He boarded the aircraft with barely subdued excitement and some trepidation as well. This was the last leg of the holiday of a life time. Les was circling the globe visiting online friends and putting even more substance in already real life-long friendships.
However this last leg was the most important, he was about to meet the woman with whom he had fallen deeply in love.
The plane travelled toward that regional airport in Montana where his destiny lay. He reflected on the circumstances that had brought him to be on this flight. The trauma of his upbringing by a father who believed in "spare the rod and spoil the child" and the emotional put downs that left him virtually no self esteem. The gang rape at 16 that caused him to retreat inside himself and suffer bouts of untreated depression for many years. The failed marriage that was so unlike what he had imagined it would be. The intense and long online love affair that came to nothing after 3 years and was a contributing factor to a nervous breakdown.
Still Les believed that love would win out in the long run and at 51 still had not ruled out that possibility.
The plane flew on and the wonder of the woman he was on the way to see pushed sunshine into his thoughts. Liz had contacted Les on the message board of an erotic stories site. She had been alone for a year caring for her 2 children, working and studying for a university degree to give herself and the children a chance to advance. The time alone had been good. She had found herself again and was happy but knew there was a void in her life. Her past contained men who were shallow and self centred. Well that's what men were like. Despite her romantic and physical attention it never seemed to be reciprocated. Her ex never seemed to grow up and she felt more like his mum than his wife.
Looking for like minded open people to chat with, Liz started reading the message board. Oh there were threads about sex and everything to do with it but there was a lot more. People asking advice on all sorts of personal matters and the replies, whilst often humorous were all kind and caring. The people on this site were really like a family.
There was one man that Liz thought was very special and she looked up his posts and thought that she would really like to know this guy, he was the sort of man she would love to have in her life.
So it began, the initial PM from her and the friendly but guarded reply. Then emails loaded with all sorts of questions, many couples who had been going out for months would not have approached. It snowballed, long emails, long phone calls, each and every one showing how closely matched they were. They were both head over heels in no time flat and now it was time to test reality.
Would it be a case of fertile imagination and hopes fizzling out in the cold light of reality? Les was brought out of his reflections as the cabin lights flashed and the pilot announced that they were coming in for landing.
The jet engines screamed as the wheels touched and his heart was pumping, sweat appearing on his forehead. The moment of truth was here.