Signals

After a longer shift at work than usual due to a tour bus stopping outside her uptown café, Louise crashed onto her couch and kicked off her sneakers. Her feet were aching from standing the whole time and though she needed a shower and a meal, her first priority was to just sit for a few minutes and breath. Eventually she pulled out her cell phone and checked the missed calls, seeing she had a few and one new voicemail. She called the number and put it on speaker, resting her tired hands in her lap.

“Hey Louise, I know we haven’t spoken for a while, which I take as a good sign that we’re getting the hang of dating, but I figured that you might try to get in touch- no, wait, it’s not like you need my help or anything, I’m sure you’re doing just fine,” Tom’s voice blabbered, making Louise grin. “Anyway, in case you do try to reach me, especially during the evening, I won’t pick up. I’m really busy with work for the next two weeks and my downtime is going to be spent sleeping. I’ll give you a call when it’s all finished though, in case you wanted to hang out or something… I, uh, hope you’re doing well. Have a great day. Bye.” The phone beeped and Louise then deleted the message, making a mental note to not urgently need Tom’s help in the next two weeks. Then she realised that they hadn’t even talked about their jobs during their limited time together; it was always spent discussing romance.

You never told me what you do for a living, she texted Tom as she puzzled over what his job could possibly be. Louise was soon smiling at how she hadn’t needed his help recently as she had improved at noticing the hints that the men in bars were dropping, and was glad that Tom had also been doing better too. She picked herself up from the couch and prepared herself for a takeout dinner and then a trip to a nearby bar.

Tom received the text message just after midnight when he had finally returned home. Acting on stage under the intense lights had made him stink and he was still a bit jittery from the nerves of performing the play for the first time in front of an audience. He couldn’t bring himself to tell Louise that he had such a job and that he lived off money from his parents when he was unable to find a small production to act in. It was something that greatly turned off most of the women he tried to date, and he assumed that it would be the same for her. The thought of telling her briefly crossed Tom’s mind, but then he realised that he couldn’t compare his job to hers as he had no idea what she did either. It perplexed him why she had not said what her job was, and he pondered that perhaps she was a tad ashamed as well.

And you’ve never told me, he texted back before turning his phone off for the night. He couldn’t bring himself to tell her, not yet. For a reason he couldn’t quite work out, Tom didn’t want to risk ruining his friendship with Louise.