of the possibilities caused Angela to wince in disgust.
Almost two hours went by, during which Judith shared her opinions and passed judgment on the vast majority of the men that they came across.
“I’d love to stay here with you, Angie, and prolong the fun, but I really have to go. Here – a gift from me to you.” She handed Angela a piece of paper upon which she had written the details of four men and the pages on which they were located. “These are the ones that may be worth pursuing.”
“Thanks, you’re a darling.”
“I know. I’ll call you tomorrow.” Judith hugged Angela as she left.
Returning to her computer on the kitchen tab le, Angela sat for a minute, perusing the short list. She considered that her future could be entangled in what might transpire from her impending choices. Her fingers hovered above the keyboard while she chewed on her lower lip. The previous twenty-four hours flashed through her mind and she began typing. She sent a standard, “ Hi, I liked your profile. Do you want to chat? ” message to AJ1forever and to MattCu28. Upon reflection, she wasn’t sure if she was really interested in Timrx1983; his profile didn’t stir the same vibe as the others did. She chose to send him a ‘wink’ to see where that would lead. A wink relieved her of the necessity of sending an actual message, and would notify him that she might be interested. She smiled and shook her head at the thought that she, Angela Craddock, was actually flirting online. “This is not how my mother raised me,” she said, as if there was somebody there to hear her. The profile of DaveAnewa48 didn’t appeal to her the second time around. She crossed him off the list. “Down to three,” she muttered to herself, somewhat disappointed. Unable to ignore her inner nagging prompts, Angela went in search of Boaz, who was looking for his Ruth. Judith clearly hadn’t been impressed by him, and hadn’t written his details down on the short list, but Angela thought his slant was quite cute, and she couldn’t get her mind off the fact that Meredith had mentioned Boaz and Ruth the evening before. This had to be more than mere coincidence.
Angela found , and reviewed several times, the profile of KdoyleIII, the self-described ‘Boaz’. She took note of his facial features. His deep set hazel eyes held intrigue. His strong jawline and kind smile were attractive. Still, he wasn’t so drop-dead-gorgeous so as to cause a stir wherever he went, but he definitely wasn’t ugly in Angela’s book. She’d be sure to tell Judith that he appeared to have all his teeth. In fact, she might not mention him to Judith at all. She appreciated Judith’s input, but in the final analysis, the decisions were hers to make.
If she sent him a formulated message, it would be her third for the evening. She decided to just wait and see what happened as a result of her other two messages and the wink.
Immediately , on the tail end of that thought, she received a message in her inbox. “Wow! That was quick!” Angela exclaimed. With mingled excitement and nervousness, she clicked the message. It read:
“Hi, my name’s Aiden Jacobs. I’d love to chat, but I’m more of a telephone person, so give me a call - 407 555 1559. Look forward to getting to know you.”
Angela concluded that this must be AJ1forever. She de sperately wanted to call him, but she reasoned that she ought not to appear too keen. The speed and ease with which technology had facilitated a connection with a perfect stranger seemed incredible. She read the message repeatedly.
Determined to maintain her dignity and self-respect, which to her that meant pacing herself and not presenting as desperate, she physically logged out of the website, but mentally, she was still logged in. She could think of nothing else for the rest of the evening.
After a light meal and some senseless