My Online Romance

I was looking at my junk email account today, we all have them, a hotmail or yahoo account that we use for contests and other places that want an email address to register for the next big thing. Scrolling down the junk I came across an actual email from an old friend was reminded why I got that address in the first place and I thought I would share the story on this very quiet Sunday.

Towards the end of my last real “relationship” things were not going that well between my boyfriend and me. We were not communicating well or spending much time together as he was working a lot of nights and I was busy with my job during the day and often early evenings. I was often feeling lonely and as though I was of the lowest importance in his life. When we were together we were silent, drunk or talking about work. I think we both knew things weren’t working but neither one of us was saying much of anything on the topic of our relationship.

My company had recently purchased a laptop for me and I was enjoying the freedom of work (read playing on the internet) from home. My favorite thing to do on any given night was to log on to yahoo and play cards on line. My game of choice was cribbage and I enjoyed the playing but sometimes I find myself stuck in a game with a weird who wanted to talk sex and not playing cards at all so I began to pay attention to who I was playing with and steered clear of the nasty folks when ever possible. I came across a player who called himself Vtec. He was a good player, competitive like me and fun to chat with.

He was American currently living in the south and missing his old life on the east coast. He owned a large home that he couldn’t afford, had a girlfriend, a dog, bunch of cats and a computer gaming habit. He was safe and fun and I enjoyed his “company.” Before long he and I were playing cards two or three nights a week for at least an hour. After a few weeks we realized that some nights we were playing one game for more than an hour because we were chatting so much.

One night he asked me if I had an MSN account and I said no – I had never found a reason to have one before – but I was sure I could set one up. He said it just seemed silly to be in a game site and not playing cards at all. He had a point. So I went online and got myself a hotmail address and set myself up on messenger. We still played cards some nights but now we were swapping photos and songs and sharing thoughts about our young adult lives. I remember the night before my birthday that year I was sitting out on my porch enjoying a beer and a cigarette while chatting and at midnight he was the first person to wish me a happy birthday.

Not long after my birthday my boyfriend and I finally broke off our unhappy, unhealthy and unfulfilling relationship. “V” as I had come to call him, was really a really great friend as I dealt with being alone again. We would play cards, swap sappy music, talk about what an asshole my ex was, make each other laugh and talk about what we wanted out of our lives. About a month after the break up I was offered a great job on the other side of the country. I left my apartment, family, friends and comfort zone to follow my career.

After I moved I no longer had a laptop, or a computer of any kind at home so “V” and I began to drift. We sent an email here and there but before long the messages stopped and we went our separate ways, sadly neither one of us said goodbye. He was in a way an online boyfriend when I needed to feel attractive and fun again. I remember him fondly and hope that at the time I thanked him for being a distraction and friend.

As I sit here looking at my hotmail account I wonder how he is, if he still plays cribbage and if he remembers me as fondly as I remember him.

The Single Girl