"Are you open minded?"
It was a woman's voice, husky and laced with hot breath.
"Excuse me?" Stephanie asked.
"Are you open minded?" The woman asked again. "I'd like to talk to you."
"Who are you calling?" Stephanie asked.
"I've been calling numbers at random. I'm driving cross-country."
"This is Belmont Appliance in Gusville, Indiana."
"That's okay." The woman giggled. "I'm so horny right now, I'll talk to anyone."
Stephanie recoiled a bit from the phone. "You're what?"
"Horny," the voice said. "I'm out here on the road alone and wishing someone could help me out. Can you help me out?"
Stephanie was silent with disbelief. She looked around the empty store, wondering if someone was hiding behind a machine and prank calling her. "Who is this?" Stephanie asked. "Paula? Is that you?"
"No." The woman laughed. "Who's Paula? Your lover?"
Stephanie frowned. "No. I'm hanging up now."
"No, don't leave. Stay a bit longer. I'm pulling into a rest stop so I can play with my pussy. Talk to me some more."
"No," Stephanie said. "You're sick and you need help."
The woman moaned. "I need help coming, that's for sure."
Stephanie slammed the phone back onto the hook. She shook her shoulders, releasing them from their ascent toward her ears. She had a good mind to call the police. Wasn't this harassment?
Or was it a bad joke? She'd thought it was Paula, but the voice was huskier. Would Paula's voice sound like that if she were masturbating? Is that what Paula was doing right now? And if so, why call her? They were pals who met for coffee once a week. Did Paula want it to be something more?
She engaged in some busy work to get her mind off it. She dusted televisions, marked sale signs for the washing machines, and checked on the status of the repair orders. No one came in to interrupt her work. Not even Paula, whom she half-expected.
The phone rang. She answered.
"Belmont Appliance."
"Are you still there?" The woman asked. "I'm still horny."
Stephanie groaned. "Listen. You need to get some help."
"I need to get laid," the woman said.
"What you need to do is stop calling here."
"I was thinking of pulling into the next truck stop and letting a bunch of big-cocked truckers fuck me silly."
The porn movie language shocked any reply out of Stephanie's mouth. She could hear the woman moaning. She could envision her writhing in the driver's seat as her car zoomed down a highway. Was she driving naked? Could other drivers see her? What were they thinking? She might cause a multi-car pile-up if someone spotted her and couldn't look away until they were almost on top of a bridge abutment.
Stephanie worried now. "Are you naked?"
The woman laughed. "No. Would you like me to be? I can pull over."
"Maybe you should."
The woman moaned with an approving sound. "All right, sweetie."
"No, not so you can...I'm worried about your safety. You shouldn't...do that while you're driving."
"Do what? Listen to the radio? Talk on the phone?"
Stephanie huffed. "Touch yourself while you're driving."
"I wasn't. Much. I was playing with my tits. I can start playing with my pussy though."
"No, no, no. You don't have to."