First-Time Caller

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of cursing, sexual content, sexual harassment, and illness.

Aiden Valen, whose stage name is Aiden Valentine, is a radio host in Baltimore, Maryland. Aiden is grumpy and tired as he takes in the bookstore-café Skullduggery, where he is meeting his coworker and friend, Jackson Clark.

Jackson wants to discuss Aiden’s diminishing enthusiasm for his job. Aiden hosts Heartstrings, a local radio station program dedicated to love and romance. Jackson reminds Aiden that he “called someone a piece of shit in the middle of a live broadcast” (4). He asks if Aiden’s mother, a cancer survivor, is having a health crisis, and Aiden assures him she is still in remission. Aiden privately reflects, “It’s possible I’ve fallen out of love with love, burned out by one too many lackluster calls” (7). Aiden considers quitting entirely but reluctantly promises to consider new ideas and a less negative outlook on work. The proprietor calls out to request that Brooks Robinson approach the bar to claim his coffee. Aiden and Jackson speculate about whether this really signifies the famous baseball player’s arrival.

A transcript of the Heartstrings radio show reveals Aiden delivering a cynical diatribe on the futility of love in response to a basic question about buying flowers for the caller’s partner.