You've been cerved.

Tamra

"Hello, mom..." Tamra yawned into her phone. Glancing at the screen, she saw that it was almost eight am. "Gee, you let me sleep in."

"Sorry, not Mom," Micah answered.

Tamra shot up, hastily smoothing her hair before remembering this was just a voice call. "Micah? Is that you? Is everything okay? Did I forget something at the restaurant?"

"No, everything is fine. It's just... you didn't answer my texts, and well...I wanted to see if you got home all right but I didn't want to call you too late...sorry, is this too early?" Micah sounded sheepish.

"You texted me?" Tamra held her phone away from her ear. Micah had texted her twice...no three times...

"Er...yes...that is..." Micah sounded uncertain.

Tamra felt a long-missed warm glow in a very specific part of her body. "Oh sorry! I had my notifications off and my housemate had company when I got home so I started talking and...I'm fine. Everything is fine." Tamra put her hand over her mouth. Sometimes not talking was the smarter option.

After a moment, Micah responded faintly, "Oh, good...um."

After another moment of awkward silence, Tamra couldn't resist. "Were you up late worrying about me?"

"Well....yes? You see, I'm from Chicago. You're a girl. You never know. I mean, it's common courtesy, isn't it? To make sure a woman - any person really - gets home safe? I mean...right?" Micah was a strange mix of defensive and diffident.

"Sure," Tamra grinned. "Absolutely. You're right. I'm really sorry I didn't check on you." Her phone buzzed and Tamra saw that her mother was trying to call her.

She pressed ignore.

"No, don't be — sorry, I mean. I just thought I'd phone to be sure and I guess I was surprised you picked up," Micah sighed. "I'm not coming across as smoothly as I'd like."

Tamra lay down and pulled her covers up to her chin. "I dunno. I'd say you're doing all right. Unless all this is scripted to make me feel more memorable and cast you as the bashful romantic lead. I mean, you are from the big city. Maybe you're faking."

Micah laughed, and his laugh was as nice as Tamra remembered. "I wish I were that good. Courtroom material, we call it. Can we pretend that I am and start over?"

Tamra's phone buzzed again - her mom, again. Feeling brave, Tamra pressed ignore. Again.

"What's that?" Micah asked.

"Oh my mother, as usual. She's my most consistent alarm clock," Tamra sighed.

"Your mom plays a pretty big role in your life, huh?" Micah asked.

Tamra nodded. "Well, yeah, I guess, at least since my dad died. He took care of her, you know? And well, he and I are...well, we were...a lot alike. So I guess I sort of....took his place."

"He must've been a pretty great guy," Micah said.

"Aww, is that a compliment?" Tamra asked.

"Yes," Micah said. He paused. "Are you flattered?"

"I am," Tamra admitted. "That was real courtroom material. And my dad was a great guy. He was a scientist. Well, a science teacher, but he was a scientist all the same. He believed in the 'spirit of inquiry,' he used to say."

"As should we all," Micah agreed. "That's what attracted me to the law - I actually like the research. Our legal system is a broken series of stories that explain a lot of our current messes. It's depressing, but it's illuminating."