The Hang Ups

“Hello,” Sheila said into the telephone receiver. She set it down. “Your girlfriend hung up on me again.”

Paul laughed. “Well, your boyfriend hung up on me twice yesterday and once the day before.”

It was a running joke between them since the phone calls began months earlier. No matter who answered, the caller always hung up once they answered. 

“We really should get caller ID.” Sheila told him. We might not know who it is, but we would at least have their number to call back or look up.”

“That’s a thought. I’ll look into it. The phone is equipped, we just have to order it,” he said. “Now that I’m working from home, it probably isn’t a bad idea anyway. I’d know if I missed a call from a client.”

Sheila nodded in agreement. “I still think someone is just casing the place to see if someone is home.”

Paul smiled and tried not to chuckle. It wasn’t the first time she had mentioned it. He had to admit they did have a lot of nicer electronics in the house, especially since he set up his office in the spare room as she pointed out several times. “Well, there isn’t always someone home. How could they possibly time it so that someone was always here to answer? If they were casing the house, wouldn’t they already have robbed us?”

“Okay,” she said. “But check into that caller ID. These calls make me nervous.” She shouldered her purse. “I have to go to work now. Have a good day.” She kissed him and patted the dog goodbye. 

Paul picked up the phone and dialed. “I told you to stop calling here. You’re making Sheila nervous.”

“Good,” said the sultry voice on the other end. “You were supposed to leave her a long time ago.

“Soon, my love. Soon. Meanwhile, stop calling. I’ll see you Thursday. Okay?”

Sheila told her friend at the office about the phone calls.

Carrie listened intently. “Have you been there when he answered the hang up calls?”

“Oh yes,” she replied, nodding. “He stays on a little longer before giving up, but I’ve seen it.”

“Try picking up when he does. If someone is there but he says it’s a hang up, you’ll know your little joke isn’t such a joke after all,” Brandi said. 

“You, my friend, have a suspicious mind.”

“I have experience with a rat husband cheating on me.”

The phone rang while Sheila was cleaning up the dishes. She picked up when she heard it stop ringing, cupping her hand over the mouthpiece to muffle out any outside sounds. The female voice made her skin crawl. She was changing their meeting time to one o’clock from eleven in the morning. She ended it with a ‘kisses lover’ before she hung up. Sheila replaced the receiver and grabbed a hand towel and went to Paul’s office.

“Who was on the phone?” she asked.

“No one,” he said. “It was a hang up again.

She sighed heavily. “Did you check on the caller ID?”

“Yes, it will take effect Monday,” he told her. “I didn’t see any reason to start it before then since that’s the beginning of the next billing cycle. They’d have to mess with the bill and it wasn’t worth it for a couple days.”

“Good,” was all she said.

Thursday morning Sheila kissed Paul goodbye as usual.  “I’ll be in meetings all day, so if you need something, you’ll have to leave a message on my voice mail.” Paul nodded acknowledgement.

At one o’clock Sheila sat down the block from her house. There she was, the other woman. She drove by in a black Mercedes. Her curly blonde hair hung loose around her bare shoulders. Her tanned face was heart shaped and her full lips were painted bright red. She wore large sunglasses and long gaudy gold earrings. She never even noticed Sheila’s car or Sheila sitting by the next driveway. She reached up and pushed a button on her visor and the garage door opened and then closed behind her as she pulled inside. 

Sheila blinked back tears and choked down her anger as she played with the papers her attorney had drawn up for her the day before. He had warned her to think long and hard before going through with serving them, to make sure she was right before she jumped to conclusions and ended her marriage.

After ten minutes Sheila unlocked the front door and went into the house. The dog picked up his head and began thumping his tail on his bed. She held up a finger to shush him as she squatted and scratched him behind the ears and kissed his furry head. Pulling her shoes off so as not to give herself away she made her way in the direction of the unmistakable sound in her bedroom. She squeezed her eyes shut before sticking her head in the doorway. 

“Didn’t take you long to get down to it, did it?” she said in a calm even voice. “Hang ups, huh?” She threw the divorce papers onto the bed next to a very surprised Paul, grabbed her cell phone and clicked a picture of the two of them in the bed. “Just in case I need proof, or leverage.” She said. “I’ll be back for my things later, after you have time to take out the trash,” she said staring pointedly at the woman. She started out the door but turned briefly. “Nothing of mine better be missing.”