Textual Encounters (The Christine + Jake Affair)
Page 4
--------------------------------------
5:21pm:
It takes more than flowers for me to spend the night with a stranger.
--------------------------------------
5:21pm:
That’s unfortunate. I don’t feel that we’re strangers…
--------------------------------------
5:22pm:
You should be pleased to see that I have minimum standards.
5:23pm:
That probably makes me a little different than the other women you’ve dated. The ones you either did not want to marry because they were flakes or who never wanted to marry you because you’re all about *quality*.
--------------------------------------
5:24pm:
Oh boy, not the QUALITY conversation again...
5:24pm:
So to change the subject, I want to know more about these signs.
--------------------------------------
5:25pm:
That’s why we need to meet. To figure this out.
--------------------------------------
5:25pm:
I’m already convinced, Christine. Let’s meet, the sooner the better for me.
5:25pm:
When?
--------------------------------------
5:26pm:
We’ll have to figure that one out...
5:26pm:
Gotta run.
5:26pm
Chat later?
--------------------------------------
5:27pm:
Later can’t happen soon enough!
--------------------------------------
Thursday January 17, 2013
--------------------------------------
6:37am:
You awake yet?
--------------------------------------
6:39am:
Just getting out of the shower.
--------------------------------------
6:41am:
As an FYI, the flowers are getting old. Now could be a good time to update that photo of yours...
--------------------------------------
6:41am:
I’m starting to think you’re a bit of a perv, Jake.
--------------------------------------
6:42am:
Forgive me for fantasizing... I’ve been up all night.
--------------------------------------
6:42am:
No gym?
--------------------------------------
6:43am:
Oh, I finished there two hours ago. Then had a cold shower.
6:43am:
Are you coming to NYC this weekend?
--------------------------------------
6:44am:
Ah, the humor returns!
--------------------------------------
6:44am:
OK, seriously?
6:45am:
I can’t stop thinking about you. What you said about these signs.... it’s driving me crazy.
--------------------------------------
6:46am:
It’s a decent theory.
--------------------------------------
6:47am:
More than decent. It’s eerie.
--------------------------------------
6:47am:
I’ve already proven that I’m more than just a pretty face, haven’t I?
--------------------------------------
6:48am:
My new year’s resolution was to meet that perfect woman.
--------------------------------------
6:49am:
Here I am ; )
--------------------------------------
6:49am:
All I see is a bunch of flowers.
--------------------------------------
6:50am:
Technically, they’re called a *bouquet*
--------------------------------------
6:50am:
Yes, definitely more than a pretty face.
6:51am:
So, back to my original question: when are you coming to NYC?
6:54am:
Hello?
--------------------------------------
6:55am:
Just checking my calendar...
6:56am:
Looks like March.
--------------------------------------
6:58am:
You’re kidding right?
--------------------------------------
6:58am:
I wish.
6:59am:
Maybe we could meet halfway?
--------------------------------------
6:59am:
For coffee or drinks? That’s a hell of a trip for a few hours.
--------------------------------------
7:00am:
Maybe there’s a reason for that... a higher purpose.
--------------------------------------
7:00am:
A sign.
--------------------------------------
7:01am:
Exactly.
--------------------------------------
7:01am:
I was being facetious. The sign is that we have to work a little harder at this, I’m guessing.
7:02am:
Like turn it into a ski weekend Upstate?
--------------------------------------
7:03am:
Even at 7 in the morning, you never lose that persistent charm of yours do you?
--------------------------------------
7:03am:
OK, let me think of a better solution.
7:04am:
You seriously want to meet halfway?
--------------------------------------
7:05am:
Crossing the border gets tricky for someone who is out of the States on a work permit. So it would be best to meet in Canada, or those handsome Customs officers might detain me and force me to let them have their way with me.
7:06am:
Niagara Falls?
--------------------------------------
7:06am:
They have casinos there, don’t they?
--------------------------------------
7:07am:
Is that a prerequisite?
--------------------------------------
7:07am:
It’s just that if they casinos, they’ll also have decent hotels.
--------------------------------------
7:08:
I’m sure they have decent hotels, Jake. It’s not *that* much farther North than NYC. In fact, I learned today that Toronto is bigger than Detroit. No igloos here.
--------------------------------------
7:09am:
I’ll take your word...
--------------------------------------
7:10am:
I have to get to work.
7:10am:
Sorry.
7:11am:
Chat again later?
--------------------------------------
7:12am:
Looking forward to it.
--------------------------------------
7:12am:
Have a nice morning.
--------------------------------------
7:13am:
U2.
--------------------------------------
4:30pm:
Jake?
--------------------------------------
4:32pm:
Y?
--------------------------------------
4:32pm:
I have some good news.
--------------------------------------
4:33pm:
You’re moving back to NYC?
--------------------------------------
4:34pm:
Not quite. But I was able to get my March meeting pushed up to mi
d-February. Just waiting to confirm exact dates.
--------------------------------------
4:34pm:
That’s a month away, too long.
4:35pm:
We need to meet sooner than that.
--------------------------------------
4:36pm:
Why the urgency?
4:36pm:
Mid-Feb is better than March.
--------------------------------------
4:37pm:
Sigh. Ur right, Feb is better than March.
4:38pm:
No urgency.
--------------------------------------
4:39pm:
So you’re happy?
--------------------------------------
4:39pm:
Of course I am.
4:40pm:
Thrilled.
4:41pm:
BTW when are you going to update that photo of yours to help me get through the next 3 weeks?
--------------------------------------
4:41pm:
Soon.
--------------------------------------
4:41pm:
Can’t wait.
4:42pm:
Gotta run. Monthly dinner meeting.
--------------------------------------
4:43pm:
Write me when you’re done?
--------------------------------------
4:43pm:
Definitely.
6:45pm:
Fuucckkk, that was long!
--------------------------------------
6:45pm:
I’d say. Everything ok in NYC?
--------------------------------------
6:46pm:
More changes to that portfolio I’m working on. It’s a moving target with this jackass.
--------------------------------------
6:47pm:
Welcome to life as a subordinate!
--------------------------------------
6:48pm:
Two days ago, we were exclusively domestic. Now he’s talking about going international up to 25% of the total portfolio. I think he makes this shit up just to keep me around.
--------------------------------------
6:48pm:
Employed = pay check = good
--------------------------------------
6:49pm:
True.
6:50pm:
But if I didn’t have to show up at the office tomorrow, I could drive to Toronto and meet you for that coffee break.
--------------------------------------
6:51pm:
But who would pay your transportation costs... not to mention the coffee once you get here?
--------------------------------------
6:51pm:
Cold, Christine. Really cold.
--------------------------------------
6:52pm:
Speaking of cold, my bathwater is ready.
--------------------------------------
6:52pm:
Just in time for you to update that photo of yours.
--------------------------------------
6:54pm:
OK, OK. You want a photo of me in the tub?
--------------------------------------
6:56pm:
It would be a dream come true...
--------------------------------------
6:56pm:
Stay tuned...
--------------------------------------
6:57pm:
Oh, I will!
6:59pm:
Can’t wait!
--------------------------------------
7:50pm:
Still up?
--------------------------------------
7:52pm:
Of course I am. I can’t sleep… I’m waiting for that photo you promised.
--------------------------------------
7:52pm:
OK, I’m heading to bed.
--------------------------------------
7:53pm:
WTF?
--------------------------------------
7:53pm:
Don’t worry, I’ll send you the photo before checking out.
7:55pm:
Sweet dreams, Jake.
--------------------------------------
7:56pm:
U 2.
--------------------------------------
7:57pm:
Updated Photo:
--------------------------------------
7:59pm:
You still awake?
8:01pm:
That’s not nice, Christine!
8:02pm:
You omitted the rest of your body, in case you didn’t notice.
8:04pm:
Now what am I supposed to do with a picture of your feet, get you a pedicure?
--------------------------------------
Friday January 18, 2013
--------------------------------------
2:00am:
Can’t sleep. I have a mental image of your feet in my hands, then working my way up your ankles, calves and then thighs, and wondering how far you will let me go before finally stopping me, before I just have to taste you. Fuck.
2:01am:
And now I have to figure out a way to get enough sleep to make it through my day at work.
2:02am:
There’s a reason we connected, I think you’re right about that, Christine.
2:04am:
But I have a confession to make. It’s probably best that you’re not reading this right now. My confession is that I was engaged once. Six years ago to a girl I met in college. Together since Freshman yr. We moved in together after school. She had a good job, loved me more than anything and would have died for me.
2:06am:
After a year of living together, I proposed. I was able to convince myself that she meant enough to me that I could marry her and spend the rest of my life with her. Yes, I loved her A LOT. We planned everything together. A whole year’s worth of time, money, tasting and touching and visiting locations. We had the day booked to perfection.
2:08am:
A month (actually, a little less) before the big day, I woke up and just sat there, staring at her face while she slept. I loved her, but something was speaking to me. You talk about signs? That morning, I had a sign. I sat on the edge of our bed and just watched her. I think she knew I was watching her because she slept in that morning, or pretended to. Maybe another sign.
2:11am:
Maybe she knew I was sitting there and what I was thinking, and maybe she hoped that I would just go away. I don’t know, but when she opened her eyes, I told her right away. I told her that I couldn’t go through with this marriage.
2:13am:
There were a lot of tears that day. I don’t think they were entirely sad tears, though. I moved out that same day. The only contact we had after that day concerned selling the condo. We split the equity, hugged one last time and went our separate ways, neither of us planning to see each other ever again. No phone calls, no emails, no texts.
2:16am:
To this day, whenever my family asks me why I called it off with Rachel, I lie and tell them it was mutual. My buddies ask me what was so wrong with her and I can’t give them an answer. There really was nothing wrong with her and for the past six years, I could never figure out what suddenly made me call that wedding off. I blamed it on there being something wrong with me, an inability to commit (which is bullshit) or some other psychological issue that I haven’t yet figured out.
2:18am:
So it’s not that I’m not marriage material.
2:18am:
But here’s where it gets interesting: For the past two weeks, I’ve stopped blaming myself and started questioning why, of all the people I could have sent an erroneous text to on January 2, why you?