store and entered his vehicle. He took a minute or two to pack the small cardboard box before placing one of the white sticks into his mouth. He lit the tip and enjoyed the euphoria as the stress melted from his mind and dissolved from his heart. In that moment, Luke had found perfect peace.
After only three hours of sleep, Luke woke to the new morning. He climbed out of bed and prepares himself for class. He made his way to his vehicle when he notices Audrey. She was slowly walking to his side of the building. With tears in her eyes, she said, “Hey. How have you been?”
“Not bad, just heading to school. What about you?”
Audrey looked at Luke and wiped the wetness from under her eyes. “Ben dumped me.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” Luke said while attempting to comfort his new friend. “I’m sorry, but I’m late for class, but if you ever need to talk, you know where I am.
Luke couldn’t help but think about Audrey’s situation on his drive to school. He remembered what it was like when he got rejected by Marion and knew what Audrey was going through. He could imagine what it would feel like to get that same call from Anna.
Chapter 17
Another day had passed and it was time for Luke to call Anna. He was satisfied with their arrangement and hoped that it hadn’t become a burden for Anna to remain available for that same time frame. A bittersweet and terrifying feeling consumed most of Luke’s thoughts when it came to Anna’s new friend, Calvin. Every time he thought of the name, he got the strange feeling that he knew him.
Luke picked up his cell phone and began calling Anna. It was soon answered, and Luke heard, “Hey, honey! What are you up to, sweetie?”
“I’m just headed home, going to do some school work and then get ready for work. How is…”
Anna interrupted, “I’m not wearing any clothes…”
Luke immediately felt the rush as it vibrated through his veins. “Really? Wow, I wish I could see that.”
Anna giggled as she responded in a new manner, “You will. I just sent you a picture. I’m going to get off the phone now, text me and tell me what you think. We could start doing this, sending photos back and forth. You know, to keep the passion alive.”
Luke hung up the phone and pulled into his parking spot. He looked down and stared at his indicator, waiting for the icon to show that he just received new mail. Several seconds later, the indication icon flashed at the corner of the phone.
Luke waited until he got into his apartment before opening the erotic message. He hurried through his living room, down the hall and into his bedroom. He placed his keys on his nightstand and removed his shoes while sitting on the edge of his bed.
Luke opened the multimedia file and watched as the picture began appearing slowly. As it loaded, he could make out Anna’s face, then her neck. He became confused when what appeared to be the top of a square box began to appear. The image continued to load and Luke soon made out a sign at the center of Anna’s chest. It read, “I can’t wait to see you again.”
Luke smiled feeling the secure connection between him and Anna become stronger. He responded to the picture messaging by sending a text message.
“I love your crazy ass.”
Luke placed his phone down briefly and changed into his work clothes. After tucking his long sleeve shirt into his pants and putting the final touches on his tie, he picked his phone back up and realized he has received another message. Curious, he opened the file to discover that it was another photo.
While waiting for the image to load, he grabbed his keys and walks down the hallway and exited his apartment. He took a look at the opened file and saw Anna sitting in a bathroom tub, completely in the nude. Slightly aroused by the image, he soon realized that both of her hands lay perfectly by her side. Confused, he called Anna after starting his vehicle.
“I sure do miss that body, baby. How did you get to take the picture with both of your arms at your side? Did you set some delay on the camera or did you get one of your sisters to take the photo?”
Anna laughed, placing the phone away from her face. Luke smiled, waiting for Anna to respond. After a moment, he heard the slight muffled sound as the phone was removed from her body and placed back on her ear.
“Yeah, honey, something like that.”
Luke arrived at work in a very pleasant and obviously upbeat mood. His supervisor even approached him during his shift and said, “I got to say, Luke, I’m very impressed with your attitude tonight. Mr. Blacksmith in room 504 on the second floor just told me that a very nice and well-dressed gentleman just left his room and made him feel as though he didn’t just get shot in the leg.”
Luke laughed along with his supervisor and while preparing paperwork for the next patient. “Mr. Blacksmith was a real trip. He told me he was in the middle of a love triangle when he got shot. He told me that his wife was seeing another man, and when he got home, he found her in bed with the guy. I thought it was great when he said, ‘The guy she was seeing looked like a member of the Taliban. I laughed my ass off when I saw the size of his penis. That is when the guy shot me.’”
The feeling continued until Luke ended his shift. He entered his vehicle and tries to call Anna. After waiting to talk to her, he received her voicemail. While feeling the comfortable cool breeze entering through his driver’s side window, he recorded a message.
“Hey sweetheart, just wanted to call and tell you that I love you and that I have been looking at your picture all day and it really made work easier. I miss you and I know that you are sleeping now, so I will try calling you in the morning. Good night, baby girl.”
The next morning, Luke woke to the piercing high pitch tone of his alarm clock. He rolled to his right side to turn it off. He then lay on his back and embraced the day. He took his phone off of the charger and sent Anna his signature text message. He then lifted himself out of the bed and prepared himself for class.
He arrived at school early enough to get a better parking spot. He took his time walking to class, smiling at every person that walks by. He entered his class and continued walking to his seat when he felt the front lef
t pocket of his jeans begin to vibrate. He slid his hand into his pocket and pulled out his phone. The bright indicator signals to him that he has received a message. He opened the message to see
“Oh baby…I can’t get you out of my mind...”
Luke began to respond when his professor arrived. He quickly placed his phone back into his pocket and prepared his pen and paper for note taking.
Class went by quickly and Luke soon walked out of the classroom, down the wide hallway and out of the building. He prepared to walk across the small road that continued towards the health building, when he ran into Charlie and Dan. Approaching them, Luke politely said, “Hey, guys, what’s going on?”
“Not much,’ Charlie responds. Just about to head to get something to eat. You want to go with us? We are hitting up the ‘Powerhouse’ today.”
Luke looked at Charlie and with an enthusiastic tone, he responds, “Shit yeah, man. I tell you what - it is on me today.”
Luke followed Charlie and Dan to the eatery. They entered and immediately walked towards the counter where a young and attractive woman stood and waited to take the next order. Charlie approaches the counter and orders a “Shrimp Taco,” Luke was next and requested a “Shout Out Chicken Tender Po’boy.”
Dan then walked up to the counter and requested, “Baby, I will take a bowl of ‘Power House Gumbo’ and your number.”
Charlie and Luke stood to the side of Dan, expecting a bit of violence from the woman standing behind the counter.
Instead, the woman smiled, removed a pen from the front of her register, and wrote down seven numbers on the back of Dan’s receipt. She handed the thin piece of paper to the brave young man and winked before turning around to deliver the orders.
Dan turns towards Charlie and Luke and said with great pride, “That is how you do it, gentleman. I took a chance, and now I will get to have sex with that sophomore.”
Luke arched his eyebrow while leaning on the metallic counter. “How do you know that - that she is a sophomore?”
Charlie and Dan began laughing and each placed a hand on Luke’s shoulders.
They found a booth on the third floor and rested as they waited for their meal. While watching sports on one of the many flat screen televisions, Luke began to fall into a slight depression. Dan directed his attention to the now sulking Luke. He turned his body towards the sad young man and said, “Dude, what’s wrong? Did you want Oklahoma to win? Because seriously, I didn’t see you as a ‘Sooner’ fan.”
“No, it’s Anna. I don’t really know what to think about her being in Oxford. I mean, at first it was okay, she was going to be gone for a few months, then back for the holidays, and then gone for one more semester and then back for good, but I think that maybe she is having a change of heart. I just don’t know.”
“That’s easy, man, she’s fucking somebody else. That’s what all women do when they are in long distance relationships. That is why they never work. You see, us guys are the only ones who have enough control to keep our dicks in our pants, but women - they got to have somebody there, all the time.”
Luke felt his vision become fixed on Dan. Confused and slightly offended, he responded with simple grace, “No, man, not Anna. She isn’t like that at all. She is pure, sweet and innocent. I mean, we are engaged. You know, it’s not like that at all. She wouldn’t cheat on me. I think I’m just taking all this the wrong way. Maybe I just have to get better use to her being gone. I just have to give her space and it will all be okay.”
Charlie sat and listened to Dan and Luke go back and forth. Realizing an opportunity to join the conversation, Charlie said,
“Look, Luke, don’t listen to what Dan has to say. You know this girl, and you know what she is all about. I mean, you said it, you guys are engaged to be married. I don’t think that a girl that is willing to agree to that, is just going to throw it away on some school year fling. Don’t think about it too much, buddy, but if you need to kick it with us later, you know where we always are.”
Charlie began to rub Luke’s right shoulder attempting to comfort Luke’s rattled nerves.
“Thanks, Charlie, you are right. I just need to wait it out.”
The three gentlemen then saw the attractive woman from behind the counter arrive at the table with their meals.
Shortly after completing his meal with Dan and Charlie, Luke decided to continue walking back to his vehicle and head home to rest before work. He stepped into his vehicle and feels his front left pocket begin to vibrate. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and discovers a new picture message from Anna. He opened the new file, to see Anna wearing nothing but the “USM Lifeguard” shirt that Luke gave her before he left the “College Fit Center” to work at the community center.
Curious and feeling a bit flushed, Luke sent Anna a text messaged.
“Wow, babe… I can only imagine what is under that shirt :)”
Luke stared at his phone the whole way home in anticipation for what was to be received next. It wasn’t until two hours later when Luke finally got the response from Anna, but was surprised to find that it wasn’t the response he anticipated.
“Hey honey, I’m going out tonight with some of my classmates. Have fun at work, I’ll talk to you later! Love you!
After receiving the message, Luke placed his phone on his charger to have it ready for when he went to work later that night. He then decided to lie down and ponder topics for his next project for school. It wasn’t long before Luke found himself in a deep sleep. His dreams brought him comfort and relief. He woke up thirty minutes later feeling refreshed and new. He got up, got dressed and headed to his final destination for the evening, the hospital.
Luke sat at his workstation and pondered further on the situation while enjoying the slow pace at work. Aware that the lack of paperwork to file would give him a chance to leave early and give him an opportunity to work on some assignments, Luke was just counting down the minutes before his supervisor gave him the word to clock out and go home.
Luke took some extra time to think about Anna. One of his co-workers, Mandy, exited one of the patient’s rooms and decided to walk to Luke’s desk. She placed her hand on the top of Luke’s monitor observing him in deep thought, and says with a deep Northern accent, “Penny for your thoughts, Luke.”
Startled, Luke directed his attention from the composite wood top desk to Mandy as she continued, “I tell ya, these patients are getting weirder and weirder. I just stepped out of room 216. This guy found out that his expensive female bearded collie, that he planned to breed, is actually a male! The dude went into shock. He passed out and hit his head on the kitchen counter. He has four inches of white bondage wrapped around his head. What a hoot!”
“Yeah,” Luke responded, “That is some crazy stuff.”
Mandy stood in silence for a moment and realized Luke was in despair. She placed her head on the back of the monitor and while pouting out her bottom lip, she asked,
“You okay, Luke? You seem pretty down in the dumps, man. Girl troubles, is it?”
“Well, something like that.” Luke stopped for a moment before continuing, “Mandy, let me ask you a question. If you were dating a man that lived only hours away from here, and you loved that person and you knew that you wanted to spend the rest of your life with them, and you knew that they felt the same way, would you ever suspect anything different from them?”
“Heck no, man. My boyfriend lives in Gainesville. I see him maybe once every three months. We have been dating for like two years, met online and just hit it off. I know he wouldn’t cheat on me, and I sure wouldn’t cheat on him. I think long distance relationships are good for couples. It makes them realize what they have when it’s not in front of them all the time.”
Luke began to smile feeling a rush of relief fill his body. He looked at Mandy, and while displaying his pearly white teeth, he said, “That’s makes sense. Thanks, Mandy, you are a life saver!”
Soon after, Luke was let go early. He decided
to call Anna. He received her voicemail and while still feeling the excitement from realizing that all the negative emotions and paranoid feelings were just in his head, he decided to record a message.
“Anna, it’s Luke, I know that you are sleeping, and – look, I just want to say that I can’t wait to see you again. I can’t wait to marry you and spend the rest of my life with you. I know that maybe I have been a bit impatient with this whole thing, and I just want you to know that I realize what is important to me, and that is you. That is why I decided to request off next weekend and drive up to Oxford to see you. Now, I haven’t gotten permission or anything yet, but I won’t take no for an answer, even if it means I end up quitting my job. I just want to see you, sweetheart. I’ll call you tomorrow. Good night, baby!”
The following morning, two hours before Luke needed to rise for school, a knock came at the door. Aggravated and stressed at the sudden awakening, Luke got out of bed and becomes decent. He walked down the hall to see that Alan had already welcomed the unexpected visitor inside. Luke turned towards the dining room to discover Audrey sitting with her face in the palms of her hands.
Audrey looked towards Luke and with eyeliner making black streaks down her face she apologized for the disruption and explained that she didn’t have anyone else to talk to. Her emotions had become too heavy for her to carry anymore as she sobbed through her and Ben’s breakup.
“I just don’t understand. I mean, I really cared about him. I loved him. He didn’t even give me a real reason why, he just called me up and said that it was over. Then he hung up and has been ignoring me since. I mean, what an inconsiderate prick, a piece of shit, that asshole, that… whatever.”
Alan soon excused himself from the conversation and went to his room to continue his slumber. Luke escorted the young lady to the outside hallway to continue listening.
Adaptation of the Chameleon Page 22
