A Penny For Your Thoughts

5. Musée Mécanique Magic

As promised, I called Penny soon afterwards. Less than twenty four hours later, on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon, I mustered up the courage and dialed the number that Penny had written down.

Penny's cheery voice came over the line after the second ring. "Hi! Penny Campbell speaking."

It suddenly dawned on me that Penny didn't have the slightest clue who was calling. She had left me with her number, but I never reciprocated the action.

I decided to have a little fun with this conversation. Disguising my voice, I posed as a telephone salesman.

"Good afternoon, miss. My name is Matthew. On behalf of Paul's Bookkeeping Services, I would like to offer you a fast and painless solution to the annual headaches of tax season. For an affordable cost of $29.99, we will take care of all your personal taxes. This includes a complimentary consultation session. Claim this offer right now and we will pick you up free of charge."

I had zero experience in telephone sales, but a friend in the industry told me that most people never let the marketer finish their sales pitch. Either they interrupted to indicate no interest or they simply hung up the phone. Even I was guilty of the former.

Not Penny.

My guess was that she did it out of respect. Probably didn't want to wear down a salesman's spirit with another resounding rejection. Whatever the reason, I knew she was a person with a kind heart. Her radiant personality might have intrigued me, but her thoughtfulness and compassion made me increasingly interested in her.

"Thanks for your offer, Matthew, but I'm not in need of tax services. Wishing you the best of luck with business. Have a wonderful Saturday!"

With that, she hung up the phone, leaving me in awe. This was clearly an unsolicited sales call, an inconvenience to her day, but Penny handled the conversation with grace. She even wished me luck with business.

This girl was just too good to be true.

I immediately called Penny back, and as expected, she picked up the phone after the second ring.

"Hi, is this Matthew?" Penny asked hesitantly. "I appreciate your sales pitch but I'm really not in need of any tax assistance."

"Actually, it's Dylan."

"Dylan?" I could almost visualize the confusion on her face.

"Does the name ring a bell?"

Penny asked, "The cute Dylan?"

"Uh . . . " The ball of confusion had been passed over the line to me. I didn't know how many Dylans were in her life. I wasn't sure how to answer, or even if I should answer.

"The gentleman Dylan that drove me home after agreeing to meeting my parents for an impromptu dinner?" Penny teased after I left the conversation to a moment of silence.

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Yes, that Dylan."

"Whew!" Penny sighed elaborately. I could tell that she was having fun with this. "Thank goodness. I only ever really talked to one Dylan in my life."

"The gentleman Dylan," I supplied. It felt comforting to know that Penny saw me in that light.

"Well, lying to me wasn't very gentlemanly of you, Dylan. Or should I say Matthew." I could still detect a teasing undertone in her voice, despite her best attempts to sound serious.

"Preferably Dylan, but I'd respond to the other too. After all, Dylan is my first name and Matthew is my middle name. Dylan Matthew Reed at your service."