Dear Adam (11 page)

Eden: That hurt one of my ribs.

Adam: See, I am causing you harm.

Eden: Liar and a murderer.

Eden: Say my name.

Adam sent her another voice message with a
mocking "Edie."

Adam: Why?

Eden: NO. My name.

This time he replied with a quiet "Eden,"
which made her sigh. She wanted him to breathe it into her ear
softly so that no one else could hear. Her name on his lips said
rapturously. Oh, that voice. Eden's cheeks became heated.

Eden: Thank you.

Adam: Now explain.

Eden: I just wanted to hear it.

Adam: What does that have to do with your
intuition?

Eden: Absolutely nothing. I just wanted to
hear you say my name.

Adam: Ha, dominatrix.

Eden: Would you mind?

Adam: Now you're hurting my ribs.

Adam: Though beginning to know you.

Adam: That one could be a genuine
question.

Adam: Thinking??

Eden: You're beginning to know me and what
do you know now?

Adam: I was implying that you could
genuinely have dominatrix tendencies.

Eden: Oh?

Adam: That's the second time I've said so
and you haven't denied or refuted my suggestion.

Eden: When was the first time?

Adam: 2 minutes ago: "Ha, dominatrix."

Eden: Oh.

Adam: You strike me as a woman who harbours
dark fantasies.

Eden: I wouldn't know if I had those types
of tendencies.

Adam: You wouldn't?

Eden: Haven't.

Eden: Yet.

Adam: Ah, I see.

Eden: I'm in the middle of work. I'm
alternately laughing and now ....

Eden: Shouldn't you be in bed???
Asleep????

Adam: I am in bed, but I am wide awake,
mother.

Adam: Though would it be more convenient for
me to leave you be?

Eden: Convenient. Yes. That sounds good.

Adam: Sorry, does that mean leave you be or
not?

Eden: Good night. I'll talk to you
tomorrow?

Adam: It's only 00:35 here.

Adam: Yes, we have a Skype TALK date,
remember?

Eden: Okay. I'll look up my Skype account
and figure it out. Say good night.

Adam: Good night my dear

Eden: NO, say good night.

A sweet "good night" voice message instantly
appeared.

Eden: Thank you and good night.

She closed their chat with regret.

But Adam wasn't ready to let go just yet. And
neither was Eden.

----------

From: Adam -

Date: Mon, Aug 6, at 3:37 PM

To: Eden E

Why do you always abruptly want to disappear
around this time? On this occasion I didn't want to leave you.

Also, you never remark on my calling you
mother, why?

----------

From: Eden E

Date: Mon, Aug 6, at 3:39 PM

To: Adam -

Because at round this time, I'm horrified to
discover that I have done very little work.

Should I take offense when you call me
mother? Should I say, "That's a huge turn off, Adam."

----------

From: Adam -

Date: Mon, Aug 6, at 3:41 PM

To: Eden E

I thought that might be it.

I don't know if you should, but that's what
I was expecting, Eden.

----------

From: Eden E

Date: Mon, Aug 6, at 3:42 PM

To: Adam -

You make me entirely useless.

----------

From: Adam -

Date: Mon, Aug 6, at 3:42 PM

To: Eden E

I don't want to be a burden.

----------

From: Eden E

Date: Mon, Aug 6, at 3:43 PM

To: Adam -

You're not. I'm not used to this.

----------

From: Adam -

Date: Mon, Aug 6, at 3:44 PM

To: Eden E

Neither am I, perhaps even less so than
you.

----------

From: Eden E

Date: Mon, Aug 6, at 3:45 PM

To: Adam -

I doubt it.

----------

From: Adam -

Date: Mon, Aug 6, at 3:46 PM

To: Eden E

You are the one with the online presence.
The Internet was a necessary evil for me, prior to this.

----------

From: Eden E

Date: Mon, Aug 6, at 3:48 PM

To: Adam -

That's right - your famous privacy.

It's never been like this. Nowhere near.

----------

From: Adam -

Date: Mon, Aug 6, at 3:49 PM

To: Eden E

You make me feel like I'm an interruption in
your existence my dear.

----------

From: Eden E

Date: Mon, Aug 6, at 3:50 PM

To: Adam -

I didn't mean that. I meant I've never
"talked" to anyone like this online.

----------

From: Adam -

Date: Mon, Aug 6, at 3:51 PM

To: Eden E

I've never spoken to a stranger online,
period. Not withstanding online customer service agents.

Am I a stranger?

----------

From: Adam -

Date: Mon, Aug 6, at 3:52 PM

To: Eden E

Not now, but you were.

We'll talk tomorrow. Good night.

----------

From: Adam -

Date: Mon, Aug 6, at 3:57 PM

To: Eden E

Good night, you.

“
One, two, slip, slip,
three, four, roll, roll!” Sandra bellowed from ringside. “It’s
easy, people. Punches, then defense. Punches, then
defense."

Sandra had a tough, weathered face of a
bulldog, with a thick, solid body that emanated strength even when
she was stock still. She had fought in the ring for over 20 years
and looked every inch of it.

Eden kept messing up, slipping when she
should be jabbing, rolling when she should be slipping. She was
usually very focused during boxing class but for some reason she
was having trouble with simple combinations.

“
Sorry,” she said to her
partner, Maria, a 13-year-old girl twice her size. Maria was tall,
with broad shoulders and the arms and legs of an offensive lineman.
She might have been awkward everywhere else, but in the ring Maria
was graceful, powerful. She was a natural at boxing. Unlike Eden,
who, despite three months of classes, faltered when distracted.
Like tonight.

She shook her head vigorously in between
combinations, trying to shake Adam off her thoughts.

He was a vaguely-formed, impressionistic
image in her mind – a man in black, with scars all over. A man
who’s fought figurative and literal battles. A man who admitted to
being feared. When she had asked lightly if he was fearsome to
behold, he had not denied it. Was he eliding, as he correctly
observed of her? Perhaps he was ugly, scary-looking.

Maybe on the outside he was fearsome, but
beneath all that …

He was proud yes, with masculine swagger.
From what he’s revealed and from his poems, life had not treated
him kindly. A scarred man like that could be difficult to be close
to. But there was a hint of tenderness there, a yearning when he
wrote that she was missed, that he didn’t want to leave her for the
night. That hint and the half-orphaned, impoverished boy she sensed
in the man softened her. He was on the cusp of vulnerability, and
one wrong word could activate his armor.

“
Stop!” Sandra screeched at
the class. Everyone dropped their arms to look at her. “I noticed
most of you doing the same thing." Sandra stood in fighting stance,
her hands up and curled into loose fists.

“
When you jab with one
hand,” she punched the air with her right fist, “Most of you bring
your other hand down. Don’t do that. Hands up to your face. Always.
When you strike,” she punched the air again, “Make sure your other
hand is defending your face. Don’t leave yourself open for an easy
hit."

Chapter 7

Subject: Tuesday

----------

From: Adam -

Date: Date: On Tue, Aug 7, at 1:58 PM

To: Eden E

Today will be a turning point, when we
speak.

----------

From: Eden E

Date: On Tue, Aug 7, at 2:00 PM

To: Adam -

You're making me nervous again.

----------

From: Adam -

Date: Tue, Aug 7, at 2:13 PM

To: Eden E

Nervous how? And why?

----------

From: Eden E

Date: Date: On Tue, Aug 7, at 2:15 PM

To: Adam -

"Today will be a turning point, when we
speak." - That's why I'm nervous.

----------

From: Adam -

Date: On Tue, Aug 7, at 2:17 PM

To: Eden E

Don't be. I just meant, it will make things
calmer, and you less erratic :P

----------

From: Eden E

Date: On Tue, Aug 7, at 10:21 PM

To: Adam -

Erratic? You do realize how strange this is,
right? Unless this is something you commonly do. Which is not the
case for me.

----------

From: Adam -

Date: On Tue, Aug 7, at 2:24 PM

To: Eden E

I do it all the time, I have an entourage of
sexy b*tches from all over the world, all online.

----------

From: Eden E

Date: On Tue, Aug 7, at 2:33 PM

To: Adam -

You certainly know what to say to calm me
down. This is looking more and more like a brilliant judgment call
on my part.

----------

From: Adam -

Date: On Tue, Aug 7, at 2:34 PM

To: Eden E

Sarcasm or I really calm you down?

----------

From: Eden E

Date: On Tue, Aug 7, at 2:37 PM

To: Adam -

"I do it all the time, I have an entourage
of sexy b*tches from all over the world, all online" - sarcasm or
you really do have a ring of World Wide Women you've acquired
through the Internet?

----------

From: Adam -

Date: On Tue, Aug 7, at 2:38 PM

To: Eden E

Sarcasm, most certainly.

Perhaps because she was so nervous about
their Skype talk that night, Eden snapped at Adam. When he wasn’t
trying to reassure her, he tried to distract her with talk about
his day and places he had been to.

When she worried that he was going to be
staying up until 2:00 a.m. his time just to talk to her, he said he
would be fine and to stop "mothering" him. This touched a raw nerve
in Eden. Despite everything they had in common and the ease she
felt in communicating with him, she had doubts about their age
difference.

From: Eden E

Date: On Tue, Aug 7, at 3:00 PM

To: Adam -

Why do you keep bringing up the fact that
I'm a mother as if it's something I should be ashamed of? Are you
trying to make me feel bad because I'm so much older than you?
Should I not show concern when you're going to be losing sleep and
rest because of me?