RECOMPENSE - an excerpt
Pages 49 - 52
It was on Maurice's sixtieth birthday that I gifted him with a laptop computer. Thinking it was high time I learned a little more about the world of the internet I also bought one for myself.
And there we are; an old couple who know nothing of marriage, making a commitment to spend our evenings on-line. Maurice sits at his desk. I sit on the other side of the living-room at my desk. Together we singularly explore this new phenomenon called the World Wide Web.
I learned to shop on line. I bought books, music, even clothing. I didn't do a lot of e-mail but one activity I did enjoy was chatting. Visiting the chat room was something that started the evening I discovered a website called Senior Befriender.
In the beginning I felt twinges of guilt when I responded to a message from a stranger, a man I knew nothing whatsoever about. For this reason I tried to gain some attention from Maurice. "Why don't we go out to a movie this evening?" I would ask of the man hunched over his laptop on the other side of the room.
He would barely lift his eyes from the screen and it was rare that he would point them in my direction before muttering, "No, I'm not in the mood. You go if you want."
Another evening I tried again. "Maurice, how do you feel about going out for dinner this evening? It would make a nice change from cooking."
"I don't feel like going anywhere, Alison. Why don't you call a girlfriend and go yourself?"
After a while I just gave up. After a while I began to relax and enjoy the flirty chats with men across the country and around the world. One evening I was particularly intrigued to receive a friendly message from a fellow called Conrad. "Hello pretty lady," he typed.
I had not posted a photo of myself like most other women did on this senior chat line so how on earth did he know if I was pretty or not. "You don't know what I look like," I responded.
"This is true."
"Then why do you call me pretty lady?"
"I have been reading some of your posts to others on this site. Only a pretty lady could say such positive and friendly words."
I couldn't remember the last time anyone had paid me a compliment of any kind. I quickly glanced across the living-room to see if Maurice was paying any attention to me. I didn't want him to see me blushing.
As usual he was not paying the slightest heed. "Thank you," I typed.
"Alice, may I send you a private message? I would like to chat with you."
Until now I had done no more than type friendly posts on the screen. No one had requested that we chat privately and for sure I had made the request of no one. Again I looked across the room at Maurice. He was totally immersed in whatever he was doing on his laptop. He showed no interest in me as a woman. He never had. Why shouldn't I enjoy a little enjoyment in my life?
"Okay," I typed.
"Alice, my name is Conrad. I am a black man and I am on my way to being sixty years old."
"I am also a senior."
"Yes, but Alice, are you also a black woman?"
"No, I'm caucasian."
"Does this difference between us matter to you?"
I almost typed, no, it doesn't matter; my husband is also a black man. But then I caught myself and instead I simply typed, "No."
"Then I am happy."
"Good." I could feel myself smiling. "I live in Canada. Where do you live?"
"I live in South Africa."
Oh, so far away. This should be a very safe experience for me, I thought, with Conrad living so many miles away from home. Odd that he should live in the same country where Maurice lived for most of his life. "I live in a small town," I shared.
"I do too. I live in a small town called Salt River."
I nearly fell off my chair. And that is how ............
RECOMPENSE is a novella that you will find om my Amazon Author's page at https://amazon.com/author/audreyaustin
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