The Unknown Caller

The weather was 38 degrees below Fahrenheit. Mandy was shivering all the way from her ears to her toes. New York City was one of her favorite places in the world, but she couldn’t stand these goddamn winters. It was her boyfriend Max’s idea. He always came up with the most outlandish ideas. Hopefully she could find shelter in this hellhole.

She used to have bad luck slipping on ice. But thankfully, she had the best boots to help her out. So that rarely happened anymore. How could she hold onto hope at all if this winter seemed to be dragging more than usual? She couldn’t be too pesssimistic, but she had to have hope. Suddenly, she saw a little Chinese restaurant off her the corner of 83rd and 5th Avenue. “Thank the Lord!” she said out loud to no one in particular.

Then she woke up and groaned. These dreams were becoming ridiculous; they also wouldn’t stop. Her hippie mother told her that maybe the dreams were a fucked up way of telling her that she needed to get laid.

Mandy was back in NYC. The eclectic traffic surfed right past her, people were impatiently walking past her, and she had to get the hell out of this damned winter.

She found a Chinese restaurant called Hop Kee Restaurant and immediately went in, rubbing her hands fiercely together. The wall decor wasn’t entirely ugly, but it wasn’t beautiful either. It was green and gray at the same time; not a great combo. But the smell of great Chinese food made up for this cliched atmosphere.

Max was outside of his Connecticut home. The pipes needed to be cleaned out as soon as possible, and there was no way in hell he would let Mandy do that job. It may have been chauvinistic, but he thought a man should do all of the housework and women should only bear and take care of children. He was worried about his girlfriend, though. He had to stand up to her and tell her that the memory she has of New York is wrong. For one thing, they have only been to New York four times: once for her grandmother’s funeral, another time to see her ex-boyfriend George perform in a band, the third time was to walk through Central Park, and the fourth and final time was to see the New Year’s Eve ball drop in 1995.

He knew it was wrong to manipulate someone’s medication, but it was the only way to keep Mandy under control.

“I’m home.” Mandy was smiling from the wonderful winter weather outside. Her cheeks were very pinkish and her smile was very white.

“Welcome back, sweetheart.”

They both kissed each other. “How was your day, Max?”

“It was very good. I took care of the trash and vacuumed around the house.”

Mandy turned around and was stunned. “That’s crazy. You’re always telling me that I should clean around the house more often.”

Max smiled and said, “Well, I thought for once that I should do the housecleaning.”

Mandy blushed with glee. She always had doubts that Max loved her, but those doubts went away. “You’re so sweet, babe.”

“No kidding.”

Mandy sighed. “So what should we do now?”

“Do you want to watch a movie?”

“Sure. Let’s go to Netflix.”

The scrolling took about 30 minutes, but they finally settled on the film “I Am Sam.”

After making love and a delicious lasagna meal, the couple was in bed watching Netflix. They watched the show Rosario Tijeras. Max thought the main character was hot, and Mandy lived for the drama of it all.

“She can never be killed. She’s a fighter like me.”

“Yes, babe, you’re a survivor. You have a great routine with your bipolar medication, your anger is manageable, and you have a boyfriend that loves you.”

Still, Mandy couldn’t help but wonder what Max was really thinking. She had mentioned in therapy before that she and her boyfriend had had communication issues in the past, and even though most of those had been remedies, Mandy had to remember that she was not a mind reader and that Max couldn’t control her.

“Are you just saying that to make me feel better, or do you really mean it?”

Max sighed. “I really mean it. You are stronger than you realize.”

She was elated. For so long, she yearned for a man that saw her as an individual, not just as a hot bimbo. And now, that fairy tale had finally come true. But she couldn’t help but still doubt that little voice inside of her organs, all of them screaming, “Danger, danger, leave behind your terrain!” She made a mental note to go to her therapist tomorrow and talk about this without her beau knowing about it.

“This is horseshit! Why am I having these doubts now? He should be my soulmate.”

Mandy was back in the therapist’s office. Her schedule was packed, but luckily, she could fit her frazzled client in for a 3 o’clock appointment.

“Tell me more on why you feel this way.” The therapist scribbled in her notes.

“I don’t know. Everything should be perfect. But I still have those dreams where I’m lost in New York and everything is chaotic and out of control. I love Max, but sometimes, I think he controls the idea of me rather than the real person in front of him.”

“Mandy, that may be the most profound thing you ever said. Often times, in relationships, we tend to fall in love with the fantasy of a person rather than the reality they represent.”

“I guess that means I should break up with him.”

“Wait, I thought you loved him.”

“I do. But I need to learn to be my own woman.”

“I’m so proud of you.”

***

Later, after having fish and chips for dinner, Mandy gestured for Max to come over.

“I can’t explain why, but I think we should break up.”

“Are you fucking kidding me? We’ve been together for 7 years.” Max looked pissed off while folding his arms.

“And those years have been wonderful. But I don’t think you’re in love with me. I think you love the mere idea of me.”

Mandy shared the last, glorious kiss on her flawed hero’s face. Time slowed down and yet sped up at the same time.

“Goodbye Max.”