Mary turned on her computer that evening, same time as usual. She had an 'appointment' to keep. She had a glass of wine this evening though, which was out of the ordinary for her. She clicked the small icon on the task bar, and the connection window popped up. She clicked the button and could hear the familiar sounds of her computer, dialing and connecting to the Internet. She nervously sipped the wine, which was actually her second. She felt she might need a bit of 'liquid courage' to help her get through this evening.
Mary had been online for over 2 years, discovering chat rooms rather by accident when she signed up for the internet. Living alone, she had a lot of free time on her hands. She wasn't involved in any activities, and she immediately became absorbed by the Internet, and all the excitement that it could offer. She found herself quickly swept into the thrill of the chat rooms. Inside the chat rooms you could meet people basically from all over the world, and from all walks of life. You could learn about other people's world, and how they coped with the everyday stresses of that world. The only drawback was that you never knew who was telling the truth.
Mary had been chatting in one particular room for "adults only" for over a year when one day a stranger appeared in the room. Now there were always newbies (newcomers) coming and going all the time. But this stranger, "Texas Ranger" was the nickname he had chosen stayed quiet and didn't participate in the chats going on in the open areas of the room. Of course, there were always lots of little 'private chats' happening between people, but you never really knew who was talking to whom. Mary had learned a few lessons regarding 'private' talks, and now avoided them all the time.
If she got a private message, she would not reply, but answer in the room to the person who had 'privated' her that she "only talked in the main room." In other words, no privates for her anymore. She had quite a few good friends, male and female, who would meet here regularly here most every evening if they were free. They would often carry on conversations that only they would completely understand, but they never shut anyone out, so long as they were polite to the other participants in the room.
Mary never knew why she noticed the Texas Ranger, but she did, almost from the very first time she saw him in the room. After about a week or so, of his coming in, and not saying anything other than simple one word replies to questions put to him by her friends, Mary decided to see if she could draw him out. From the beginning, the first time she said "hey there, Tex" something had seemed to happen between them. He gave her his usual short answers, but Mary was persistent. He finally asked her if Mary was her real name. And when she said yes, it was, she had decided to not hide behind silly nicknames any longer, than he started to respond to her questions.
Now, when Texas Ranger came into the room, it was always to Mary that he spoke first. He did gradually warm up to her friends, and begin making friends there of his own. He participated in the silly games they would play of trivia. After a month or so of talking nearly every day, he sent her a private message. Mary paused, and then answered him back in private. From that point on, things changed just a little. They began talking about more personal things, sharing things more intimate in their daily lives. He learned she was single, 38 and lived alone, never married; though she did come close once. She learned he was 48, divorced, with a teenage daughter, and a son in college.
He traveled occasionally for business, and those days that he was out of town, he would not be online, and Mary was shocked to learn that she was missing him the days he wasn't around. She found she was mopier on the evenings he wasn't in the chat room. The first 2 times after he returned, she wasn't sure why she felt so funny, but she did. The third time, he said hello to her, but she did something she rarely did - she flirted with nearly every man in the room that evening. When Tex asked her what was wrong, in private, she told him, nothing. But then, in the privacy of her home, she started to cry, not understanding the emotions she was feeling. She turned her computer off abruptly, and forced herself to go to bed. The next evening, she left work and went to dinner by herself, and then out to a movie. She got home late, and went straight to bed.