Dream of the Eternal Lovers

Chapter 30

"What the...?" A shiver had overcome Lucy as she surveyed her apartment frantically. "I'm alone right now. Nobody is here. But... this isn't real, right? I just wanted to talk to my old friends. Why is he here? I thought he deleted his account." Frightened, emotionally vulnerable, and completely paranoid, Lucy could not help looking over her shoulder. But as time passed, seeing the green dot next to Johan's name, a calm eventually sets in. "Why am I afraid? Me and Johan, we talked things out. We left on good terms. He's not a bad guy. So why am afraid of seeing him online? Because he said he didn't want to see me anymore. He said it wasn't right. I still don't get it. Was I not supposed to return to Gmail? I mean, it's my email address."

The chaos inside her head subsided, rationalization clearing all doubts, her body relaxed. "But he's here now. Maybe he hasn't noticed me? He's not chatting with me. Maybe I should leave him alone." Another moment of silence as she leaned against the window and looked at her reflection. "I've been wondering how you've been doing. Just curious, you know. It's been a while since we last talked. I... well... I know what you said and I want to respect your decision. But, I must admit... that... I kind of... missed you."

Looking at her phone, the green dot remaining in place, having no plans of leaving anytime soon, "Would it be so bad if I just simply said hello? That wouldn't be so bad, right?" She placed both her hands behind her phone as her thumbs typed 'Hi'. Before she could hit send, a message appeared below, 'Johan is now typing.' Her initial surprise nearly made her drop her phone as she fumbled to keep it from dropping.

Once she had it grasped, "No way. Is he really typing?" Calming herself when the message disappeared, "Maybe he's thinking the same thing. Maybe he does want to chat again. But why did he stop? Should I keep going?" She twiddled her thumbs and after taking a deep breath, she tapped send.

As soon as her message was sent, 'Hello' was present underneath it. She felt her heart skip a beat seeing Johan's message right underneath hers.

"What just happened? That's so weird, but... Oh gosh, am I chatting with him again? Does this count? No, I'm just saying hello, right?" That feeling of doubt and anxiety she knew all too well made its appearance. It wanted her to stop and turn off her phone, maybe even delete her account. But the thought of returning to her previous gloomy and desperate state was not too far behind. It was a stagnant emotion that overstayed its welcome, and she wanted to get rid of it.

She typed 'How are you?' and hit send. Her message appeared a millisecond later after his 'How are you?' appeared.

She was so surprise at the coincidence that she could not help but smile. "No way," she commented before typing 'I'm doing fine' and hitting send. His 'I'm doing fine' followed almost immediately.

The situation was so comical that she could not help but start laughing loudly. She shared her joy with Johan by sending him 'Lol' followed by 'Is this really happening?'

Johan broke the streak of coincidences by replying, ''So it really is you?'

'Yeah, it is,' she responded back controlling her laughter. 'You're not a psychic as well, are you?'

'As well?'

Felling a bit awkward, but nonetheless continuing to humor him, 'It's a long story.'

'No, I'm not a psychic. It's a weird coincidence. I actually thought I was chatting with a bot for a minute.'

'Oh, that would make sense. I didn't consider that.'

'I don't know. I'm not convinced. Maybe you really are a bot.'

'I'm not a bot.'

'Really? Then prove it.'

'I can prove it... if you send me $400 in gift cards. I swear, I'm the real Lucy and not a scammer.'