Sitting down at her computer in her big leather chair, for the first time since graduation, Angel feels an instant tension building inside her. Thoughts of those long tedious nights composing paper after paper, trying to keep her 3.89 average through her masterâs program, playing on her mind. She shudders, and shrugs off the temptation to run from the room, looking for solace from the intense grind she has just recently completed.
She smiles at herself thinking, âCome on girlâŠget a gripâŠitâs overâŠyouâre free!â Chuckling out loud, she switches on the computer and it hums to life.
âWhere do I start?â she says aloud, still feeling overwhelmed by the fact that she is once again in front of this monster machine that has caused her many sleepless nights.
Her husband sitting in the next room hollers in, âAngel, did you say something?â
âOh, no Dan, nothing at allâ, she chimes back, smiling to herself.
The Windowâs program starts and she decides to connect with the Internet. For the first time in over two years she is actually going to use her computer for pure pleasure. The days of research and filing data are over for her; she is free to enjoy her toy. She decides to first visit yahoo.com. Some of her friends at school had told her about the many interesting things that could be found at Yahoo. Nancy said she liked to play games on the site, so Angel decided this would be her first stop. Logging into the game connection, she spotted Chinese checkers, one of her favorite games as a child. She giggled at the irony of it, here she was on this vast Internet, on her way to play a childhood game.
She chose to start out in the beginnerâs rooms. Picking monkey moped, she entered and was immediately summoned to join a player in a private room. Not knowing how it all worked she declined the invitation. While trying to figure out what she was to do next the same person invited her once again.
She sat looking at the screen for a moment then thought, âOh what the hell, you have to begin somewhere, Angelâ.
So she clicked on the accept button in the invitation box and entered the room. She sat again looking at the screen, taking in the atmosphere of the game room. There was a picture of a real looking Chinese checkers board. In the upper corner was the icon she had chosen of a lady with brown hair and blue eyes with her own screen name and in the lower corner the icon of a skeleton and the screen name of her opponent. The gentleman who invited her into the room was there waiting for her.
At the bottom of the screen was a chat box where she found a greeting. The greeting said, âHello, my name is Peteâ.
She typed in, âHi Pete, Iâm Angel!â Feeling a little awkward this is all she said. She figured she would wait for him to speak again.
They exchanged small talk while playing the first game of checkers; niceties like where they lived, the fact that they were both married, how many children each had and the type of job each had. By the time they had played five or six games, she felt as if she knew Pete for a very long time, he was so easy to talk to. They confided early on that neither one was happy in their marriage, but that they had stayed on all these years because of their children. After sitting there chatting and playing the games for two hours, they decided to exchange yahoo instant messenger addresses. They left yahoo and went to the instant messenger to add each other to their perspective lists.
There they sat and talked for over an hour, at which time Angel said, âIâd better get goingâŠI have to start dinnerâ.
âAngel, it was so nice meeting you and getting to know you,â Pete said, âI hope to see you real soon.â
âPete, it was indeed a pleasure to spend the afternoon with youâ, Angel replied, âand I too look forward to seeing you again.â She then signed off and went to the kitchen to prepare dinner.
Over dinner, Dan asks Angel how her afternoon went on the Internet. She thoughtfully replies, âI had fun playing Chinese Checkers the whole afternoon,â leaving out the part about meeting Pete.
That evening, watching a program she usually really enjoyed, Angelâs thoughts were on only one thing, her new friend Pete. She smiles to herself, remembering the little hint of flirting that went on between them. This is the first time she has ever talked at such length with another man; sharing such intricate details of her life and marriage. The thought of this brings a quick blush to her cheeks. She decides that the sitcom is boring so she tells her husband that she is going to go up to her computer for awhile.
He absently follows with, âSure babe, have fun.â Little does he know what he has just given her permission to do.
Angel returns to her computer and finds Pete online, waiting for her. She is instantly excited to see his name lit up on her friendâs list. Almost as soon as she signs on he is instant messaging her and she hurriedly answers him. He tells her that he has been hoping that she would come back online so they could pick up where they had previously left off. Angel feels a sudden warmth rush over her body, of which she immediately pushes away.
While conversing, Pete asks Angel if she has ever visited any of the online chat rooms. âNo, as a matter of fact I have never been online for anything other than research,â she chimes in.
âWell then,â Pete replies, âyou have much to see and learnâ. She almost thinks she can see him winking as she reads his words.
âWould you like to go somewhere with me now?â he queries. Angle types in, ânodsâ.
He tells her to go to Hotchat.com, a place that he has been visiting for over a year. âWhen you get there, sign up for a member identification, and log into the main room.â Following his directions Angel signs on as Angel Love. When they meet inside he smiles and says, âHow appropriate,â bringing on another unseen blush from Angel.
They cruise the rooms together as he introduces her to his friends. Angel is beginning to feel very much at home here, as everyone is very warm and friendly to her. He explains what the yellow boxes that are soon showing up on her screen with dialogue from others are all about. He tells her that these are private messages from admirers and if she ever wants to answer one all she has to do is click on it and it will take her into a private chat with that person. She is utterly amazed by the whole situation and is feeling a bit overwhelmed at the messages she is receiving from all of these strange men; however, at the same time very flattered.
To demonstrate how it works Pete sends her a private message telling her to click on it, which she immediately does. When she goes into the private box he says, âHi Sweetie, Iâm so glad youâre here with me, alone at lastâ.
Angel feels a stirring inside herself. She is utterly intrigued by this man she so recently became friends with. Just as she is wondering how far she will be willing to go with him, Pete says, âBaby, I want to make love to youâ.
She feels herself shudder lightly and replies, âOh Pete, I want you tooâ.