The next morning was a bleary one for Gale as he found himself face down on his bed, fully clothed and still wearing his shoes. It took him awhile to get himself together enough to get up and stumble into the other room and was pleasantly surprised to find that most of the mess was confined to the kitchen. Jenny had left a note that she'd made everyone clean up before they left and that she'd call him in the morning. He shook his head, hoping that she wouldn't call too early, shook out a cigarette and headed back into the bedroom.
He set the cig in the ashtray, stripped off his clothes and shoes and stepped into the shower, luxuriating in the red-hot water and finally, feeling himself awaken. Refreshed, he shook his head at his dead cigarette and sat at the desk, lifting the Apple's lid. The website met him and he clicked on the second story in the series.
I was in love.
The opening words caused his stomach to twist into knots and he continued reading, feeling as if he was secretly peering into his own life.
He read the next few chapters, falling in love with the story's character and the emotions that she had for him. He found himself angry at Gerry for speaking to her like he did and his stomach growled at each description of the delicious food the caterer made. He found himself wanting to be her friend, a completely strange emotion for him and after finishing the fifth chapter, he found himself wondering what the author was like.
By clicking on the name, he found the author page and was happy to find out that she was female and was around his age. He didn't know why he was glad about that but he didn't stop to question long, he read the information there and stared at the inviting swatch of her face. She was black and liked big, bald men. She was also attached. Again, a feeling of despair moved through him and he wondered why these facets of her life concerned him. After all, she was just a fan, writing porn stories about an encounter with him. Why should it affect him so deeply?