Before we were married, my wife lived in a house with two other women (one of whom was responsible for introducing me to my wife). So, after I went out with the boys on the weekend, I would call her when I got back home.
"Hello." One of Sidney's roommates answered, sleep slogging her voice.
"Oh, sorry to wake you," I said. "But if Sidney's still awake, can I talk to her?"
"Just a minute..." She set the phone down (this was back in the olden days of landline phones). In the background, I heard voices grumbling.
"Hello." Her voice sounded extremely froggy, nearly a man's voice.
I paused for a second. "Sidney?" Just double-checking to make sure.
"Yes."
"Huh. Are you sick?"
"Yes," she replied again.
"You must be. Your voice sounds awful," I said.
"Yes." Sidney was rarely at a loss for words, so I figured she must REALLY be sick. Must've hurt her to talk.
"Well...how're you doing, honey?"
"Okay."
Now I was really puzzled. This didn't sound like her at all. "Sidney?" I asked again.
"Yes."
"Um...sorry I woke you up if I did."
"Okay."
Crickets. Soooo many crickets. Finally, I broke the silence with another question, this time kinda loud and disbelieving, the second syllable rising in pitch. "SidNEY?"
"Yes?"
Finally, I decided I'd dialed the wrong number. "I'm afraid I have the wrong Sidney. Sorry to have bothered you."
"Okay."
Alright, after we'd hung up, the entire conversation blew my mind. My wife's name is an unusual one. What were the chances that I'd accidentally called some random guy named Sidney? It's not like there are a ton of them out there.
Even odder, frog-voiced Sidney never once asked who I was. Just answered in one word sentences, English possibly being his second language. Furthermore, his (presumed) wife who answered the phone seemed nonplussed at the fact I said "can I talk to HER?"
Finally, somewhere there's a lovelorn, froggy-voiced guy named Sidney who wasn't phased at all that I had called him "honey."
Speaking of mistaken identities, pity poor Leon Garber. Leon's got it all, a decent day-time job, and a good position with a top-secret, shadow organization that aids in his night-time hobby: murdering bad people. But when Like-Minded Individuals, Inc. decides to put a target on Leon's back, he thinks there must surely be a mistake. What's a friendly neighborhood serial killer to do? Read the darkly comical, suspenseful shenanigans in my Killers Incorporated trilogy to find the answers!
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