It was another boring Wednesday night, and I was sitting in my room watching television in the hopes
that I would be entertained when thephone rang.

"Hello?" A girl's voice came over the line. "Can I speak to Ben, please?"

I live by myself, and my name definitely is not Ben. It was probably a wrong number. Of course, it
was also a dull evening.

"I'm sorry, he's not in right now. Can I take a message?"

"Do you know what time he'll be back?" she responded.

"I think he said he'd be home around 10:00."

Silence on the other end...a confused silence. I had a live one.

"Is this Steve?"

My name isn't Steve, either. This was definitely a wrong number.

"Yes, it is. Do you want to leave a message for Ben?"

"Well...he said he would be home tonight and asked me to call him..." she said in a slightly
irritated voice.

I must have sounded a lot more like Steve than I had thought.

I replied, "Well, he went out with Karen about an hour ago, and said that he would be back at 10:00."

A shocked voice now: "Who's Karen?!"

"The girl he went out with."

"I know that! I mean....who is she?"

"I don't know her last name. Look, do you want me to leave a message for Ben?"

"Yes...please do. Tell him to call me when he gets home."

She was sounding pretty irate at this point, and I could hear her temper flaring. Now would be a good
time to call an end to the charade.

"I sure will. Is this Jennifer?"

She exploded this time. "WHO'S JENNIFER?!" Apparently she wasn't.

"Well...he's going out with Jennifer at 10:00. I thought you were her. Sorry...it was an honest
mistake."

"Ben's the one that's made the mistake! Tell him that ALICE called him and the she's VERY UPSET and
that i would LIKE HIM to CALL ME as SOON AS HE GETS HOME."

I smiled and said, "Okay, I will...but Becky isn't going to like this..."

"BECKY?!?!?" "*click*"