Bronco8881: Thanks. My mother gave it to me for Christmas last year.
Sissy3211: Lucky you.
Bronco8881: I'm waiting.
Sissy3211: For what?
Bronco8881: A picture of you.
Sissy3211: Oh. Do you like blondes, brunettes, blue, green or pink hair? I've got a great magazine here, take your choice.
Bronco8881: You're a hairdresser?
Sissy3211: Don't I wish. It would save me a fortune if I were. My hair grows like a weed. Wait, someone's calling.
He waited and waited…
Sissy3211: "Old school chum on the phone, catch you later."
---Sissy3211 has signed off---
It wasn't true. She rarely got a phone call and there was no one calling now. Instead, she enlarged his picture and examined it more closely. Behind the man she thought was more than a little attractive, was a building she recognized - a building in downtown Denver, with a one-of-a-kind, seven tier fountain in front of it. She had probably walked past that fountain a hundred times. Never had she imagined they lived in the same city. On the other hand, he might have just been visiting Denver.
Sissy3211: I'm back. Do you travel much?
Bronco8881: Not much, you?
Sissy3211: I would like to someday.
Bronco8881: Where would you like to go?
Sissy3211: Canada, Alaska maybe. I would love to see the glaciers.
Bronco8881: When would you like to go? I'll buy the tickets.
Sissy3211: Tickets plural?
Bronco8881: They have fantastic cruise ships that go up the west coast to Alaska. Don't worry, I'll get separate rooms.
Sissy3211: Are you rich or do you just run up your credit cards?
Austin paused for a moment before he answered that.
Bronco8881: I do okay. No family to support so what I make is mine to spend.
Sissy3211: Same here. Is that picture really you?
Bronco8881: It would be pretty stupid of me to lie. I wouldn't want you to turn around and walk away when we finally meet.
Sissy3211: I wouldn't walk - I would run!
Austin chuckled.
Bronco8881: I do want to meet you.
Sissy3211: Someday, maybe. Sweet dreams.
---Sissy3211 has signed off---
She was always abruptly signing off that way. At first, he found it annoying, but it was just her way and he accepted it. When Sissy was done talking, she was done talking! He liked that about her too.
*
Maggie lived in a flat that the Americans called a studio apartment. In truth, it was a converted hotel room and not a very nice one. It came furnished with the utilities paid, and for now, it would have to do.
The room was hot in summer and cold in winter. To save money, she washed her clothes in the small kitchen sink, and spread them on her furniture to dry. Colorado wasn't humid like England, and with the help of a small fan, her clothes dried without getting moldy. That was one thing she liked about Colorado. The sofa was disgusting, the small table came with only one chair, the bed sagged in the middle, and more often than not, she woke up with a sore back. That too, she learned to live with.