Page 12 of Earl

“Hey.”

Closing his eyes briefly, he lowered himself on the edge of the bed and reached for his laptop. Quickly opening the app, in case she thought he wasn’t going to respond, he typed in his username and password.

“Hey. What are you up to?”

“Just coming in from outside. I never told you I have a vegetable garden.”

He chuckled. “You never did. What types of vegetables and how good a farmer are you?”

“A damn good one. I have a green thumb. I also planted crab roses and oleanders. I am trying my hand at petunias and daffodils. I told you I love everything to do with art.”

“You eat what you grow.”

“Of course. I love digging in the dirt.”

He paused at that and filed that away for future reference. “You are not afraid to ruin your manicure?”

A smiling emoji. “I am hopeless when it comes to that sort of thing. I would only force myself to go to a salon, only if absolutely necessary because I cannot keep still for very long. I have thick hair, which requires the care of an expert and each time I am supposed to go to an appointment, I am tempted to cut the entire thing off.”

“Don’t!” He had no idea that he had used the exclamation point until he pressed send. “It’s none of my business, I am sorry.”

“Don’t be. I love my hair and cutting it would kill me.”

Earl leaned back against the padded headboard and closed his eyes briefly. The image of her hair spread out on his pillows was doing strange things to his lower body.

“Earl? You there?”

“Yes.” He typed swiftly. “What else were you up to?”

“Just work. I told you I have a deadline.”

“I know I am not supposed to ask.”

“You aren’t.”

“How soon?”

“We have to go through the process. And I think this is more fun.”

“Is it?”

“Don’t tell me you are getting bored.”

“No. It’s just that…,” he stopped typing and realized what he was about to reveal. They had also agreed on not getting too heavy but keeping things light. He was not certain he could keep that promise. “Aren’t you curious about me?”

“Of course, I am. But …!” This time she was the one who paused. “Okay, here is something that is going to bend the rules a bit. I have had terrible experiences with the opposite sex.

So much so that it took me a while to even agree to get on the app. I really like you Earl and maybe it’s because we have not really met face to face. I love this arrangement. I feel like I can tell you anything without fearing that I was saying the wrong thing. I want to keep it like this for now. Is that okay?”

He wanted to shout no, but he did not have that right. He was facing a quandary, a situation he had never faced before. He was a man of extreme power. People paid attention when he spoke. He had the ears of the President and heads of states.

He had dated some very influential women. Yet here he was talking to a woman behind a computer screen and having to bow to her wishes. But he had no intention of doing anything to make her want to stop talking to him. He would play by the rules for now.

“Of course.” He typed. “Let’s get back to your gardening skills.”

*****

“There is something I want to ask you and it’s going to be very personal and probably bending the rules.” He had woken up early the next morning, delighted to see her online. He told her the night before that he usually gets his workout in around 5:00 am.”

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