Ever yours,
X
She stared at it for a moment and then clicked reply.
From: Elise Waterford ([email protected])
From: Mr X ([email protected])
Who are you and how did you get my email address?
She waited a few minutes, clearing out her deleted items folder as she wondered if he was online, and then her computer pinged with the sound of incoming mail.
From: Mr X ([email protected])
To: Elise Waterford ([email protected])
Elise,
It wasn’t difficult to figure out. The generic server is monochrome.co.uk (hence the website address) and most companies use a first_name dot last_name format. As for who I am...well I’m not brave enough to tell you that just yet. Think of me as a secret admirer. You know me, we’re friends, and perhaps eventually you’ll figure it out but until then I shall continue to leave you love letters. It’s the bright point of my week. *cheeky wink*
Ever yours,
X
Well she supposed that made sense. It was a generic email address format. Realising she was playing with fire but too curious to stop she clicked the reply button again.
From: Elise Waterford ([email protected])
From: Mr X ([email protected])
X,
Now I am intrigued. Please tell me who you are?
Elise
She waited for half an hour, messing about with the settings on her desktop and playing a game of solitaire, but there was no response and eventually she switched the machine off.
On Tuesday Elise had agreed to meet Dave for coffee. If it was anything like her meeting with Mark she knew they’d eventually end up at his house because it was the place she could learn the most about him but she needed him to be comfortable with her and so they met on neutral territory. There turned out to be nothing wrong with his face at all and when she asked him about the photograph he simply shrugged and said it had seemed like a good idea at the time. He’d thought that there were so many faces on the site, something a little different might stand out.
It was another bland conversation. At least he wasn’t putting himself down all the time like Mark but she was driving the entire conversation and it was hard work. It was like Dave just had nothing to talk about. Every question was met with a shrug and answers of five syllables or less. They spent an awkward twenty minutes sitting in silence when Elise decided to let him take charge of the situation. Eventually she sighed.
“I can’t figure out if you’re just shy or if you really don’t have anything to say.” She told him bluntly. “You need to work with me here or this isn’t going to work.”
“I find you intimidating.” He flushed red and stared at his coffee. “You’re so bright and articulate. It’s quite daunting.”
This time it was Elise that was startled into silence. “I’m just a regular woman.” She managed eventually. “I’m here to help you Dave. There’s absolutely nothing special about me. Just because I’m well spoken it doesn’t make me any different to you.”
“Are you kidding?” He gaped at her. “I have your book you know?”
“Really?” Elise blushed, both flattered and pleased. “That’s awesome. You’re the first person that’s not family who I know has got it.”
“Really?” He grinned. “Maybe you’ll sign it for me...” He looked so hopeful she burst out laughing.
“Sure I will. Come on, let’s bounce this joint.” They stepped out into the street and took in a lungful of the humid London air. Totally out of the blue Elise got a pang of homesickness for her little Scottish cottage with its fresh air and clear views. Shaking it off she looked a little wistfully at the sky and then returned her attention to Dave. “So where do you live Dave?”
“Not far from here.” He looked shy about inviting her into his home. “It’s just a couple of streets away.”
She followed him as they walked for less than five minutes and he stopped outside a modest townhouse. It was nowhere near as large as Mark’s had been but then Elise hadn’t been expecting it to be. London was a crazy expensive place to live. She stepped through the door and took a moment to absorb the atmosphere. There was nothing as striking as Mark’s photographs had been and for a brief moment her heart sank but she sucked it up and followed him through to the living room. There had to be something here she could use.
As Dave went through to the kitchen to fetch a glass of juice for her Elise walked slowly along the mantelpiece and studied the photographs on the mantel and on the wall above it. They showed a warm and connected family. Dave’s parents, nieces and nephews, a couple of brothers and a sister...they were a nice looking family unit. In the centre spot above the mantel was a large framed picture of the younger woman from the family photographs, the woman Elise assumed was Dave’s sister. Beneath it was stuck a chart with mostly empty spaces but a few stars stuck to it with a running total in the thousands of pounds scrawled next to them.
“What’s this?” Elise asked as Dave returned. “What are the stars for?”
Dave looked up at the picture and his eyes filled with tears.
I’ve always wanted to learn the Argentine Tango. As dances go it’s so sexy and funky, so precise yet fluid. I’d quite like to learn ballroom dancing in general and the Viennese waltz would come a close second, but it’s the tango that floats my boat. I keep thinking that one of these days I’ll find a class or instructor and learn it just for the sake of learning it. One of these days...
How often does that sentence feature in your life? Think of your dreams and ask yourself when you’re going to get around to achieving them and chances are you’re putting them off for some rainy, undefined day in the future. I know I have many dreams...I want to get another book published. I want to have a family. I want to travel to China to see the Terracotta warriors and the Forbidden City. I have these dreams in my heart but whenever I think about my current situation I’m always too busy, too broke, too unheeding of the urgency of anything. Because I have all the time in the world, right?
Wrong.
Dave is a man on a journey. Last year he lost his sister suddenly to cancer. She was 34. A lesser man might have been bowed by grief, become a shadow of himself, lost himself in the loss. Not Dave. He took the most important lesson of all from it...that life is too short. If you keep putting off your dreams for ‘one day’ it will be too late. You could get hit by a bus tomorrow, you could be in a car crash...or you could die of cancer at 34 with only two weeks’ notice. You never know what is right around the corner. If you keep putting off your dreams then one day it will be too late to live them.
In honour of his sister, so that her death was not for nothing, Dave has created his bucket list. Refusing to leave his dreams for ‘one day’ he is ticking them off one by one and actually living them, day by day, week by week. He is working two jobs to pay for his list but he’s getting sponsorship for his achievements and donating it to cancer charities. It is an endeavour both brave and selfless. I am in awe of his determination to live life to its fullest. There has been so much sadness in his life but he has been a beacon of light shining through it. If Dave was in charge of the world no-one would ever die without fulfilling their dreams. Unless those dreams involved world domination and bat-winged kittens of course. That would just be plain wrong.
He has already done the sky dive and bungee jump, he’s done a six week tour of the Polynesian Islands, he’s climbed to Machu Picchu and walked large sections of the great wall of China...all in one year. It’s been a titanic effort but he’s not done. There are another fifteen items on his bucket list but it is his last that I want to help him with.
Dave wants to leave behind a son, whether he dies this year or in a hundred years. That’s why he started internet dating – to find a woman to marry, to live life to the fullest with and to create a legacy with. He just didn’t know how to express that. He doesn’t know how to speak of his e
motions and that is a massive burden to place on anyone at a first date. Hi, I’m Dave...fancy getting knocked up? I understand now why his profile was so boring – it’s too massive and emotional to speak of to those you do not know. Too much of a hope for the future to risk it on an unknown.
The thing is, if he is too afraid to speak his heart then he has let himself down. It makes a mockery of all his other dreams. You cannot live your life selectively and still expect it to mean something and I know his heart...if he does not do this, if he gives up without leaving a son, his guilt at what he thinks will be letting his sister down will be almost unimaginable. Somehow he needs to swallow his fear of admitting to women what it is he’s looking for and go out there and get it.
The hardest part is already done – he has told me, someone he admires and is a little intimidated by. I respect him, I do not judge him. Others will respond the same. I have a plan up my sleeve to help him become fearless but for tomorrow I’m taking him to meet Mark (Project 1) to get a decent photograph done. After that? Well, you’ll just have to wait and see.
It was late Tuesday night by the time Elise finished writing the blog entry and she left it for the following morning to read through because she was so exhausted she could barely see straight. It didn’t have to be in until the afternoon anyway so she was already ahead of the game. Nathan had stopped by after work to see how she’d gotten on with Dave and they’d had dinner together but he’d gone home. With nothing to do until lunch time the next day, she had a long soak in the bath and then crawled gratefully into bed without bothering to set her alarm.
On Wednesday she woke up around mid-morning and went to switch her computer on. She wasn’t meeting Dave until one o’clock so she decided to check her blog post one last time before sending it in. To her surprise there was another email there from Mr X. It had been sent first thing and she briefly wondered who she knew that was a morning person.
To: Elise Waterford ([email protected])
From: Mr X ([email protected])
Elise,
Just wondering how you got on yesterday. I know last week was a pretty emotional experience for you and wanted to let you know that I’m here if you need to talk to someone about it.
Ever yours,
X
She couldn’t decide if that was creepy or sweet. Giving him the benefit of the doubt she decided to answer.
To: Mr X ([email protected])
From: Elise Waterford ([email protected])
X,
That’s very kind of you but I think I’ll be okay. It’s going to be another emotional week this week, as you’ll see when the blog goes up later this evening. I’m sure it will end positively though and that’s what I’m keeping in mind.
Elise
P.S. Can’t you even give me a clue who you are?
To: Elise Waterford ([email protected])
From: Mr X ([email protected])
Elise,
That’s good to know. The offer stands though. I am always here, your patient and most caring admirer ;)
Ever yours,
X
P.S. Is there a cake that likes to be mysterious? If there is, I’m that cake.
You had to admire his persistence. Snorting with amusement, she shut down the computer and went for a shower.
At one o’clock she took Dave to meet Mark who had kindly given up his lunch break to take some photographs of Dave for the site. He didn’t have a studio close enough to take them to but a lot of his art was urban so it wasn’t long before they found a suitable stretch of wall for Dave to pose in front of. Within twenty minutes Mark had a decent selection of photographs to pick through and develop and he and Dave had swapped phone numbers to compare experiences.
“Thank you so much.” Elise hugged him as he packed his camera away. “I really appreciate this.”
“It’s the least I could do.” Mark grinned. “I have a date on Friday.”
“Really?” Elise was overjoyed for him. “That’s awesome news!”
“Yeah I thought so too.” He ran a hand through his hair and Elise was amused to notice a flash of elastic band beneath his cuff. “She got in touch with me the first day I put my new profile up. I’ve remembered everything you said and I’m going to give it my best shot.”
“Good for you!” Elise’s smile was so broad she thought if it got any wider the top of her head might fall off. “Please let me know how it goes. Call me on Saturday. I’d so love to hear it’s going well for you.”
“I will.” He blushed. “Can I ask you a favour?”
“Sure.” She waited expectantly while he hesitated.
“I’d really like to photograph you.” He blurted out. “Mark says I can use the studio a couple of evenings next week. I’ve got a couple of other people lined up to take pictures of but there is so much light in your eyes...I was hoping-“
“Of course I’ll do it.” She felt uneasy being photographed but she was taking a leaf out of Dave’s book. Life was too short not to create keepsakes of the here and now. “I have one condition though.”
“Anything you want.” He promised solemnly.
“I’d like a picture to keep for me.”
“I was going to give you one anyway.” He blushed. “Keep the favour in the bank for a rainy day.”
“I will.” She hugged him again. “You’re a sweetie. Text me when and where and I’ll be there.”
“I will.” He shook hands with Dave and set off to tote his camera back to the office.
“He’s got a date already. You’re really good at this.” Dave said to her with a touch of awe in his voice and Elise had to resist the urge to polish her fingernails.
“I try. But take note...this means when I tell you to do something I expect you to do it.”
“Yes ma’am!” He trailed after her down the street and Elise hid her smile. It was all turning out so much better than she had expected.
Chapter 7
That afternoon Elise and Dave went for coffee and she asked him about the challenges on his bucket list that he had yet to do and where he was at with them. The fundraising alone took up a massive chunk of his time, never mind the effort to raise the money to do each item. His organisational skills were immense and he carted around diaries and notebooks with schedules and notes for everything he was doing at the current time. His family were helping him where they could but it hadn’t come easily to them. It had taken them a long time to reconcile what they saw as selfish celebrations with losing his sister. It had been a long journey to understanding that he was doing the things that she never would in honour of her. Now they were fully behind him. It was such a poignant effort and Elise wondered aloud what he would do afterwards, when everything on his bucket list was complete.
“Well then I’ll go on raising money but I’ll maybe set up a bucket list foundation.” He shrugged. “It can be like Make a Wish but for adults...people who are seriously or terminally ill getting to carry out their biggest dreams.”
“I think that’s a beautiful idea.” Elise agreed fervently. “If there’s ever anything I can do, let me know.”
“I will.” He smiled at her, full of hope. “I will.”
To: Elise Waterford ([email protected])
From: Mr X ([email protected])
Elise,
You weren’t wrong when you said it was another emotional week. I’d love to take you dancing sometime.
Ever yours,
X
To: Mr X ([email protected])
From: Elise Waterford ([email protected])
X,
Did you think I was exaggerating? Oh X, did you just ask me out on a date? Because, you know, if that’s the case you’d have to tell me who you are...
Elise
To: Elise Waterford ([email protected])
From: Mr X ([email protected])
Elise,
I’m not sure if y
ou were being sarcastic or offended. It’s so hard to tell in print. Was I asking you out on a date...good question. If I was, would you say yes?
Ever yours,
X
To: Mr X ([email protected])
From: Elise Waterford ([email protected])
X,
It was sarcastic. I’m pretty hard to offend. As for the date, probably not because I’m kind of involved with someone. Unless you are secretly Robert Downey Jr. That would mean a whole rethink of my personal situation. A WHOLE rethink. Are you Robert Downey Jr?
Elise
To: Elise Waterford ([email protected])
From: Mr X ([email protected])
Elise,
You are so weird sometimes. I still think you’re cute.
Ever yours,
X
To: Mr X ([email protected])
From: Elise Waterford ([email protected])
X,
That wasn’t a no... o_o *freaks out*
Elise
Elise and Dave had a late start Thursday morning and met over lunch to start re-drafting his profile. Without making too much of an issue of his reasons for creating the list or the emotions behind it, they wrote several paragraphs about where he was coming from and where he was going. There was mention of his fundraising and charity events and it clearly shone through the words that here was a good, kind and genuine man who was living life to the full and wanted someone to share it with. After three hours of intense brain storming and editing they finally had something for him to post on the website.
Summer Loving Page 9
