The Games…

Thank you for taking the time to read my summer fiction series story. If you have not yet read the first three parts please do so:

Small Hand and Foot Prints; Big City Girl

Mom Knows Best

Chatty Charles

Tweet Tweet

"Well, this is a bit too much". Phoebe thought.

She was playing back the train ride, the Twitter search, and now this mystery man is not showing up to pick up the earrings.

The roommates all told Phoebe to just let it go. If this guy wanted to earrings back it would be up to him to reach out.

Phoebe was not sure why she just could not let it go.

She had not heard from Chatty Charles in the last 3 weeks. She had not texted the number he left at the coffee shop. If he was a crazed killer she was not going to invite him into her life.

******

Phoebe was sitting outside enjoying the sunshine and reading while in between classes. She heard her phone buzz and saw a notification from her Twitter account. She figured it was Lou sending her something funny like she always did. Lou spent so much time on Twitter.

She hit the Twitter icon and clicked the alert: “Hey there, not so nice girl.” Phoebe read that tweet and immediately was pissed off.

“Who the hell does this guy think he is?” Phoebe mumbled.

She decided she was not going to respond. If he wanted the earrings he needed to ask and stop the game play.

Phoebe went to class and when she came out she checked her phone. No tweet notifications from Chatty Charles. She was a bit relieved and also irritated.

When she got on the train she was looking around frantically. She did not want him to be on the train again without any backup from her roommates. The train got to her stop and she hurried to her apartment.

Phoebe decided she would wait until the roommates got home to tell them the latest about Chatty Cranky Charles.

Buzz Buzz.

Phoebe’s fun was at it again.

A tweet notification.

Ugh. Phoebe thought.

She looked and there was a tweet: “Do you still have my emeralds, when can I get them back?”

“The nerve of this guy!” Phoebe said out loud.

******

The roommates all got home and Phoebe gave them the latest scoop.

“Text him,” said Tabitha said.

“Yeah, enough of the games,” Anna said.

Phoebe was hesitant…

She pulled out her phone and decided to go ahead and send the text.

“Hi, this is Phoebe, when do you want to get your earrings?” Phoebe typed and hit send.

Phoebe stared at her phone waiting for a reply.

One minute went by without a text.

Two minutes went by with no text.

Five minutes went by with no text.

Twenty minutes after the text was sent: Buzz Buzz.

Phoebe looked at her phone.

“Not so nice girl, nice to hear from you. I’d like to get my earrings this Friday is that okay?”

“Sure.” Phoebe typed back.

“Ok cool, I will let you know where we can meet.” He replied.

That was it no more texts…

Phoebe told her roommates that she could not wait to give the earrings back and be done with this weird guy.

The plan would be for the roommates to chaperone Phoebe Friday to return the earrings.

*****

Three more days until the earrings would be returned. Phoebe checked her Twitter and her phone a lot. No messages from the mystery man.

“I guess I will just wait to hear from him.” Phoebe thought.

Thursday evening Phoebe got texts from Cranky Charles. She no longer called him Chatty Charles since he was so silent on the texts and tweets.

He texted asking so many questions: How are you, Are you nice, What are you doing, How was your day….

Phoebe answered all of his questions. He joked with her about not being nice when she replied that she was nice. They chatted back and forth for about an hour.

“This is weird. I am talking to a stranger telling him my business. Have I lost my mind?” Phoebe said to herself.

Her mom would not approve of this at all! Giving her info to a stranger in the city. Mom would for sure be ticked off.

“So is tomorrow at 5:30 pm at the coffee shop a good time to meet up?” Phoebe texted to Cranky Charles.

This time his response was fast.

“Nope, that won’t work. We will meet at Cowboys at 9 pm.” He replied.

Nine o’clock on a Friday night this guy… Phoebe thought.

She replied, “Ok sounds good see you tomorrow.”

All she wanted was to give the earrings back so whatever it takes.

The roommates were not happy. They all said this guy was taking up their Friday night.

******

Phoebe got off work and rushed home. She and the roommates laughed and got ready to meet Cranky Charles. This time they were all going up to him they had all agreed.

The entire training ride and walk were full of laughs. Phoebe had already texted him to confirm and he confirmed he would be there.

They walked into Cowboys and it was like a rodeo. They all laughed. None of them were dressed for this place.

Phoebe looked around, and she was not sure what the person she was looking for looked like.

She decided to text the mystery man.

“Are you here?” She texted and hit send.

“I will be there in 5 minutes,” he replied.

Phoebe had the box with the emerald earrings in her purse. She was ready to hand them to him and get out of here.

As she and the roommates were chatting Phoebe saw Lou, Anna, and Tabitha's eyes all get wide and shift. Right, when she was about to ask what the problem was she felt a tap on her shoulder.

Phoebe turned around and all she saw was a bright smile and heard the words “Hey not so nice girl.”

Phoebe replied, “Here you go, here are your earrings, goodbye.”

“Not so fast.” He replied as he grabbed the earrings and put them in his jacket pocket.

“Let's have a real introduction my name is Stephen, it is nice to meet you, Phoebe.”

At this point, the roommates are giggling and Phoebe is ready to run.

Stephen was handsome, with a great smile and some sort of appeal.

He asked them all to stay and have dinner. They agreed.

The dinner started off awkward but within 20 minutes they were all laughing and chatting.

Lou asked him why he had left the earrings in Phoebe’s bag and he just winked. He kept avoiding the question.

Phoebe still kept thinking this was all so strange.

After dinner, Phoebe told Stephen she and the roommates would need to get going.

Stephen said, “Not so fast before you all go there is something we need to do.”

“Um, what…” Lou asked,

“We are going to ride the mechanical bull!” Stephen shouted.

“No!” the roommates all shouted.

After a few minutes of convincing, the roommates agreed to ride the darn bull.

Lou went first and there were so many laughs.

Stephen went next and he did really well

Tabitha and Anna were pathetic but they made everyone laugh with the dramatics.

Phoebe went last and she shocked everyone! She may be a big city girl now but her country roots helped her do great even better than Stephen at bull riding.

They all walked out of Cowboys together and Stephen cleared his throat very loudly….

“Hey, Phoebe just so you know the earrings were left in your bag on purpose. I wanted to see if you were trustworthy, even though I had no idea how I would get them back. I knew you always stopped at the coffee shop and I have seen you there several times.”

“WHAT!!!” Phoebe yelled.

The roommates backed away a little but were still close enough, so they could hear what Charles and Phoebe were saying…

Stephen told Phoebe he had been previously engaged and had his heartbroken and his dating life had been horrible. When he kept seeing her at the coffee shop he thought he’d take a chance and somehow try to ask her out. He too had usually taken the same train route she did.

Phoebe stood there stunned.

Stephen pulled the earrings out of his pocket and said “These are yours now.” As he handed the earrings to Phoebe.

“Phoebe I’d like to get to know you more and take you out on a real date, without them.” He said as he pointed at the roommates

Phoebe looked at the roommates, and they were all nodding their heads in agreement with Stephen.

Phoebe felt like she was being pranked but she knew she wasn’t.

She agreed to hang out with Stephen for a real date.

*****

Phoebe and Stephen hung out a lot and got to know one another.

When she told her mom how they met, surprisingly her mom was not too upset.

The roommates liked Stephen and that was a plus.

Phoebe was on cloud nine and was looking forward to whatever the future may bring her way.

The small-town girl felt like the big city had made her dreams come true.