It’s Christmas Eve. The check-out line at Borders is very, very long. I sigh. The woman behind me sighs. We smile at each other: Well, we waited till the last minute.

My cell phone sings. It can only be Hubby, who is down at Verizon, where he’s gone to buy a charger for his phone. Which should be easy, but his phone is cursed. He’s probably stuck there. I scrabble in my purse to pull the phone out before he hangs up out of aggravation.

“Hey! Where are you?”

“In Borders.”

“You’re in Borders?”

“In the coffee shop.” I crane my head around the line, but can’t see him.

“In Borders?”

“Yes.”

“Really? You’re in Borders?” For some reason, I’m having trouble processing this.

The woman behind me starts laughing. Our eyes meet, and I hear my side of the conversation through her ears.

“I’ll come find you when I finish checking out.” I hang up, laughing.

“I apologize for eavesdropping,” she smiles.

“No worries! Besides, you weren’t. Eavesdropping implies a choice. No, you just got PAWed!

“Pawed?”

“Pulled in Against your Will.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Bing Hum