Friday, February 19; I woke up early and the first thing I did was to grab my computer from the side table and opened the site. I just needed to read his profile once more before getting out of bed. There it was… I could see words like attitude, laughing, family, traveling, and Paris jumping out of the computer screen. I felt like Russell Crowe in the movie Beautiful Mind, where his character’s ideas popped out of his head and were drown in plain air. I quickly closed my computer when I heard the dogs barking from the other room, it was time to take them out. While I stood outside in freezing temperature waiting for the dogs to complete their businesses, I got lost in my thoughts… Am I going to be brave enough to reply to his email? What would I say? The dogs had finished their businesses and they were smelling the cold air. I don’t know what is in the cold air that always captures my dogs’ attention. I pulled their leashes, our code for getting back inside. My heart was beating fast, I felt like a 13 year old girl again thinking of her first crush. I couldn’t work more efficiently in my kitchen. I wanted to brew my coffee as quickly as possible, so I could go back to my computer.
I was back in my room, seated in bed with my legs crossed, computer on my lap and coffee in my hand. I was ready to read this profile again. I started to feel like a stalker, I may have read his profile a few more times before deciding to write back. I stared at my computer for several minutes; I did not know what to write. I read his email once more, “Hello how are you? I have to admit you sure look adorable and your profile is cute. How is the single life treating you, any luck meeting Mr. wonderful yet?” Then I decided to start by answer his questions; that’s safe. So, how is single life treating me? Well, my first instinct was to say that single life was treating me horribly, I hadn’t had a date in ages and I was tired of being alone. Nevertheless, I opted for the high road and said that single life was treating me well; that I was lucky to have family and friends close to home and I visited my parents and other family in the Caribbean as often as I could. This statement was true and less desperate. I couldn’t ignore his question about Mr. Wonderful, so I concluded with a contrastive sentence connector followed by “it would be great to also share moments with "Mr. Wonderful" if he's around...” I needed a polite beginning, so I started by thanking him for reading my profile and I told him he had a fascinating one. This was good, I was being polite and complimentary. By then I was typing like a maniac. Commenting on almost everything he had in his profile. When I saw that I had several paragraphs, I decided to pull back and only comment on two things. I told him that he described the perfect picnic menu, baguette, wine and cheese; and on the last book he read from the author David Sedaris (a favorite of mine). I mentioned one of my favorite Sedaris’ stories. At this point I was satisfied with what I had written. I just added a last sentence and hit “Send.” It was gone, there was nothing I could do but wait. I continued with my daily activities without being able to forget about the email exchange. That night I checked my inbox several times and nothing… no emails. I had no option but to go to bed without knowing what Mr. Wonderful thought about my email. Tomorrow will be another day.
