“The Great Eskype”

“The Great Eskype”

By Charity Parkerson

“Flash fiction piece”

It was a running joke between my friends that I hate Skype.  After all, my only real experience with it was when some creepy guy from twitter asked if he could see my tweets.  I swear, that was his exact words.  However, a few months later, while once again on Twitter, I ran across this Avi that I couldn’t look away from.  His hair was dark and his eyes a vibrant blue.  To say the least, I was mesmerized.  His post was in my newsfeed therefore I had to be following him, but I couldn’t remember ever doing so.  Nonetheless, his picture was smoking-hot and his tweet made me laugh, so I hit the re-tweet button before moving along.  Well, let’s be honest, I hung around a moment longer drooling for a second, and then moved along.  To my surprise, he responded.  I was giddy, as after a few back and forth responses, we moved our to chat to DM, making our comments a little more personal than I normally would’ve been comfortable with, but I couldn’t remember ever encountering such a handsome and witty man.  These tiny 140 character chats went on for weeks, until the subject of Skype arose again.  I was reluctant at first, but I didn’t want to lose my chance at finally getting to meet this dream man face to face.  The first chat went smoothly and my confidence built.  The only problem was that he lived so far away I couldn’t imagine a time when I would get to enjoy his company in person, but he was magnetic and I couldn’t let the connection go.  Unfortunately, the closer it came time for Valentine’s Day the more depressed I became over the matter.  I found myself watching the bottom right hand side of my computer screen like a woman possessed, waiting for the moment that his name would appear online, and I dreamed of the sound his voice when I drifted off to sleep each night, but I was no closer to having the “real” man, only this online image that I couldn’t hold on to.  Disheartened, I finally broached the subject with Matt.   “I miss you.”

His deep chuckle sounded through the microphone.  “We’ve been chatting for hours.  How could you miss me?”

“I can’t explain it,” I answered, sounding defensive even to myself.  “I just miss you.” I sighed, unable to continue this game.  “It is only the fact that Valentine’s Day is tomorrow, and I wish that I could be with you.” 

I held my breath, unable to believe that I said the words aloud, but as usual, he either misunderstood or pretended to. “I will call you tomorrow at the usual time, I promise.”

I almost groaned, in my aggravation.  “I want to spend it with you, not cuddled up with my computer, but cuddled up with you!” My voice rose with each word, but once the gate opened I was unable to stop the flood of emotion.  He looked away in silence, and I could see that he was considering my words.  A small smile touched his lips briefly, and my shoulders nearly sagged in relief that he didn’t appear to be angry. “I want to be with you too,” he admitted. “But, I can’t pull it off tomorrow.  There is a blizzard going on up here and the airport has shut down.  Perhaps, in a couple of weeks, I’ll be able to make the trip, but I’ll never be able to pull it off by tomorrow, and plus I have to work tomorrow. “

I wasn’t surprised by the answer, but I couldn’t help the disappointment that I felt.  It must have shown because Matt quickly rallied. “How about this, what if we make tonight our Valentine’s?  We’ll pretend that we are together and this is our first real date.”

“Hmmm, a date?  I like the sound of that.  What should we do first?” I asked, attempting to sound seductive, as I rode the high of him mentioning a trip to visit.  Matt leaned closer to his camera, and I did the same, eating up the sight of him with my eyes.

“First, you should take your shoes off and get comfortable.”

“My shoes?” I asked, thinking that I liked the sound of where this was going, but feeling cautious just the same.

“Yep, the shoes.  I want them…off.” 

I giggled like a schoolgirl at his playful tone, and did as he asked without delay.  “What about you? If we are making ourselves comfortable then you should slip out of your shoes, as well.”

“Done,” he answered immediately.  I watched in fascination as he stood, and tossed his shoes across the room, before reseating himself in front of the computer.  “I think you should unbutton your blouse.  It looks stifling.”

I paused, a bit uncomfortable with this request but turnabout is fair play, and I really wanted his shirt off. 

I glanced down at my hands as I reached for the top button.  I wasn’t normally this brave, and I couldn’t look him in the eye as I took this first step.  A childish giggle carried over the airwaves and my hands froze at the sound.  I looked up slowly, fearing that I already knew what I would find.  Next to Matt stood a miniature copy of him, but luckily the child spoke only to him and ignored my presence.

“Mom says get off the computer, ‘cause the pizza will be here any minute, and we need money to pay for it.”

“Okay son. Let Daddy say goodbye to his friend and I’ll be there in a second.” Matt switched his attention away from his son, and back to me.  “Sorry babe, we’ll have to pick this back up later.  My wife needs me.”