Harry was having a typical Monday evening. He was just lounging on the couch, sipping on a beer and watching Monday Night Football. Suddenly, his phone buzzed with several new text message.
"I want you Harry”
“Harry you’re mine”
Call Yolanda at 555-123-4567, it read.
At first, Harry thought it was some kind of prank. But when he saw the name attached to the message, his heart started pounding. It was from his neighbor, two houses down - a married woman who he had never had any kind of romantic interest in before.
Feeling both flattered and nervous, Harry picked up his phone and called the number back. To his disappointment, nobody answered. He tried again, but the phone just kept ringing. Just as he was about to give up, another call came in. This time, it was from a man's voice - the husband of the woman who had just texted him.
"Who is this?" the man demanded.
"This is Harry," he answered, trying to sound casual.
"Oh it’s Harry, yeah I see that my wife said you called just now," but why you didn’t call me the man said, his tone cold and unfriendly.
Harry could hear the anger and hurt in the man's voice. He knew that he had to handle the situation carefully.
"Listen, I don't know what's going on," Harry said. "I didn’t call that number it called me I didn’t recognize the number so I didn’t answer you know I thought it was a bill collector and called that number back later on. Now you calling me back cause nobody answered the phone on your end. Yeah man it's just a misunderstanding?"
There was a pause on the other end of the line. Finally, the man spoke again.
"You know what? I agree with you on that’s a misunderstanding," he said, his voice softening slightly. I'm sorry for any trouble I caused you."
Harry let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. The situation could have turned out so much worse. But instead, he had been able to defuse it with a little bit of honesty and empathy.
"Hey, it's no problem," Harry said. "I wish you guys the best. And if there's anything I can do to help, just let me know."
After they hung up, Harry couldn't help but wonder what kind of neighbors he dealing with. But he knew that he had nothing but respect from them. All he could do was hope that everything worked out for the best.