JuCluCee
David Michael Brooks
At the ladies get-together that night, Maria pulled Janice aside and asked her if she had noticed any mail in her box that afternoon from a new ad she had responded to. "I saw the ad appear a couple days ago, but I was still waiting for the first one to respond so I didn't think much about it. Well, today I got a response."
Janice didn't even pretend to be excited for Maria about what the first response had been. She could tell it had not been a favorable one just from the original question. "So what did it say?" she asked politely, anyway.
"Well, all it really said, basically, was that I was too late, which is too bad because his response was a nice one, too. But..." she quickly added, "I looked at that one from just a couple days ago and a couple new ones today, figuring I'll give it just one more try, and I did respond to one, a Mark with a bunch of numbers behind his name."
"What? And then you are giving up on the idea already? Not that I think you should or shouldn't, that's your decision all the way, but it hasn't even been two weeks yet," Janice whispered. "You might want to take your time and just browse a while without responding."
"I don't know what I want," Maria sarcastically whined. "Somebody I don't even know spoiled me rotten for one afternoon fifteen years ago and I just can't get it out of my mind. It was soooooo.... I don't know," she trailed off as she shrugged her shoulders and gazed at the floor.
"Anyway..." Maria continued whispering a little softer, "I sent this 'Mark' guy a response asking for more info about him and if he doesn't respond by Monday, I don't think I can take another week of suspense. Must be like the piano ordeal a while back," she giggled, "I'm just too impatient to make some beautiful music."
"Well keep it under wraps, girl, til you know what you're doing, some things just can't be rushed if you want to do it right, you know what I mean?"
"Yes, Jan, I do. And thanks for all your support, and I'm fine, really...just horny!" Maria added with a laugh and the two of them turned and rejoined the conversation and laughter going on at the big table next to them.
Maria arrived at Janice's townhouse at 9:25 sharp, same time she had been arriving every morning after getting Robbie on his 9:00 school bus. Janice hadn't been there while Maria was visiting since the very first day the two of them had set everything up on the computer. She knew when Maria would be there and had conveniently scheduled houses to show or work that needed being done at the main office so as to leave Maria with her privacy. Janice had, on a couple occasions, left a little S.O.S. note on the kitchen table for Maria to help eat a cake she had made, or a box of chocolates a client had given her, to help prevent her from eating it all herself and gaining 10 pounds, which Maria had obliged, as her craving for sweets was second only to one other less obtainable craving she seemingly always had anymore.
"Todaaaay," Maria told herself as she slid into the executive chair and double-clicked on the AON icon on Janice's monitor, "must be the last day for me. If Mark-numbers-guy hasn't responded today, I don't want to wait all weekend just to find out he didn't respond on Monday, either. So this is it," and she typed in her password and hit the 'enter' key.
"You've Got Mail!"
"Okay, here it is," Maria said to herself dramatically, "What's it gonna be? Yes?...No?" and she clicked on the icon of the mailbox and read the response from Mark10876.
She knew at once, seeing the heading that read "Nice to meet you" next to his screen name, that it wasn't going to be the same type of response her first letter had brought her, but she still wasn't counting her chickens yet. He could still turn out to be a weirdo, she reminded herself, but was very pleasantly surprised by the fact that he was asking questions and not sending invitations ...yet.
Maria suddenly felt like babbling her whole life story into the next e-mail to Mark-numbers-guy and asking him to do the same, but then, remembering the eternal ache that had been planted in her fifteen years earlier, she felt that little information, besides being Janice's most stern caution, could also be even more exciting in a kind of erotic way.
She reread the new e-mail several times, noticing that, once again, she really knew absolutely nothing about this Mark character and ultimately decided that she should learn as much as possible. She clicked on the 'respond' square and began to type her response.
Hi Mark,
My name is Maria. I guess there's one thing we have in common, both our names start with 'M'. I really don't know how to begin this line of communication. One of the things I am missing in my life is excitement. Nothing excites me right now. Due to the obvious cautions a woman must take in a venture such as this (I'm sure you understand), I would like to read a long note from you talking about your likes and dislikes, your hobbies, your work, even your wife if you want, anything you feel like writing about, if that is okay with you, before I say much more than I have.
I am very interested in potentially meeting you, but I want to be sure it is what we both want before we take any steps we might regret. I will look for your response on Monday, as I am not even using my own computer for this in an attempt for the utmost discretion. Thank you.Maria
|