A Message Window
Available for Chat, Part 2
by Cynthia Piromalli

Lucy pressed the power buttons on her computer and monitor, then sat back and tapped her ragged fingernails on the desk as she waited for the pc to boot up. She cursed at it under her breath for being so slow as it crunched away. At last the start up screen appeared and Lucy double clicked on the Internet icon. Another long wait as it dialed up. She sighed, lit a cigarette, coughed, spluttered, then took another drag.

She surveyed the room around her as she waited. Her room was a shambles, as usual. Despite her best intentions, text books and notepads piled up on the desk and the floor beside it, clothes hung limply on the back of her chair and the end of her bed. The sheets needed changing, but she couldn’t be bothered.

Beyond the bedroom door it was quiet, everyone else had gone to bed, having early starts in the morning. Lucy, on the other hand, had organized her semester timetable well to suit her nocturnal biological clock. She had been a night owl for as long as she could remember. Her flat mates didn’t like, especially during exam time, but her mother had never minded. Her mum was always happy for the company after Lucy’s father had mercifully left them.

At last everything was logged in. She was glad to get going with her surfing and stop thinking morbid thoughts that memories of her father always dredged up.

She ignored her email for the moment and went straight to her chatting program, what she spent most of her time on when she was online. There was a message waiting for her already, from someone she didn’t recognize. Probably some lunatic spamming porn again. She was about to ignore it but her curiosity got the better of her and she clicked on the name. The waiting message came up from Dave2000: “Want to chat?” Lucy saw that he was still online, so thought, why not. None of her other contacts were online at the moment, so it didn’t hurt to give this guy a go. Lucy started off a message window.

Lucy: Hi there.

Dave: Hey, glad you answered.

Lucy: Yeah well, don’t usually but have to take a chance every now and again.

Dave: Don’t worry, I won’t bite.

Lucy: LOL, that’s the good thing about the net I guess.

Dave: So is Lucy your real name?

Lucy: Yep. How about u Dave?

Dave: Yes. I don’t have much imagination when it comes to choosing user names.

Lucy: LOL, know what u mean.

Dave: So what do u do?

Lucy: Besides sit online most days, u mean? I’m studying at university. What do u do?

Dave: Nothing at the moment, I’m between jobs but it’s ok. I feel like I can live my own life when I’m not working.

Lucy: So what does your own life involve?

Dave: You know, this and that, not much of the other. LOL.

Lucy: Yeah, know what u mean. What did you used to do for work?

Dave: Just boring jobs, like collecting garbage.

Lucy: Better than being stuck inside all day, like I have 2 b. Prefer 2 b chatting if I have 2 b inside.

Dave: Cool, maybe we can make this a regular thing. J So do u party much at uni?

Lucy: More than study! LOL

Dave: Cool. Where do u hang out?

Lucy: Uni bar usually, the drinks r cheap there.

Dave: Cool, I should come in 1 nite & catch up with u.

Despite her frown, Lucy typed in “okay” just to humor the guy. She wasn’t sure what chatting protocol really was, if there was any at all, but she wasn’t sure that asking to meet up on the first chat was how it went. She shrugged. He probably wasn’t harmless, just lonely and that wasn’t a crime. She had met people off the net herself. A couple of her closest friends were people she’d met off the net, mind you they were females. The males had been a different story most of the time, but she could look after herself.

Lucy: How old r u?

Dave: 28 – is that old?!

Lucy: LOL, no. I’m 20, so not far behind u. Which side of town r u on?

Dave: West. I’d like 2 move out of here, it can be noisy sometimes.

Lucy: Well, we’ll have 2 work on getting u out of there.

Dave: Job might help.

Lucy: Yeah. Look, I have 2 go, chat with u soon ok?

Dave: Ok, when do u want 2 meet up?

Lucy: Soon, will let u know. Later!

Dave: Later!

Lucy logged off her chat program and sat back, staring at her computer. He was an odd one all right, wanting to meet up so soon. Lonely, that’s for sure. She thought she might check him out a bit more before meeting him in the flesh. But then again, in many ways, he was perfect.

© Cynthia M. Piromalli
©2003 StoriesByEmail.com

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