STORY ARC #5: VACATION ROULETTE
An Unnerving Phone Call
Normally you enjoy their cuddles, but after your argument last night, all you feel is frustration and upset.
This is part of a Choose Your Own Adventure story, ‘Vacation Roulette.’ Click here to go back to the first chapter, written by Linden Schneider. Or return to the previous chapter, ‘The Lost Vacation.’ Find out how to collaborate with other writers on Choose Your Own Adventure tales here!
When you wake up from a rough night’s sleep, you frown when you feel your partner’s arms still clenched tightly around you. Normally you enjoy their cuddles, but after your argument last night, all you feel is frustration and upset.
When you struggle to break free from their embrace, your partner mumbles something and tugs you closer. You groan with annoyance. Just when you consider pinching your partner to make them let go, you hear your phone ring.
It’s 6 AM in the morning, at least in your time zone, so you’re mystified as to who might be calling. After wriggling a bit more, you finally slip out of your companion’s arms. Out of some miracle, they are still asleep.
You manage to make it to your phone before the caller hangs up. But you don’t recognize the number. “Hello?” you say with huffed breaths.
The speaker on the other end of the line has a deep, serious voice. “I’m calling from the Harper Music Foundation. You owe us 3 million in debt. If you don’t pay us back by the end of today, we will arrest you, and — ”
You hang up immediately. Sigh. You just came back from a cancelled vacation, only to be harassed by a scam caller! But you can’t help but think of the unknown texter who had warned you about Vacation Roulette. You still have no idea whether they were a scammer or not.
At this moment, your partner stirs, and seems about to wake up. Out of stubbornness, you quickly leave the bedroom, and hang out in the living room instead. To your dismay, your phone rings again. This is also an unknown number, but it’s not the same as the previous one.
You swear and pick up, hoping that it’s something more interesting than a common scam. This time, the voice is much lighter and higher pitched. The voice murmurs, “Hey, sexy baby, I’ve been missing you. I can’t wait to see you naked again. It’s been too long, and I’m so horny — ”
You interrupt with a hard, rough voice, “Excuse me? Who do you think you’re talking to? Have you got the wrong number?”
The other person is silent for a moment, then they laugh. “Oh, sweetie, you’re always playing hard to get. I’m not just a one-night stand to you, right?” They laugh some more, and chills run down your spine.
You breathe deeply in and out. “Where are you?” you say, your eyes watchful now as you dart your gaze to every corner of the room.
The voice goes silent for another moment. “What do you mean?” Their chuckle this time is nervous. “I’m in Alaska, if you remember the last time you abandoned me.” Their tone becomes wheedling. “I know you’re happy with your partner and don’t have the energy to go on trysts with me anymore. But I still yearn for you, you know? I want to at least hear your voice on the phone, and imagine you doing unspeakable things to me.” They giggled.
Your stomach churns and you’re about to hang up. Maybe they’re a fetishist who gets off on making sexual calls to strangers. Yet, something nags at you and you don’t want to disconnect just yet. With a swift glance at your bedroom door to check that your partner is still sleeping, you say, “Are you sure that you’ve got the right person and didn’t mistake me for someone else?”
In response, they answer with your name. Your blood runs cold because they got it right. Yet, they could easily find your name through a phone directory, can’t they? So you demand, “Where and when did we first meet, and for what purpose?” You pause. “And what’s your name?”
“Oh honey, I can’t believe you forgot. You’re such a player, aren’t you? It’s okay. I’ve always liked rogues. My name is Valli. We met in Las Vegas a couple of years ago. You were drunk as shit, probably sad over the money you gambled away. But we connected at the casino bar. You told me how troubled you were about your marriage, when you knew your spouse was cheating on you.
“You sobbed your pretty head on my shoulder, and I offered to take you back to your hotel, since you were dead drunk and couldn’t even walk in a straight line. When we went to your hotel room, we did a lot of stuff together.” Valli titters. “I told you at the time that you were intoxicated, so we should wait until you were sober. But you insisted that you were lonely and abandoned, so you thrust yourself into my lap. One thing led to another, and before long, we meshed with each other in a wonderful bliss.”
The story is ridiculous and dramatic. But you were indeed trapped in an unhappy marriage with an unfaithful spouse two years ago. You don’t recall going to Las Vegas or gambling, but…Your memories of that time are vague, maybe because you felt so much grief, that you drank to forget everything. If you really did have an adventure in Vegas, could your memory of that time be repressed?
“Tell me more,” you urge them, wanting to learn as much as possible before your partner wakes up.
Valli continues in their gleeful voice, “After we screwed that night in your hotel room, we weren’t done. We met up for encounters as much as we could during your stay in Vegas. You were hungry for affection and intimacy, and I loved the thrill of sleeping with a sexy stranger.”
At this point, the door to the bedroom opens. Your partner pokes their head into the living room, and asks in a sleepy voice, “Honey, who are you talking to?”
What do you do?
- Tell your partner exactly what’s happening and who Valli is (at least according to what they have told you.)
- Lie about Valli. Make up some harmless story about them, hoping to continue your conversation with them later when your partner leaves.
- Hang up.
If you enjoyed this story, you might also like some of my other Choose Your Own Adventure tales: