This is your third and final notification, Bub!

Tony stared at the tiny screen on his phone, running his fingers through his hair. He grabbed his long bangs for stability, and sighed. He thought he’d gotten rid of the problem, set a boundary, and politely told Sue to eff off. No, he KNEW he’d told her to stop contacting him.             

And yet here she was, sending him several – definitely more than three — notifications of her intention to stop by his house if he didn’t answer her email, pronto. He counted ten emails from her on his first page, alone.

He’d only been gone for a long holiday weekend, and he was sure he’d blocked Sue’s emails from his account. Did she really know where he lived?  He paled, and almost dialed his childhood buddy, Jordan, for advice. Jordan never had those problems. He knew how to be polite, but cold.

Jordan would shake his head, tell him he never should have gotten involved in the first place: Just don’t engage, Man.  He’d grumble that he, Tony, was a moron for taking on such an “interesting” woman. Tony had wanted to give Sue a chance, but this was really beginning to stress him out. Being Mr. Nice Guy had not worked out well for him this time.

She hadn’t exactly threatened bodily harm, so there wasn’t much he could do, legally. Just mentioned high risk, and financial ruin. The possibility of being stranded in the middle of a remote area as wildfires raged around him. Stuff like that. She’d gotten around blockages to his web pages, causing him to delete and reestablish all the hard work that he’d put into setting them up. He wasn’t sure how to NOT be a nice guy; best friend Jordan had always taken care of that for him.

At that moment, his cell phone rang. It was from an unidentified caller. His stomach dropped. He felt nauseous. He clenched his jaw. Time to man up. No more Mr. Nice Guy. He punched the answer icon on his phone and held it in front of his face.

“Hello Tony? It’s Sue! I’ve been trying to reach your about your car’s limited warranty!”    

© Liz Husebye Hartmann (2025)

Just Jot January Day 12 – Prompt: NOTIFICATIONS from Sadje. Be sure to visit their blog to read or just say hi! See what other folks have done with the prompt, or add your own!  https://lindaghill.com/2025/01/12/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-12th-2025/