This is part two of a two-part story about Brenda, a lady who likes making friends while traveling and at home, finds herself in a pickle.
If you haven’t read the story’s first half, you might want to read that part first.
So far, Brenda has befriended John, the pest control man, but realizes they don’t have much in common. She likes to travel the world, while he likes to sit in front of the TV.
Making friends, or not
Despite her thoughts about John, their exchanges grew to several daily texts and hours of phone chats.
Brenda thought this was a bit too much, but she enjoyed the company.
Although John was quiet when they first met, he became quite talkative.
Too chatty for her tastes.
He rambled about his family, his past living on the East Coast, his dogs, his job, movies he saw, and childhood stories. His life was an open book.
After a while, Brenda realized that their conversations were more so John’s monologues.
John would keep talking, and Brenda waited for him to shut up. He stopped asking about her, and she got bored with him.
His problems took center stage and Brenda’s issues got ignored. So, she began to cut back.
What’s your intention?
One evening, Brenda ran into one of her neighbors on a walk. In her small town, everyone talked, so she told the neighbor about her new friend.
Watch out!
The neighbor warned about young guys trying to get with older women. John may have noticed that Brenda owned a nice house, traveled frequently, and lived alone.
Brenda ruminated about this for days.
She wondered what John wanted with a woman twice his age. Did he want to be friends, or was he using her?
Brenda responded to John less and less.
One day, when John texted Brenda, she replied, “What is your intention with all of this?”
“I like having conversations with you. Is something wrong?” he texted.
“They’re not actual conversations—you’re doing all the talking. You never give me a chance to share,” she replied.
No more pest control guy
Brenda stopped answering him. Then she called the pest control company.
“I’m canceling my services starting today. I do not want your guy coming back to my house,” she said.
“Actually…” the lady from the company said.
“Cancel my services… I have to go,” Brenda said.
“But…”
Brenda hung up before the lady could finish.
She texted John that it wasn’t a good idea for them to continue talking. Then she blocked him.
That’s what she thought
A week later, Brenda received a text message from John’s other number. She didn’t respond.
Five days later, she received another text from an unknown number.
She got more texts from the pest control guy and didn’t answer.
Almost a month later, she received a text message from a new number.
Brenda didn’t respond and blocked that number. This was unlike anything she had experienced before. She worried that John would not leave her alone.
In another month, she received another text from a new number.
Then she blocked him and didn’t hear from him again.
Pest be gone—for good!
“Thank goodness,” she exhaled, raising her hands to the clear blue sky.
The twisting branches shielded her from the golden scalding rays like an umbrella. She stretched under the towering oak tree and exhaled.
She finally got rid of the pests, including the number one pest—John!
What a relief!
Brenda had to travel for work for several weeks. Whenever she returned to her house, it was in the neat order that John had left it.
She was surprised the yardwork had stayed so tidy for so long.
The bugs did not return—there were no stray leaves and sticks to pick up. Good!
Brenda didn’t have the time to clean up. And the yard looked cleaner and nicer every time she traveled.
No leaves scattered around… no cobwebs… no long grass…
Hmmm…
The worst was yet to come
One day, as Brenda returned from a short vacation, she pulled into her driveway. A small gray car peeled away.
ZOOOOM!
She gripped the steering wheel so hard that she could not free her hands to honk the horn.
What the…
That old gray Toyota Camry… belonged to…
John!
She called the pest control company at that moment.
“I told you… I canceled my service months ago. Why are you still sending John over here to spray?”
Chatter and typing sounded in the background. The lady on the other end pulled up Brenda’s account.
“Yes, we did cancel your service a while ago,” she said.
“Then why are you still sending someone to my house?! What’s going on…?” Brenda asked.
Her heart thumped out of her chest. She felt the throbbing in the back of her neck.
Sweat beads formed on her forehead as she squeezed the phone harder.
There was a long pause—as if something terrible was about to happen.
“I’m sorry, ma’am,” the lady said. “We haven’t sent anyone to your house lately. John was let go from our company several months ago.”
Yikes! Has anything like this happened to you? Do you have a story to share about making friends as a traveler?
