Chapter
Three
"Brenda! Will you put that damn thing away?" The bright
blue eyes of Brendas best friend and business partner in
L&B Records, Lois Cerullo-Ashton, were darkly clouded with
annoyance and frustration. "Alexis will be here any minute
and we need to get this meeting started. Cant you just
check your email later?" Brenda nodded, and in nervousness,
surveyed the Port Charles Grill, hoping that the emergency
L&B meeting wouldnt take to long. What was wrong with
her? Isnt this exactly what FlyGuy had said-that he
couldn't even sit through meetings without being desperate to
talk to her?
Brenda nearly
fell off of her chair when the hand flew in front of her face.
"Hello? Earth to Brenda? Come in Brenda." Embarrassment
crept up Brendas cheeks, and she hoped her two best
friends, Lois and Alexis, wouldnt notice her strange
behavior. Alexis and Lois looked at her strangely, but began the
meeting in spite of all of Brendas nervous habits, like
drumming her fingernails, tapping her silverware, and generally
spacing out.
"Enough!"
Lois reached under the table and pulled out Brendas
notebook computer. "Here! Just go ahead, but make it snappy,
okay?" Alexis and Lois shared a laugh as Brenda tried to
resist, but the temptation was too great, as she grabbed her cell
phone out of her purse and logged-on to AOL.
"Youve
Got Mail." Brenda was sure that as long as she lived, no
sound would be more welcome or lovely. She sighed, and opened the
mail: from FlyGuy, and skimmed it quickly, though she knew that
later, in the privacy of her tower, shed examine every
single word, and commit them to memory.
As Brenda laughed
and sighed at each comment, and as tears welled up in
Brendas eyes, Alexis and Lois exchanged puzzled looks
before Alexis, glasses perched on her nose, turned to the
still-engrossed Miss Barrett. "So? What exactly does this
magical, mystery email say?"
"Yeah, girlfriend! Spill it!" Brenda took a deep
breath, surveying her two best friends, and hesitated, even
though this was the exact opportunity she had been waiting for.
She had met Lois
when Lois had married her sisters ex, Ned Ashton; they had
immediately hit it off, and had gone into business together,
forming L&B Records. Not long afterward, her old boarding
school friend, Alexis Davis, had shown up in Port Charles, fresh
out of law school, and Brenda couldnt resist being in
business with her two best friends. Luckily, Lois and Alexis had
hit it off right away, and as Brenda looked at them, she knew,
correction-she hoped, that theyd understand. "Okay,
you guys. Read this!" She tilted the computer towards
Alexis, and Lois came to stand behind them, as all three read the
email.
"Holy Toledo! "Its a genuine hunger-for
communication, for connection, unlike anything Ive ever
known. Wow, Bren!"
"But hersoul,
only partially/unpackaged, sings/through the slate that guards
it,/contacts those of us waiting here/with a splay of its soft,
/scrutinizing fingers./Her soul is a sapling thing,/something
green, dew-damp/but resolute, entering this world/with an
angels thumb pressed/to her unformed body at the very
last,/a template affixed to her body/when they decided it was
time/to let her go, for her to come to us/and their good work was
done./An angels thumbprint, a signature, her soul.
Brenda? Who *is* this guy?"
**
"Who is she,
Jax?" Before he could even muster a response, his big
brother, Jerry, continued. "And dont even try to give
me that cock-and-bull story that you dont know what
Im talking about. Bloody hell, Jax! Just get it out of your
system. Who is she and where did you meet?"
**
"You met him
on the computer? Are you kidding me, Brenda?" Lois had
nearly fallen off of her chair when Brenda finally spilled the
beans regarding her mystery man. "He could be 60 years
old!"
"He could be
16 years old!" Alexis found the situation just as incredible
as Lois did.
"He could be
a *she*!"
"He could be
incarcerated on death row!"
Brenda was
getting annoyed at her less-than-supportive friends. "Thank
you, counselor."
"He could
have a girlfriend."
Lois took a deep
breath, "He could have a wife."
"He
doesnt have a wife!" Since it was clear that neither
Alexis, nor Lois believed her, Brenda continued. "Trust me,
guys. I know him."
**
"You *know*
her Jax? Who are you kidding? Shes a psychopath!"
"Shes
not a psychopath." Jaxs had very little patience left
for his brother.
"Shes
a stalker! Shes figured out who you are and now she
wants-"
"Jerry!"
The entire lobby of the Port Charles Hotel heard Jaxs
exclamation, and saw the deadly glance he directed at his
brother. "She is NOT a stalker. Shes sweet and
beautiful, and-" Noticing the look Jerry was giving him, Jax
quickly regained his train of thought. "-and you can shut
the hell up!"
"Fine, fine,
Jax. I wont say another word. *But*, let me at least read
one of the letters she wrote you?"
"No."
"Dont
you have them?"
"Thats
not the point."
"Cmon
Jax!"
"Fine, but
after that youd better shut the hell up about this."
Jax reached for his laptop and connected to America Online. He
waited for a second, and felt a peculiar ache when he had no new
mail, until he saw it, and his breath caught in his throat.
"Poor Jax.
No news from your cyber-girl? Hey, have you two had cyber-sex
yet? Id heard that it was-Jax, what is it?"
"Jerry,
shes online" There it was, as clear as the nose on his
face: his buddy list. Jax took a deep breath before clicking on
the instant message button, and typing two simple letters.
FlyGuy: Hi
Brenda, Lois, and
Alexis were still arguing over Brendas cyber-relationship,
when a small chiming noise caused a hush to fall over the table.
"Oh my God. Hes online. He im-ed me. He says
'hi. What do I do?" Brenda turned to her two friends
and did her little dance of excitement, before placing her hands
on the keyboard and typing a response:
PrncessBB: Hi