Mr. Wrong Number

“I put my phone away and it almost felt like I was waking up from something, like I’d just come outside after a month in a dark basement. I felt more relaxed than I’d been in a really long time as I stretched in the moonlight and stacked my hands behind my head.”

Painter’s use of descriptive and figurative language for Olivia’s narration captures Olivia’s efforts to affect a calm state of mind. The imagery comparing her emotional experience to emerging from “a dark basement” invites the reader into Olivia’s interiority and conveys her hopeful outlook.

“‘I’m going for a run.’ I put my foot up on the other stool and tied my shoe. His shock was no surprise; I was shocked, too. I usually slept until twenty minutes after my alarm went off, wherein I would scramble to get ready and ultimately end up putting on makeup while driving. This early-morning thing was brand new for me.”

This descriptive passage adds dimension to Olivia’s character. In using a blunt, open tone to describe Olivia, Painter establishes who she is on the page. As Olivia takes active steps to change her habits, she catalyzes the journey of Self-Discovery During Times of Transition that defines her character arc.

“I walked back to the apartment slowly, teetering in the cheap black pumps I’d worn to homecoming my junior year. I tried talking myself into a little positivity as I headed home; there were still exciting things happening in my life, right? I was living downtown, which was my absolute favorite thing, so that was cool. In a great apartment, no less, even if it was with my brother and I had to sleep on a bed that was made of a raft. Things really could be a lot worse. Hell, I could be living with my parents.”

Olivia’s internal monologue provides insight into how she sees the world and herself. The action of walking also grants Olivia the space to reflect on her circumstances and compels these honest thoughts onto the page. She’s examining her situation in an attempt to make sense of it, underscoring her trajectory toward personal growth and self-acceptance.

“I rolled my eyes and set down the phone. What was wrong with me? Why was I feeling so giddy, talking to a stranger? I’d seen every episode of MTV’s Catfish; I knew the facts. But still, I was smitten with my anonymous friend. The only thing that made my affinity for this weird texting connection okay was that I wanted this guy to be anonymous forever. I didn’t ever want to meet him or get to know him in real life; that would ruin whatever made this great. So I was fine to play a little.”

Painter uses a reflective tone to examine Olivia’s relationship with Mr. Wrong Number, having Olivia ask herself direct questions while simultaneously owning her emotions. These aspects of her narration provide insight into her character, while also revealing how Olivia thinks about friendship and intimacy.

“‘You found out he was cheating the day you got laid off? And your apartment burned down that night? Holy shit!’ She was laughing, but it was nice. I could tell she was horrified by my consistent bad luck, as opposed to being entertained by it. ‘We should be at a bar, for God’s sake, not a coffee shop.’”

Painter uses a conversational, friendly tone for Sara to convey Sara’s care for Olivia. She isn’t judging Olivia’s character but is instead listening to her story and responding to it as a concerned friend. Painter uses colloquial language and humor in this scene of dialogue, positioning Sara and Olivia as peers.

“Could it really be her? I started scrubbing one of the plates in the sink and felt gutted, like I’d just lost something by losing Misdial. Honestly, I was so damned disappointed I wanted to hit something. I wanted to tee off on something so badly because just like that, without warning, I no longer had a relationship with a stranger on the phone. And not only was it over for me, but I was going to have to ghost her. There was no other option.”

Colin’s first-person point of view provides insight into his psyche and adds dimension to his character. Painter’s use of language here also signals Colin’s shock at discovering that Miss Misdial is Olivia. Diction like “gutted,” “damned,” “disappointed,” “hit something,” and “tee off” conveys Colin’s internal unrest, which contrasts with his physical demeanor while washing the plates.

“The morning sun was just starting to come up and the city streets were quiet; it was a perfect morning to run. And the running itself actually felt good for once. I was killing the game, jogging four whole blocks without stopping, when I nearly ran over a dude who was tying his shoe. I came around the corner like a shot, really feeling my stride, when all of a sudden—boom—there he was in the middle of the sidewalk. I tried to sidestep with a graceful, deer-like leap, but ended up tripping over my own feet, sprawling out over the sidewalk, and landing on my knees.”

Olivia’s attention to detail in this scene captures her outlook on life and conveys the positive effect that running has on her well-being. The image of Olivia bumping into the other runner and falling also acts as a metaphor for her life experience. Olivia is often falling down and getting bruised by life—however, she always gets back up and laughs off her mishaps.

“I tried to keep my eyes on the Excel spreadsheet in front of me, but I couldn’t stop myself from looking at her as she walked by on her way to the door. I’d always known she was attractive, but all of a sudden it was as if the universe was shoving her in my face. Great legs, perfect ass, eyes that squinted when she smiled, and the most adorable tattoo of a tiny typewriter on the back of her neck where it would usually be covered by her hair. And that perfume. It was one of those scents that punched you in the gut and filled your head with dirty thoughts.”

Colin’s internal monologue reveals how his feelings for Olivia are evolving. This moment marks a turning point in their Evolution From Friendship to Romantic Love as Colin starts to see Olivia for her beauty. Painter’s detailed description of Olivia’s appearance captures the shift in Colin’s feelings for Olivia.

“‘What do you know about the breakup?’ God, did everyone somehow know what’d happened? Not about the fire—the whole country knew about that—but about Eli cheating and discovering his soul mate, who happened to not be me. ‘Just that he didn’t help you move and you were burning his love letters.’ He straightened and turned toward me a little, making the air mattress squeak. ‘But my point is that you’re actually getting your shit together and it’s kind of impressive to watch.’”

Olivia and Colin’s exchange foreshadows how their friendship will evolve into romantic love. Olivia’s interiority reveals her discomfort with talking to Colin about the fire and her breakup, but Colin’s lines of dialogue prove that he cares about Olivia as a person and is coming to admire her.

“The minute I woke up the next morning, I grabbed my phone and pulled up the newspaper online. Seeing my column in print with the cool professional logo made it feel official, almost as if someone else wrote it. I read it three times before jamming my bare feet into running shoes and running down to the c-store on the corner, where I purchased five copies of the newspaper. I had no idea what I’d do with all of them, especially since no one actually knew the column was mine, but it somehow felt important for me to collect them.”

Painter’s use of descriptive language conveys Olivia’s love for writing and investment in her professional aspirations. Painter’s use of verbs like “grabbed,” “jamming,” and “running,” convey Olivia’s excitement and lend the passage a buoyant, energized tone.

“What were words again? I felt her watching me, and when I looked up from her glass, to the sprinkling of freckles on her nose and cheeks—how had I never noticed those before?—her eyebrows were knit together. Her eyes were narrowed, her head was tilted, and she was blinking fast. She looked absolutely confused. Same, Marshall. Hard same.”

Using Colin’s first-person perspective, Painter captures his growing affection for Olivia. He is actively studying Olivia’s physicality, which conveys his desire to know more about her. The inset question in the passage’s second line also captures the contrast between how Colin saw Olivia in the past and how he’s coming to see her in the present.

“The minute they left, I ran around the apartment. I danced to Prince on my phone. I watched the city from my very own balcony. I envisioned the furniture I was going to purchase after a few more paychecks, and I even bought a cheap desk online from Target clearance.”

Olivia’s behavior the night she moves into her apartment underscores the setting’s symbolic significance. Olivia is running around, dancing, and basking in her new environment—actions which convey a new sense of independence, autonomy and freedom to be herself.

“All I wanted was to be a regular guy who actually enjoyed his job. I loved the challenge of numbers, so why not do that for a living? That crazy way of thinking made me, the guy with a master’s in mathematics, the black sheep of the family. Honestly, that was why I’d never taken a penny from them after college. I’d worked my ass off to support myself, to buy nice things like the condo and my car, just to prove to the world that my father’s opinion about my career was dead wrong.”

Painter uses an open tone as Colin conveys his desire to define his own identity and to be loved for who he is. Painter’s use of qualifiers like “actually” and “honestly” and colloquialisms like “crazy” and “worked my ass off” humanize Colin’s character and give him a relatable quality.

“I forced my eyes to stay open so I could look at him. His nostrils were flared and his jaw was clenched, those rowdy eyes glued to mine as his body made me feel unbelievable things. It was so unreal—so deliciously good—that the kitchen, the apartment, and the entire world disappeared. Time dropped away as we caught fire on the granite countertop, and I wasn’t sure if seconds or hours passed as Colin made me burn. My entire existence was right there, where we were together, and nothing else mattered.”

Painter’s use of descriptive and figurative language contributes to the romantic tone of the scene. Olivia’s narration includes diction like “flared,” “clenched,” “rowdy,” “unreal,” “deliciously,” “disappeared,” “fire,” and “burn,” which adds a visceral, sensory quality to the scene and captures Olivia’s investment in being intimate with Colin.

“One thing about Olivia that I’d forgotten before she came back to town was that she was always fun. Whether she was falling on her face or being a brat, she’d been quick to laugh since the day I first met her. I still remembered that I’d gone home with my school friend Jack, and his weirdo little sister followed us around the entire time singing songs from Annie. To this day I could hear her howling out the damned words to ‘Maybe.’ But as someone who grew up in a very serious family, I found her laugh a little addictive.”

Colin’s point of view provides insight into both his and Olivia’s characters. His private internal monologue reveals how deeply he cares about Olivia and their growing connection. Evoking Colin’s perspective allows Painter to reveal different aspects of Olivia’s identity not seen from Olivia’s own point of view.

“‘Because you’re you, Colin!’ I dropped my arms to my sides and wanted to scream. ‘You’re an arrogant asshole who has always mocked me for your own entertainment. I’m sure you thought it was hilarious that I was lying about my job, so you probably shared the story with your douchey country club friends over golf and caviar or something.”

Painter’s use of vitriolic language in this scene affects a critical and combative narrative tone, highlighting the conflict between the romantic leads. Olivia calls Colin an “asshole,” and accuses him of being “arrogant” and mocking her for his own amusement. In doing so, Olivia asserts herself, but also pushes Colin away in order to protect herself.

“I snuggled into the chair, the chair that I’d shared with Colin, and I stared out at the wet cityscape. I needed to find a way to get my mojo back, to feel excited about the future. If I’d been able to bounce back from Eli and the fire, surely I could bounce back from Colin and the firing. Right? I needed to make something happen. I scrolled through my contacts and clicked on Mr. Wrong Number. I knew it was a risk, especially since he’d just come back, but I was done waiting around for things to just fall into place. I was going to do it, consequences be damned.”

Painter imbues Olivia’s internal monologue with a restless, worried tone. She conveys Olivia’s sense of powerlessness in this scene through the image of her sitting down and staring outside. Olivia feels immobilized emotionally, and tries to reclaim her power by texting Mr. Wrong Number. The language in the first half of the passage evokes her sense of paralysis, while the language in the latter half signals her attempts to take action.

“I was teetering, hovering this close to the edge. He had me hypnotized, mesmerized, at the thought of a full-on entanglement with him. The idea of Colin directing 100 percent of his attention in my direction was a little intoxicating and completely overwhelming. But it was easy for him. Colin could ‘follow’ this in a total no-harm/no-foul way because he didn’t have anything to lose. Colin Beck, mathematical genius with old money and a model’s good looks, could just shrug and walk away when he got bored. I had a feeling, though, that if—no, when—he left, he’d have the power to destroy me.”

In this passage, Painter uses rhyming, consonance, and description to convey Olivia’s state of mind. The words “teetering,” “hovering,” “hypnotized,” “mesmerized,” “intoxicating,” and “overwhelming” capture both Olivia’s emotional and physical experience of the moment. This synesthetic language conveys how Olivia and Colin’s relationship is deepening and expanding.

“It wasn’t that she’d been clumsily oblivious to the glass, it was that she was so present in her own story that she hadn’t had time to notice the expensive crystal stemware that might be in the way. She was less shitshow and more about living in high-definition, wide-awake, full-on color. Or something more poetic than that. But once I’d seen it, I couldn’t unsee it. It was in everything she did, and it was why everyone was drawn to her the way they were.”

This passage marks a turning point in Colin’s outlook on his and Olivia’s evolving relationship. He is thinking about Olivia while watching her, a moment of self-reflection which captures his growing investment in Olivia and admiration for her character. Language like “present,” “high-definition,” “wide-awake,” and “full-on color,” further underscores how Colin feels about Olivia.

“I’d come to the realization on my run that morning, after being sexually harassed by Liv from her balcony as I’d stretched, that things were kind of serious. I mean, technically not, since she’d yet to call me her boyfriend and still hadn’t invited me to stay the night, but they were serious for me, and I suspected for her, too. She was the first thing I thought of when I woke up in the morning, the last thing before I fell asleep. I would blow off anything to be around her, because everything was brighter when Olivia was around.”

Painter uses an honest and straight forward tone for Colin in this passage. He’s come to recognize the significance of his and Olivia’s connection and Painter doesn’t disguise Colin’s feelings with ornate language or complex syntax.

“Because beautiful Colin Beck, with the perfect everything, looked like he’d never wanted anything more than he wanted me at that moment. His hair was sticking up from my hands, his nostrils were flared, his eyes were on fire, and in that moment I knew I was wholly his.”

Painter’s use of language conveys Olivia’s emotional state in this revelatory scene. Words like “beautiful” and “perfect” underscore Olivia’s feelings for Colin. The use of comma splices in the latter line affects the harried, excitement that characterizes the moment that Olivia realizes she loves him.

“It made me happy. Writing was the only thing that made me happy anymore, because it was the only thing that distracted me from thinking of him. I’d written more since that horrible morning than I had my entire life, because the minute I stopped typing that jerk came into my head. I’d never thought my heart could hurt more than it had with Eli. I’d been blindsided by his betrayal, absolutely shocked that he and I hadn’t been on the same page. But after the breakup, I’d been able to see the cracks. We’d been living two separate-but-parallel lives for a pretty long time, and I’d been blind to it.”

Painter uses a reflective narrative tone to convey Olivia’s capacity for growth and change. Olivia wants to make sense of how Colin fits into her life. She also wants to balance her personal desires and professional aspirations. Her ability to be honest with herself in this scene foreshadows her ability to heal from her past heartbreak, to claim what she wants in the future, and to make amends with Colin by the novel’s end.

“It sounds bizarre, but I didn’t realize until today that I’ve forgiven you for the whole thing. As soon as Jack said you’re moving to Chicago, nothing else mattered but seeing you and begging you not to go.”

Painter uses clear, colloquial language in this scene when Olivia apologizes to Colin on Thanksgiving, underscoring their emotional intimacy and growing connection. Painter writes Olivia as clear and honest to avoid further miscommunications and to draw Colin back to Olivia. This moment conveys Olivia’s vulnerability and foreshadows reconciliation between her and Colin.