"I have one, I just didn't wish to hare off in the middle of something." He'd recently obtained a mobile, and he could at least make telephone calls with it. He pulled Marietta's card from his wallet and dialed, getting the automatic reply machine. When her voice asked him to 'leave a message at the beep', he let his courage do the talking. "Miss, er, Marietta? This is Ariel. I wonder if you'd, erm. Telephone. Yes, if you'd return my call." He paused, only becoming aware belatedly that he'd done so. "Of course. That is, I wanted to ask you if you'd like to come out with me some evening. To, ah, dinner. Or something of that nature. If you like." He'd have gone on, but the phone hung up on him. Apparently he'd used his time?
He dialed the number again, starting to feel a creeping blush of embarrassment. "Yes, sorry. New at this. Please return the call whenever it's convenient for you, Miss Marietta." He gave the number and hung up, palm covering his face as he did so.