Episode 14 - Virtual Reality
for Andrew Donald Armstong..may your lines never get tangled
Jules woke up just as the sun set. She stretched and looked at the glowing Micky Mouse clock beside her bed. Micky's hands read 6:15pm. Jules had slept in. She took the scan of Helen and carefully placed it on her bedside table and reminded herself to get the next one laminated.
She got up and made herself a cuppa. She flicked through the plethora of computer magazines on her coffee table and looked at the bills and a curt note her flat mate had left her: www.moneywouldbeagoodthing.com
She tossed them aside and turned on the telly. The news was on and she channel surfed to find something a bit more entertaining. She caught the end of a Simpsons episode and decided to work on her homepage.
Jules booted up her puter and made herself a coffee. She checked her mail: 5 different accounts, her pager and icq messages. She worked on her homepage for the evening. She made a major change to her hit counter as it hadn't moved in a week and she decided it was faulty.
Helen would be knocking off work soon and she sat in front of the stagnant screen waiting for the familiar
uh oh announcment that her baby was online.
She cruised the chat rooms, seeing the same old regulars there, looked up some more immigration info and checked her hotmail account for the third time. Helen still wasn't online. Jules frowned and started to worry that she had been in an accident or a crazed IRA bomber had chosen to target Helen's bulding.
Jules was just about to log off and phone her, just to make sure the lines in England weren't down when Helen's icon apeared in her icq list. Jules fell back into her chair relieved.
The conversation is as followed:
Jules: Hi babe.
Helen: Hi back.
J: Did you get my virtual card?
H: Yeah, thanks for that. Nice fluffy kittens.
J: So, you are late tonight. Where have you been?
Pause
Longer pause.
J: Helen, are you still there??? You aren't still having probs with your server are you?
H: No, I'm here. So how has your day been?
J: Good, Midge got into a fight and had her head split open. There is a new grrl here who is so uptight she could crack walnuts with her arse. And I looked for a job today...well sort of. I slept in but I was going to go.
Pause
Five minutes later .
H:Your tongue is deep in me.
Jules' turn to pause
J: It is???
Jules stared into the screen and scratched her head. Whenever she and Helen cybered there was usually a bit more foreplay than this.
J: Have you been drinking, Helen?
H: So how will I recognize you? And what time do you want to meet?
J: ??? Helen, who the fuck are you talking to???
to be continued... |
