didn’t even ask about my date yesterday, and then she spent the entire afternoon and evening with Aunt Sally. I’ll stay in here and pretend to be asleep.
Laura Merchant
I think I’ll eat breakfast and read. Then go for a run. No other plans. An easy Sunday.
Lee Park
I need about a year’s worth of sleep and I need to go to the office tomorrow.
Laura Merchant
I hope you sleep well.
Lee Park
Thanks. Hey, I have an idea. Are you busy on Monday night?
What is he up to? And, of course, I’m not busy on Monday night except to go to the gym.
Laura Merchant
My only plan was to go to the gym.
Lee Park
FaceTime with me. Your Monday night is my Tuesday morning and I don’t plan on going in till noon.
When we exchanged contact information and started texting, I hoped we’d keep in touch this way, but I tried to prepare myself for all possible outcomes. He just went through a long-distance relationship with his ex. If that didn’t work out, maybe this won’t either.
On a Monday night, I worry about my mom being home. What do I do about her? Will she think it’s strange if I’m in my bedroom talking to my iPad? She doesn’t understand technology and can barely work the iPhone I bought for her. It took her a whole month to figure out how to text, and she still doesn’t know she can access email on it. I’m going to hope she won’t notice and will mind her own business. She spends most evenings in her bedroom or out with Richard anyway. But the hard part will be telling Lee about her. I can’t hide the fact she lives with me if we’re FaceTime dating.
FaceTime dating someone in Seoul. That sounds super pathetic. But, dammit, I don’t have any prospects here in New York. I burnt through every romantic connection in the last five years, and all the men I dated in my twenties have moved on. I’m thirty-two years old, been single for over two years, and my mother is living with me while she goes through her midlife crisis, or her attempt to date every wealthy, available man over the age of fifty in the city, or whatever the hell she’s doing. It’s not like I’m getting any younger. Is it better to have an online relationship with Lee than to be alone? I won’t know until I try.
Laura Merchant
I’d love to.
(>’o’)> ♥ <(‘o’<)
“Humor a pregnant lady and tell me every last detail of the kiss,” Theresa says, taking a sip of water and stretching her legs. I persuaded her to come out and walk with me because it’s one of those beautiful, sunny, clear days that makes you love Manhattan and everything about it. I was sure a walk along the West Side Highway would be good for both of us. Theresa’s belly has grown in the last month and exercise helps her aching hips. Her husband, Mike, is working the brunch crowd at his family’s restaurant today. She was eager to get out.
“It was fantastic. Confident but not aggressive. He just pulled me to him and went for it.” I reflexively touch my lips and smile. “His hands were warm, and I heard him moan halfway through. It was hot.”
Theresa sighs. “It sounds blissful.” She closes her green eyes and inhales. I tug on her arm and pull her closer to me as a young man zooms by on a bike.
“It was, but maybe it’s only because I haven’t been kissed in a long time?” I take my iPhone out of my zippered pocket and look at the date, March 25th. “It’s been… two and a half years since I’ve been kissed. A little longer since I’ve had sex.”
“Ugh, that’s too long.”
“Do you know what that does to a person like me?”
“I can only imagine, sweetie,” she says. A strong breeze whips up the Hudson River, and she tucks her short, curly red hair behind her ears. Theresa squints into the bright sunlight. “I should have worn more sunscreen. I’m going to burn, I know it.”
We walk silently for a block or two, and I relive the memory of my first kiss with Lee in my head again.
“So, what are you going to do,
Laura Merchant
I think I’ll eat breakfast and read. Then go for a run. No other plans. An easy Sunday.
Lee Park
I need about a year’s worth of sleep and I need to go to the office tomorrow.
Laura Merchant
I hope you sleep well.
Lee Park
Thanks. Hey, I have an idea. Are you busy on Monday night?
What is he up to? And, of course, I’m not busy on Monday night except to go to the gym.
Laura Merchant
My only plan was to go to the gym.
Lee Park
FaceTime with me. Your Monday night is my Tuesday morning and I don’t plan on going in till noon.
When we exchanged contact information and started texting, I hoped we’d keep in touch this way, but I tried to prepare myself for all possible outcomes. He just went through a long-distance relationship with his ex. If that didn’t work out, maybe this won’t either.
On a Monday night, I worry about my mom being home. What do I do about her? Will she think it’s strange if I’m in my bedroom talking to my iPad? She doesn’t understand technology and can barely work the iPhone I bought for her. It took her a whole month to figure out how to text, and she still doesn’t know she can access email on it. I’m going to hope she won’t notice and will mind her own business. She spends most evenings in her bedroom or out with Richard anyway. But the hard part will be telling Lee about her. I can’t hide the fact she lives with me if we’re FaceTime dating.
FaceTime dating someone in Seoul. That sounds super pathetic. But, dammit, I don’t have any prospects here in New York. I burnt through every romantic connection in the last five years, and all the men I dated in my twenties have moved on. I’m thirty-two years old, been single for over two years, and my mother is living with me while she goes through her midlife crisis, or her attempt to date every wealthy, available man over the age of fifty in the city, or whatever the hell she’s doing. It’s not like I’m getting any younger. Is it better to have an online relationship with Lee than to be alone? I won’t know until I try.
Laura Merchant
I’d love to.
(>’o’)> ♥ <(‘o’<)
“Humor a pregnant lady and tell me every last detail of the kiss,” Theresa says, taking a sip of water and stretching her legs. I persuaded her to come out and walk with me because it’s one of those beautiful, sunny, clear days that makes you love Manhattan and everything about it. I was sure a walk along the West Side Highway would be good for both of us. Theresa’s belly has grown in the last month and exercise helps her aching hips. Her husband, Mike, is working the brunch crowd at his family’s restaurant today. She was eager to get out.
“It was fantastic. Confident but not aggressive. He just pulled me to him and went for it.” I reflexively touch my lips and smile. “His hands were warm, and I heard him moan halfway through. It was hot.”
Theresa sighs. “It sounds blissful.” She closes her green eyes and inhales. I tug on her arm and pull her closer to me as a young man zooms by on a bike.
“It was, but maybe it’s only because I haven’t been kissed in a long time?” I take my iPhone out of my zippered pocket and look at the date, March 25th. “It’s been… two and a half years since I’ve been kissed. A little longer since I’ve had sex.”
“Ugh, that’s too long.”
“Do you know what that does to a person like me?”
“I can only imagine, sweetie,” she says. A strong breeze whips up the Hudson River, and she tucks her short, curly red hair behind her ears. Theresa squints into the bright sunlight. “I should have worn more sunscreen. I’m going to burn, I know it.”
We walk silently for a block or two, and I relive the memory of my first kiss with Lee in my head again.
“So, what are you going to do,
Similar Books
