32 comments
“What are you wearing?”
“This is going way too fast.”
“First time?”
“No. I mean, yes.”
“You’re not sure?”
“I’ve never called in to something like this before.”
“Got it. Okay, we can slow it down.”
“Thanks.”
“What would you like to call me?”
“Don’t you have a name?”
“I have the one I was born with. Our names—what we call one another—are tied to our identities. Our sense of self. But this is your fantasy, not mine.”
“As long as it’s not Julia, I don’t care.”
“Who’s Julia?”
“My wife.”
“I see.”
“Do you?”
“You’re not the first guy who’s called… to figure some things out.”
“You sound way too young to be a psychiatrist.”
“I’m old enough to pay rent.”
“And how old is that?”
“… Kendall.”
“What?”
“You can call me Kendall.”
“Feels weird.”
“It’s an old Welsh name. It means ‘see circle.’ You don’t like it?”
“It doesn’t suit you.”
“I went with something neutral to ease you in since this is your… first time.”
“I’m not a—I’ve got two kids.”
“Tell me about them.”
“Owen’s only eight years old, but every knuckle ball he’s ever pitched has been a strikeout. I’ve already got scouts approaching us after games about the major league. He’s dumb as rocks, but he’s got a good heart. Maddie’s five and dreams of being a dancer. We had to buy a ballet barre and mount it to the wall so she’d stop using the banister on the second floor.”
“Sounds like fun.”
“If by fun, you mean wake up, get the kids to school, work late, come home to a cold dinner, and repeat, then yeah, I’m having a blast. Honestly, I don’t know why I called.”
“Where’d you hear about us?”
“An ad on TikTok.”
“The algorithm never lies.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“My friends told me they tailor your feed to your browsing habits. But I wouldn’t know. I’m not on social media.”
“Really? You’re younger than me.”
“No time.”
“Too many extra-curricular activities?”
“School.”
“What are you studying?”
“Pharmacy.”
“Not gonna lie, if I knew my pharmacist did this on the side, I’d find a new drugstore.”
“Says the guy with a wife and kids.”
“Your insinuations that I’m a terrible person are not lost on me, Kendall.”
“Just stating the obvious.”
“I have no idea why I thought this would be a good idea. I’m hanging up.”
“Just a reminder: you prepaid for five sessions. They’re non-refundable.”
“Goodbye.”
#
“It’s nice to hear from you again, James. I’m surprised you called back. You sounded upset on the last call.”
“I still am.”
“Yet, here we are… shall we pick up where we left off?”
“Where was that?”
“You never told me what you were wearing.”
“Wow. You don’t waste any time.”
“Isn’t that why you called?”
“Julia and I got into a fight the other day.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault. She thinks I’m cheating on her.”
“Are you?”
“Of course not.”
“There’s a saying—men to the left, because women are always right.”
“I don’t know how we ended up here. We did everything by the book. High school sweethearts, college, marriage, bought a house, had the kids. Everything is the way it’s supposed to be.”
“Which is?”
“Perfect.”
“Sounds awful.”
“How?”
“When’s the last time you two had sex?”
“Uh, I think a couple weeks ago.”
“You think?”
“Twenty-nine days.”
“That’s almost a month.”
“We’re both busy. Between work and the kids, there’s no time.”
“Is that important to you?”
“What?”
“Intimacy with your wife.”
“Of course. What kind of question is that?”
“We make time for things we care about. It’s human nature.”
“The same way you make time for phone sex and pharmacy school.”
“Something like that.”
“Those things don’t go together.”
“They don’t?”
“No. If you were a prostitute or something, sure.”
“My mom advised against it.”
“Prostitution?”
“Yeah.”
“She sounds like a wise lady.”
“How’d you think she ended up with me?”
“…”
“…”
“I’m sure there are other jobs you could do besides this.”
“Perhaps.”
“But…?”
“But I can take calls at night when I’m not in class. It’s tough to find something flexible that pays this well.”
“How many years do you have left?”
“I just started. So eight years, excluding residency.”
“Jesus. How hard is it to count to thirty?”
“It’s hard.”
“Oh.”
“Something wrong?”
“Uh, no. I’m good…”
“You’re awful quiet.”
“Shit.”
“What?”
“Julia’s home. I’ve gotta go.”
#
“Good evening, James.”
“Hey.”
“I’m glad you called back. I enjoy our talks.”
“Do you?”
“Of course.”
“You’re paid to say that.”
“Perhaps.”
“Pharmacists make good money, you know.”
“That’s not why I’m doing it.”
“Why are you?”
“My mom got sick a couple of years ago. Breast cancer.”
“I’m sorry.”
“They caught it early, so it was treatable. She had to go through chemo and radiation. Lost all her hair, and the treatments completely wiped her out. I was curious about how drugs could be so harmful and beneficial at the same time. The duality intrigues me.”
“How is she now?”
“Would you believe me if I said she’s been through worse?”
“Actually, yeah.”
“Before she had me, she hook punched a client in the jaw because he wouldn’t pay.”
“Cancer didn’t stand a chance.”
“You’re right, though. Once I’m done with school, she won’t have to worry about bills anymore.”
“Yeah, it’s tough to survive on one income these days.”
“We made it work.”
“What was it like? Growing up without a father?”
“I didn’t understand it as a kid. Everyone else had a dad. Took me a long time to accept.”
“That’s why I’m doing this, you know.”
“What?”
“Talking to you. I can’t destroy this family.”
“Okay.”
“That’s it? Just okay?”
“Were you expecting something else?”
“Well, yeah. I expected you to say something judgmental.”
“Is that what you want from me?”
“Uh, no.”
“Then, what?”
“… I don’t know. I just… like the sound of your voice.”
“Me too.”
“You like the sound of your own voice?”
“I like the sound of yours better.”
“Right…”
“There’s that thing you’re good at.”
“What?”
“Silence.”
“Sorry. Just thinking.”
“About what?”
“Is it cheating if I’m… fantasizing?”
“Perhaps.”
“Perhaps?”
“Probably depends on who you ask.”
“What about for Julia?”
“You tell me.”
“I had sex with her. After our last call.”
“That’s nice.”
“Physically, everything felt good. Great, even.”
“But…”
“I wasn’t thinking about her.”
“Who were you thinking about?”
“… Someone else. I imagined what he looked like. The way he smelled. Or how his skin felt against mine.”
“…”
“You must think I’m a terrible person.”
“No.”
“Then what do you think?”
“Does it matter?”
“It matters to me.”
“I think it’s complicated.”
“I love my family. I can’t just throw that all away.”
“How so?”
“For starters, I’m the primary provider. Julia would have to get a job. Which she could, but we agreed before we had kids she could be a stay-at-home parent. It’ll be tough to change that up on her after all these years. And the kids would grow up hating me, because their stupid dad broke up the family. With my luck, they’d end up like you—on the other end of a sad phone sex line.”
“…”
“Fuck. I’m sorry, Kendall. I didn’t mean—”
#
“I didn’t think you’d take my call again.”
“I hadn’t planned on it, but you made an interesting case to my manager.”
“Are you mad at me?”
“… What are you wearing?”
“Answer the question.”
“What do you expect, James? I’m not a shrink. I’m a college student putting myself through school. You’re paying money for a service we don’t provide. There are other places where kinks like consensual disrespect can be dispensed.”
“I know.”
“So, what exactly are we doing here?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Okay.”
“Seriously. I’ve been a mess since our last call. I can’t sleep. My mind’s all jumbled up with these thoughts I don’t know how to deal with. And when you wouldn’t take my calls, I nearly lost it.”
“What do you mean?”
“Sometimes, I wonder if it would be better if I just...”
“James?”
“It would be so easy. My family would be taken care of with the life insurance policy. Julia would eventually remarry. Someone who adores everything about her. And the kids would love him, because they knew him. Like, really knew him.”
“Listen, I know you’re struggling right now. It’s okay. I’m not mad. But let’s talk this through.”
“It’s just… too much, sometimes.”
“… Can I tell you a story?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“When I was in second grade, there was this guy… Alex. We did things I thought were normal for little kids: laughed on the playground, held hands, hugged. Sometimes during recess, I would lie on the grass, tucked into the space between his chest and arm while looking at the clouds.”
“Sounds nice.”
“The adults didn’t think so. One day after school, he invited me over to his house. I had no idea, but he was a rich kid. Big house, a maid and butler, five cars in the driveway, all of it. We were lying in his bed together, reading a book. Then, his dad comes in and sees us. Next thing I know, my mom comes to pick me up and Alex transferred to another school the next week.”
“Wow.”
“I’ll never forget what my mom said to me in the car.”
“What?”
“There’s no right or wrong way to love, Kyle.”
“…”
“That’s when I knew.”
“Knew what?”
“From where I sat, Alex had it all. A picture-perfect house, all the money he would ever need. But even though it was just me and my mom, barely scraping by, I was better off than he was.”
“…”
“James?”
“Yeah.”
“If you’re up for it, let me help you. They give us numbers to call whenever clients…”
“Lose their shit?”
“Something like that.”
“You must think I’m a coward.”
“No. But I know if you do something like this, your family will be exactly where you feared they would.”
“You’re right.”
“Plus, I like the sound of your voice.”
“…”
“Are you crying?”
“No.”
“What is it?”
“You sure you aren’t a psychiatrist?”
“Definitely not.”
“Whenever Owen and Maddie got sick, I was the one who had to go to the drugstore. Our local pharmacist always looked calm, dressed in her white coat. I’d give her money, and she gave me something that always made the kids feel better. Kind of like right now.”
“If you wanted drugs, all you had to do was ask.”
“No, this is way better.”
#
“It’s been awhile, James.”
“How’ve you been, Kyle?”
“Good. You’re not using my alias today?”
“It’s not that much different from Kendall.”
“I guess I should have changed it to something with a different first letter. I think I read somewhere that people subconsciously pick aliases that are derivative of their original name.”
“How come?”
“It’s a way of not completely letting go of your identity. Since your name is tied to your sense of self.”
“There you go, being all philosophical again.”
“It’s part of my charm.”
“…”
“What?”
“I need to thank you.”
“For my witty musings?”
“I finally worked things out with Julia.”
“Oh?”
“We’re getting a divorce.”
“How do you feel about that?”
“Your story. It was like the weight of a truck barreling down the highway slammed right into me. I thought, if a kid could be that brave, surely it can’t be that hard.”
“You give me too much credit.”
“No, I’m not. For the first time in my life, I don’t know what I’m doing. But it’s the right thing to do. Julia deserves someone who can love her in a way I can’t. And the kids should know their real father, not a dressed-up version like Maddie’s Barbie dolls.”
“That’s really brave of you.”
“What was it that Jimmy Carter said? ‘To be true to ourselves—’”
“‘We must be true to others.’”
“What the hell?”
“Hmm?”
“You’re too young to know that reference. Jesus.”
“History is a required class for pharmacy school.”
“Is there anything you don’t know?”
“Perhaps.”
“…”
“…”
“I got it.”
“What?”
“Something you don’t know.”
“What’s that?”
“I never told you what I’m wearing.”
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32 comments
Ah, great last sentence! 😃 I thought you wouldn't miss this challenge. And I liked Kyle. Favourite bit: "“Well, yeah. I expected you to say something judgmental.” “Is that what you want from me?”" - what customer service!
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Ri Ri !!! Glad you liked the story. Always a pleasure to run into you on here :) Kyle seems to be a fan favorite. I didn't have his backstory completely fleshed out when I started writing - it came to me in fragments. Funny enough, there are autobiographical parts of Kyle's story (could be a fun game to guess which parts lol), so it's cool that people have latched on to him. I've heard people say we write parts of ourselves into the characters on the page, and this is definitely true here. Until next time!
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Autobiographical details? I know you're a pharmacist. You've set me up for guessing a side hussle! I really liked his story too and how you managed to give both of them just enough background to make this work. Definitely true though, all characters are parts of us in some way. (But I hate when people assume from the get go they're all self-inserts even if they don't even know me - part of the reason I rarely write female characters - it's annoying as hell. 😂 Do you ever get that?!)
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Eh, I don't mind if people assume characters have some semblance of myself, even the bad ones. I've found most of my characters, even the ones way out there, have something of me there... even if it is a faint whisper. I love writing female characters because I am pretty sure in another life I was a woman. And probably will reincarnate into one when my soul wakes up in a sci-fi future where we fly around in spaceships and fight for our lives against a superior alien race :) AAAAND I'll fall in love with a Harrison Ford space cowboy.
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No, I also agree that'd be a correct assumption for every writer (we wrote them, duh), but I feel different about when someone starts reading a story and then go "aw, it's you". I like your sci-fi afterlife plans! Though I would rather pick being a plant for myself.
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I got the biggest smile on my face when I read the last sentence. Perfect way to end. Ugh, how I wish I'd written this. (And I was so, so close to going the phone sex route with this prompt too, but I couldn't get the tone right at all, so kudos to you for taking what I only envisioned as 'funny story' material and transforming it into something poignant and deep.) Broken record alert: Your dialogue is amazing. Should've guessed this would be the prompt you'd choose to tackle. And I think what really helped the story was framing it as multi...
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Zack! My prompt partner for the week! Glad you stopped by. The last line was one of those things that subconsciously happened as I wrote. In my original outline of the story, it ended a little different and not so positively, but the muse took over somewhere along the way and gave me that instead. And I've learned over the years (jeez, almost my two-year writing anniversary so I can say that now) to trust her when she bitch slaps me in the face. So, thank you and you're welcome :) Yes, dialogue is my fave. But admittedly, this was harder t...
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The last line! It was perfect.😁
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Thanks Claire!
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Hey JC, This was a very interesting take on the prompt. It took me a second to put the puzzle pieces together. I really liked the way you characterized everyone-made them human. I also really liked all of the ethical questions you were asking in this piece. My favorite line was when he was talking about how he knew because people always asked me how my parents knew they were gay, so I figured you were implying that answer to the question, but instead you made it a more general theme to life and I appreciate that more. Nice work!
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Thanks for stopping by Amanda! Always a pleasure to hear from you. Hope all is well :)
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Very creative for a story about a guy talking with a phone-sex woman. Reminds me of the episode of Family Guy.
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Love Family Guy! Thanks for the comment.
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You're welcome! Can you read The Wrath of Roachzilla?
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This was incredible. You captured James' angst perfectly, and I fell for Kendall/Kyle almost immediately. The moral wrapped nicely in there (well, more than one, really) and sneaking in the character's arc with a witty last line...all expertly done.
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Thanks so much for the feedback, Kt! I had a lot of fun writing these characters, and I'm glad you enjoyed it.
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I love the natural flow of the dialog and the last line that gives the story a "rounded" structure. Funny, simple, and yet engaging and deep. Great job!
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Thanks for the feedback, Vera!
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Your dialogue is pitch perfect, so natural-the pauses, the awkward bits, the question dodging-all of it. But in addition, you managed to squeeze a poignant story out of it, build characters, and come up with a great ending.
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Thanks Wally! Appreciate you taking the time to read and give feedback. Means a lot!
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" We did everything by the book." - This reminds me of the holy grail or as it is written talk. Who owns that bloody book, is my question? I keep hearing people saying, "by the book." Maybe we shouldn't do everything by the book and just live how we want to, like James, “… Someone else. I imagined what he looked like. The way he smelled. Or how his skin felt against mine.” So many people deny themselves what they really want for something they did because everyone else was doing it too. It sounds like it when he gives his laundry list of the...
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Hi Lily! Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. Really appreciated. I can relate to both of these characters, because there was a time in my formative years when I was like James due to growing up in a conservative, traditional house and the values my parents placed on me. Fortunately, I came out of that, but I was on a similar path if something didn't change. As you so eloquently said, screw the bloody book :)
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J.C., LOL! I prefer the people who dare to write their own; they are much more fun. :D LF6.
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Phones are a perfect match for dialogue only, and the format works very well in this story of guided self-discovery. The subject matter - it revolves around preconceptions. James is a prisoner of his. He had an idea of what a perfect life should be, of how he should act, of what an ideal marriage should be. Of how younger generations should behave and what they should know. Should should should. It sounds like Kyle might have been spared from that at an early age, with his mother showing him things weren't always what they seemed, what t...
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Hello Michał, Thanks for stopping by to read and comment! As always, your commentary dissects the story in ways that make me sound smarter than I am :) I'd love to get my hands on this book and mark some of the pages out with a big sharpie. Nobody likes those people who seem like they have it all together, anyway LOL
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Understanding the mores of society at large is easy enough, but getting a society to change their beliefs and outlooks takes courage and perseverance. This is how I see Kyle, through the excellent and heavily-nuanced dialogue you created. The five sessions concept was great. Five different sessions that peel back the layers of Kyle's struggles. Reminds me of Salome and the seven veils. Pretty sophisticated tale you wrote here, and there are moral underpinnings galore. It has the essence of a fable without being preachy. Nicely done, my frie...
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Thanks Del! Appreciate the feedback. I wanted to tell a story that crossed generations, partly to honor those who paved the way for the future to make it a little brighter. My original intent was to make it one long session, but as I wrote it naturally broke itself up. Gotta trust the writing process, right? Glad you stopped by for a read!
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This definitely didn't go the way I thought. You totally nailed the tone here. And the last sentence is perfection.
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Thanks Jaden! Somehow, I managed to make phone sex sweet, lol.
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The depth of the nuance you were able to pull off with only dialogue is amazing. I feel bad for James who tried so hard to find his perfect life, then once he had it, realized it was a trap. I have tried and failed to write about the therapist/coach/shrink relationship- I should have started with a phone sex worker!
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Thanks Marty! Admittedly, dialogue is my favorite part to write, but when we were challenged to ONLY write dialogue, I realized how much I relied on the prose surrounding the dialogue to help convey the story. You really have to nail the voice without tags, and you lose the ability to describe nonverbals in this form (which I had not realized how much I relied upon until this exercise). I'm actually quite fascinated with the psychology of sex workers. Would love to expand on it in my writing, but it's on the list of many ideas I have yet to...
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What a splendid story, both in form and content! You managed to make it sound alive, poignant and tender at times, snarky at others, and always hitting the right note - and knowing when and how to understate. I never imagined three dots could be so moving. I initially figured Kendall as female (the "anything but Julia" was a clever misdirection) but when they switched to Kyle, a lot of the dialogue prior acquired a new layer (something I always love in fiction is when re-reading offers a completely different experience) - including James' s...
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