“Hi, Pam,” the message started, “I just wanted to tell you that I’ve been thinking a lot about you lately, and I…uh…really miss you a lot.  I was wondering if you would give me another chance.  I want to take you out to dinner tonight…to the place we first met.  I was thinking it would be nice to relive our first date.”  Pam stared in disbelief at her answering machine.  He had called while she was in the shower, and she was utterly glad she did not pick up the phone.  She couldn’t wait to call him back.  She quickly dialed, and the phone began to ring.

            “Hello?”

            “Hi, Roy; it’s Pam.”

            “Hey Honey Bunny, I’ve been waiting for your call.  I’ll pick you up tonight around seven.”

            “Roy, I’m not going out with you tonight.  I’m not going out with you ever.  It’s over, remember?”

            “Look, Pam, I know I screwed up, but you have to give me another chance.  You’re my soul mate.”

            “Gee, I sure didn’t feel like your soul mate when I caught you with Katie.” She could feel her heart starting to pound.

            “Pam, that was the biggest mistake of my life.  If I could take it back, I would.”

            “Well, if it wasn’t Katie, it would have been someone else.  I know that you’ve done it before, Roy.”

            “Pam, just give me one more chance, I’m a new man.  I’ll be completely faithful to you this time.  I promise.”

            “You had six years Roy.  We were engaged for three.  Not marrying you was the best thing I’ve ever done in my life.  Please don’t call me again.”  She quickly hung up the phone before he could say anything else.  Her adrenaline got the best of her, and she felt tears welling up in her eyes.  She was startled when the phone rang again, and against her better judgment, she answered.

            “Hello?” she said timidly.

            “Pam? It’s Jim, are you alright?”  She breathed a sigh of relief.

            “Yeah, Jim, I’m fine.  How are you?”

            “I’m great.  I can’t stop thinking about you.”  She could hear the smile in his voice.

            “I can’t stop thinking about you either.”

            “I don’t know if you have any plans tonight, but I was wondering if I could take you to dinner.”

            “Jim,” she couldn’t help blushing, “you took me out last night.  I would love to have dinner with you again, but how about you come to my place and I’ll cook for you.”

            “Wow, are you sure on such short notice?”

            “Of course! I love to cook; it’s one of my favorite things to do.”

            “Oh, okay then…that sounds great.  Can I bring anything?”

            “Wine would be nice.”

            “Alright, what time should I come over?”

            “How about around six?”

            “That sounds great.  I’ll see you then.”  Pam hung up the phone and immediately started tidying up the apartment.  Jim would be there in less than two hours, and she had to start dinner.  She decided to make lemon chicken, wild rice, and salad.  She didn’t know what to do for dessert yet, but if everything went well, she figured things would just fall into place.