Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: Cyber Communication (email, IM’s, etc) (11/04/10)
-
TITLE: ROMANCE VIA E-MALE | Previous Challenge Entry
By Marita Vandertogt
11/11/10 -
LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE
SEND A PRIVATE COMMENT
ADD TO MY FAVORITES
The light from her computer was the only light on in the room. Cynthia pulled the blanket draped around her shoulders a little tighter to keep the cool air from hitting her skin, her heart. Here it was. A proposal by e-mail. By e-mail. Who proposes by email? Nobody, that’s who.
But Warren did. Sensitive, shy Warren. His dark haired good looks bonded him to her in a way she couldn’t explain. With one click of a key, they met. They emailed for months until Cynthia decided they needed to meet, face to face.
“It’s time.” Was all she’d sent. And then nothing from him for about a week. She remembered that week with a feeling of panic. Was she too pushy? After all, Warren seemed more sensitive than the men she was used to dating. So why didn’t she just delete his email address and get on with things. But every time she thought of walking away, the smile on his face in the picture came back to haunt her. There was something about this man that held her.
She remembered the feeling of relief at the end of that week of waiting, how the light of the computer finally flashed, “Okay.”
Cynthia had wasted no time in setting things up. A small cafe in her town, on a Saturday afternoon at lunch time, the perfect meeting place. She emailed him back and he said, yes.
She still remembers that day, sitting by the window, the red rose on the table in front of her, her hair perfectly combed, wearing the lipstick she searched for for days, the one that brought out the hazel in her eyes. She’d watched out the window, looking for a stranger, someone she didn’t recognize, and after a few hours, blotted her lipstick, paid the waitress for a cold cup of coffee and left, anger building in her steps as she made her way home to the computer. Maybe he had a good reason.
The message from Warren was short. In fact, it was titled, a message from Warren. She clicked it open to read. “My mother got sick. Had to rush over. Sorry. Can we reschedule?”
”Can we reschedule?” She was furious. And then thought, he doesn’t have her phone number. And maybe this was legit. So she emailed him back. “Next Saturday, same location.”
And he agreed.
So she sat again in the little cafe, and waited, nursing another cup of coffee, head bobbing back and forth as she watched again for this stranger. And again, no Warren.
This time she didn’t feel anger. She just felt foolish for setting herself up with an email romance that she expected would actually go somewhere. Well, this time, she would remove his email address. This time she would blot his memory and begin again. There were a lot of men on-line that she could meet. After all, there was a whole world out there that she could draw from now. This small town had no eligible bachelors left, and Cynthia wanted that wedding band more than anything.
Clicking the machine on once more, there it was, another message from Warren. “So sorry.” Was how it started out. Then, “will you marry me. “
Was he crazy, she thought, sitting now, the blanket falling to the floor.
“Marry who?” she finally answered back. “I don’t even know the sound of your voice.”
She hit the delete button and erased his email, and all the messages she’d stored from over the past months. Gone. Just like that, with one touch of a button. She wished it would be that easy for her heart. Just one click of a button and gone. But she knew it wouldn’t be.
Cynthia pulled up the site again and searched for another Warren. She settled on a blonde haired man named Brian, with no smile. It was easier that way she thought.
She was sure her future husband lay in the light of her machine, waiting to be contacted. And Cynthia was getting good at this. Somewhere out there was her e-male. Just a click away.
The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.
Accept Jesus as Your Lord and Savior Right Now - CLICK HERE
JOIN US at FaithWriters for Free. Grow as a Writer and Spread the Gospel.
