Page 5 of Forever with the Mountain Man
FELICITY
Yikes! Don’t look too closely. I’m not a model or anything
Her response astounds me. The woman’s drop-dead gorgeous. The kind of gorgeous that has me dreaming about her at night, and these dreams aren’t of the G-rated sort.
Still, I waver about what to write back. I don’t want to seem overly interested and scare her away. Then, again, I’m running out of time, and I’ve never been good at playing games. So, I decide on a measured response.
ME
Wtf?!?! You’re hotter than hell
FELICITY
I’ve scared her. Great.
ME
Wrong answer?
FELICITY
Up until now, you seemed like a decent guy. But I can’t get behind lying. Hasta la vista
Wait! I’m not lying
…
Look what you’ve done, dumbass!They say no news is good news. But if Felicity doesn’t respond to my text, I’m going to feel like a piece of shit. Weeks of persistence and unfounded hope negated with one careless response.
While I don’t know what I did today to get her to start speaking to me in real time, the helplessness of it ending at a moment’s notice grips me. I stare at my phone for an eternity, my eyes flicking back to her photos as I kick myself for my exuberance.
ME
Felicity, I can tell you’re still on the app, thanks to the little green button
Please don’t ignore me
FELICITY
Please don’t lie to me.
I’m not lying. I swear on my great-grandmother’s grave
I don’t even know who my great-grandparents are…
I let out a long sigh mixed with guilt and relief. Guilt for using an ancestor this way. Relief she hasn’t given up on me yet.
Spying a little button on the app that looks like it has something to do with accessibility, I click on it. My eyes seriously need a break, so I select the dictation option from the pull-down menu that appears.
ME
May I ask you a question?
FELICITY
Shoot.
Why are you having trouble believing that I find you attractive?
