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Romantic: Fiction Gail By Likeglass Many things in life start as a joke. Sometimes, the best in life grows out of these odd starts. It was kind of as a joke that I set up a website and chat-room about one of my favorite subjects, computers. My thought was it could be used as a place to trade ideas as well as experiences with our cyber companions. It was there I first met her. She posted as "GC" and her first post was something that caught my heart- GC - "I have no desire to live anymore, my life is over." Now, most people tend to exaggerate their life or their emotions when online, so I was not too troubled, but still, this person looked like they needed more then help with their computer. I asked why they felt this way and quickly learned I was speaking to a girl who had just gone through a rough breakup. She explained that they had been living together for a while and there had been a big fight. He had stormed out and she was all alone. In desperation, she had turned on the computer and found this site in the favorites list. She really didn't know or care about computers but just needed someone, anyone, to talk to. Six hours later, we were still chatting. I was very tired and finally explained that It was time to go. We agreed to meet up on chat the next night. I was pretty sure she was not going to "off" herself, and headed to bed. My mind was full of thoughts and questions. Who was this girl? What was she like? I thought about what a strange world we live in. A world where two total strangers could meet up and discuss the most intimate and fundamental aspects of life without knowing who each other was. My day job was at a data processing center. I was a network coordinator and troubleshooter in an office of about sixty five people. Each day brought on a new adventure of miscommunication between the machines and the people who ran them. Most guys would love my job, as the staff was about 90% female. Still, I was lonely. So many happy people all with interesting lives while mine was in it's own form of doldrums. I had gotten burned pretty bad in a relationship and had decided that I should stay single forever! Every time I saw one of those smiling faces, I would think to myself, "I wonder how she would break my heart." Six pm came and went and GC had not popped into chat. I fixed myself some dinner and ate it watching the screen. Nothing! Had she really done herself in? My mind went over the tale from the night before. How she had given up everything in her life so this guy could make it through collage, only to be dumped like rubbish when he got his first job offer across the country. Maybe he had returned. Maybe she just didn't care to turn on the computer and talk about it. So many unanswered questions. Where did he leave for? What side of the country was she on? The more I thought about it, the more frustrated I got. This was the bad side of chat! You get to know someone, yet you have no real connection with them. In one respect they have become a friend, yet at the same time, there was no way you could tell them that. Seven pm came and went. More questions. Had she lost the link? Had her computer stopped working? That would be ironic! The one thing you could really help her with, yet there was no way of helping out! Then, at about eight thirty, a small line of text crossed the screen. CG - "Are you there?" My heart leaped! She explained how she had been so depressed that she had come home and fallen asleep. I felt a kind of reassuring feeling knowing she was in the same time zone as myself. Somehow, it made this fragile soul seam a little closer. As we talked I noticed she seemed in better spirits then the day before. Some of the reality had sunk in and some of the desperation had faded away. We even started joking. I learned her name was Gail. I did not push her for her full name as it would not have been appropriate. In my mind, I went over the people I worked with. There were three named Gail. Wouldn't that be wild if it was one of them! Of course, there was always the possibility that it wasn't even her name, but for now, she was Gail. We talked about life. Our loves, our highs, and our lows. I even told her about my fondness for hoop earrings. She told me about her fondness for guys with tight pants! We laughed, or at least indicated we did on line. Something told me that those characters actually represented a real laugh. Mine sure did. We wrapped up the conversation at about two am, with a promise to meet online the next night. As I was getting dressed for work, I couldn't help but try to find the tightest pair of pants in my dresser. I know, stupid. Somehow though, it seamed fun. What a new concept! I hadn't felt that way in a long time. The first thing I did when I got to work was to look up every Gail that worked there. No, I'm not a stalker, just a romantic. There were three as I remembered. The first was Gail Kramer in accounting. There was a call in for service in her area, so with a spring in my step, I was off. When I walked into her office I almost fell on my face. A beautiful blond with hoop Earrings! Was this her? I could hardly speak. She explained how she was having network speed problems. I watched as she typed. Could those be the fingers that touched my life? I found it very hard to do my job. What was wrong with me? Two nights of chat and I was in love? And I didn't even know with who! The second Gail was named Gail Cooper. GC? I had to go look. There were no service reports from her workstation, but it was due for some preventive maintenance. This was usually very low on the priority list, but somehow today, it went to the top of mine! I knocked on the wall of her cubicle. She turned around. Short dark hair and... Hoop Earrings! For a second, I froze. Finally, I explained the nature of the call. Once again, I watched her type and wondered. Hey, who was I kidding! The chances that GC being someone I worked with were next to nothing! Still....... What if it was? Life always tends to do those kind of things! Gail number three was Gail Lorenz. No reason whatsoever to go to her cubicle. What could I think of? She worked in the graphics section. Lots of data transfers! As I walked over to her section, I thought of what I could say. Once again, I stood there and tapped on a cubical. She turned around. Wow! Very long dark hair, and big Hoop Earrings! Well of course, she was Hispanic, I guess I should have figured. Still, there was a box of tissues on her desk. Was she crying? I explained that we had some data speed problems and asked her if she had noticed any. She said no. Something sounded funny about her voice so I asked if there was anything wrong. She laughed a bit and then said, "Just allergies." What was I thinking? Enough of this stupid behavior! Seven pm on the nose and GC made her appearance. Part of me wanted to ask her if she worked in a data processing center and had she been wearing hoops today, but I thought better of it. Still, I almost froze at the keyboard when she said some guy was acting strange at work today! Oh No! If it was me, she already thought of me as a weirdo! Then she went on to say she had dusted off an old pair of hoops and had been wearing them. I thought to myself that it was a good thing a dry throat didn't show up on chat! Our chat only lasted until about nine pm because I had to go shopping. I was out of cream, and the thought of coffee without cream did not sit well with me. Besides, I was becoming involved here, and that worried me! Her next line really knocked me over. She said that she probably should do a little shopping herself and was out of cream which she needed for her coffee! If my mind was teasing me before, it had now gone into high gear! Maybe it was just because I was looking, but it seamed it was national hoop day at the market! I found myself looking in the baskets of every girl wearing hoops to see if they had bought any cream! What was going on! I know. I was in love! I'm not a stalker. I would never even want to bother any person that did not want to be bothered. Yet there I was, asking simple questions about the three Gails I worked with. Ms Lorenz, as it turns out, was married. OK, we can cross that one off the list. The other two Gails however, were both single and both had recent breakups! This is it. I'm going to stop this now. If it was meant to be, I would find out in due course! There was no way I wanted to confuse these girls when the chances were so low that either could be the Gail I had been chatting with! I could not tell GC that I was falling in love with her. It was too soon. It may never be the right time! Once again, who was I kidding. I had never even met her. How could I be in love! Another day rolled by. Another seven pm conversation. She mentioned how it had been raining. Where was she? It HAD been raining! I had to ask! JL - "Oh, it was raining here as well today! Are you in the north?" GC - "Yea, a funny little town, near Northville." JL - "So, work was ok, no more strange guys?" GC - "No.. besides, they're outnumbered where I work by strange girls!" My heart was in my throat! Northville was near! And that comment about a workplace where girls outnumbered guys! No, it's not time yet. I can't ask her out. She's still all freaked out about the last relationship. Have to change the subject! JL - "Still wearing the hoops?" GC - "Oh yea! Starting to like them a bit!" Oh boy! My kind of girl! But what could I do, ask every girl in hoops out? Hummmm... Actually not a bad idea. If I'm going to resurrect my social life, it may a well be with a girl in hoops! Who was I kidding, it was Gail I wanted to meet! Well, I could ask every girl in hoops named Gail out.... No, she's not ready for that. It would end before it started. Best bet is to just keep chatting until things either fade out or heat up. The next morning, I walked into a wasp's nest. The print server was down and print jobs were piling up like cordwood. I was able to find replacement parts and arranged to have them driven down. The thought occurred to me to take some of the more important print jobs down to the local Speedy Print-shop. With a stack of Zip disks in hand, I was on my way. I had been there before, but now I found myself looking at everything in a new perspective. My eyes immediately focused on the name badge on the girl behind the counter- "Gail C." and yes, she was wearing hoops! I looked around the sales floor and realized that most of the employees were women. It was then that it really sank in. Even if CG's name really was Gail, even if the Northville she spoke about was the one nearby, there were probably ten thousand Gails in the region, and probably hundreds if not a thousand who's last name began with a C. Sure, I could start back-tracing IP hits, hire a private detective, or something equally strange, but is that any way to start a relationship? The next move, if there was a next move, would have to be hers. Still, there had to be some quiet way of encouraging the next move. On the drive back I thought of it!
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