Devil Mail (2 page)

 
              Startled into literally falling out of bed, Angela raised her hand and hammered the alarm clock into silence. With the one eye that she was barely able to open, she looked up at the time. 5:45a.m! It woke her up at 5:45a.m. on the previous day too, but she didn’t mind so much because she had plenty to do before going to the wedding. She was bothered by it this morning though and made a mental note to herself along the lines of,
“I need to remember to turn the stupid thing off on weekends
!” She crawled back into bed and dozed off. 

             
When she surfaced at close to 10:30a.m., she sat hunched over her bowl of cereal, sleep deprived, and running through the mental list of things she needed to accomplish before the end of the day. The wee hours of the morning were just a blur to her now.  She wondered if this was what a hangover felt like. Having only ever indulged in the odd glass of wine or champagne on special occasions, she had never gotten herself into an inebriated state, so she really didn’t know. Angela decided that her focus was lacking to such an extent that the best place for her was her bed. Returning to her bedroom, she slid her laptop off her desk as she passed by, fluffed up her pillows and made herself comfortable in the bed, laptop on her lap.

             
She knew she would not be able to accomplish very much during the day, but at least she would be able to take another look at the pages and pages of faces on Christian Blend that she had clicked through earlier that morning. After inputting her email address, she paused when prompted to type in her password. Her heart plummeted. She could not remember her password; she hadn’t written it down. Maybe she had used passwords from other online accounts. One by one, she tried them all. None of them worked. She made up a few that sounded like something she might have come up with early in the morning in her sleep-deprived state. None of those worked either. How could she have been so careless? In frustration, she shoved the laptop to the side and buried her head under the sheets.

             
Her mother’s voice echoed in her ear, “
Everything happens for a reason.”
Mrs. Craddock was viewed by her two daughters as wise and virtuous. She was a principled woman who had raised them with a firm, yet compassionate hand. She could not be described as having ever dealt with them harshly, but guided them to make conscious decisions in life and to live with and learn from the consequences of their choices. However, this did not stop her from being forthcoming with her opinions and advice, which Angela and her sister, Julia, could either freely employ or freely ignore. Mrs. Craddock held traditional, and often peculiar, views concerning many things, including relationships. Mr. Craddock had passed away when Angela was five years old and Julia was two.  She embraced her life as a widow and single mother, doing all that she could to ensure that her daughters lacked nothing of importance. Rebuffing every advance from admiring men, she stood firmly in her belief that there was only one man for her, and now that he was gone, she was destined to live out the rest of her days devoted only to God and her children.

What would her mother think of her firstborn looking for love on a dating website? Angela already knew the answer to that question. Her mother would disapprove.
Angela interpreted her inability to log on to Christian Blend as a sign that the whole online dating business just wasn’t for her.

Within a few minutes she
was fast asleep.

CHAPTER TWO

             
T
he heavy-handed ringing of the doorbell woke Angela. She plodded from her bedroom towards the front door, her annoyance evident in every heavy step she took.

             
“Who on earth is ringing my doorbell like that?” she shouted, hoping to be heard.

             
As she approached the door, her exasperation waned. There was only one person who rang her door bell like that - Judith.

             
“Angie, we missed you at church.” She was already inside and heading towards the kitchen where she would help herself to some fruit. It had become a ritual.

             
“Hey, Jude.” Angela closed the door, turned and yawned as she followed her friend to the kitchen.

             
“What happened to you, girl? You look like death warmed up.” Angela could always count on Judith to speak her mind. If she ever wanted an honest opinion, Judith was her go-to friend. They had met during a church fundraiser two years prior, and they both described it as one of those situations where two people just clicked. She knew that Judith would go out of her way to help her and she valued her friendship; although she had to make up her mind early on, never to be offended by Judith’s lack of tact.

             
“I went to a wedding yesterday and came home late, so I slept in.”

             
“So you haven’t gotten up yet? It’s three o’clock in the afternoon!”

             
“I didn’t get to bed ‘til four.”

             
“Wow! That must have been some wedding. Anyone I know?” Angela smirked at her friend. They were both fully aware that if it had been anyone that Judith knew, she would surely have secured herself an invitation, somehow. Judith made it her business to know everyone else’s business.  One of the things that made her special in Angela’s eyes was the fact that Angela had never known Judith to leak any of the delicate matters she had trusted her with.

             
“No, it was an old friend of mine - Rachel. She married a guy she met on the internet. He’s a marketing consultant with his own company, they have a house in a gated community in Westhampton, Rachel doesn’t have to work if she doesn’t want to, and now they are starting their happily ever after.”

             
“Shut up!” Judith responded, much to Angela’s annoyance, but she ignored it.

             
“It’s true.”

             
Judith cocked her head to the side to become level with Angela’s bowed head.

             
“Do I detect a hint of jealousy?”

             
“Oh gosh, no. Never. Rachel is like a sister to me. I’m happy for her and she’d be happy for me if it were the other way around.”

             
“Who are you trying to kid? You can’t even look me in the eye.” Angela administered a quick self-examination. Maybe she was jealous of Rachel, but had suppressed the feelings so as not to have to deal with the ugliness of it. Rachel would never be jealous of any good thing that happened in Angela’s life. For her to be jealous of Rachel felt like betrayal.

              “There’s nothing wrong with wondering when your turn will come.” Judith continued, “You’ve pursued your career, you’re successful, financially stable, it’s okay to want that one thing that would complete the whole package. Your time will come.”

             
“I know, but the likelihood of something like that happening to me is slim to none. I even signed up on a dating website when I got home, but I can’t remember my password, so I can’t access it. And I’ve paid for three months!”

             
“Shut up! You did what? I never thought you’d go down that road!”

             
“Well, you know what they say: desperate times call for desperate measures.”

             
“You’re not desperate, and neither are a lot of the people who go online. It’s just that these days, we’re all so busy. Many singles don’t have the time to get out and meet people, so…..”

             
“Well, that’s just it. If I’m too busy to get out and meet people, how am I going to find the time to maintain a relationship?” Angela interrupted. “I don’t even know why I bothered to do it.”

             
“Yes you do; you came home last night intent on finding yourself a rich man on the internet, just like your friend did.” Angela could sense the mockery in Judith’s voice. There was no point getting into an argument with her about it. Deep down she knew Judith meant no harm. She was tactless, but never cruel to her.

             
“Well, it obviously wasn’t to be. I forgot to write down my password.”

             
“Let me take a look,” Judith said. Angela retrieved the laptop from her bedroom. “Which one did you subscribe to?” Judith was swift in her actions and had the site up in no time. “Now, you see here, it asks you if you have forgotten your password. Type in your email address and they will either email your password to you or allow you to reset it.”

             
“How did I not see that today?” Angela looked at Judith with admiration. “Thanks Jude. You’re amazing.”

             
“Well, that wasn’t only for you. I want you to be able to log in, so
I
can see what Christian Blend has to offer, although I’m not buying, only screen-shopping.”

             
Judith was single too, but was enjoying a self-imposed respite from dating, to take advantage of the freedom that single life affords. She resented the common assumption that all single people were lonely and looking for a partner. Judith was the epitome of the ‘single, successful, satisfied sister’, a term that they had made up to describe a number of inspirational single ladies in their church, who were getting on with life and experiencing success in their diverse endeavors. Judith had, herself, taken her love for hairdressing and turned it into a flourishing business. She was the sole proprietor of Style ‘n’ Smile hair salon, where she had retained seven employees. Judith, herself, was always in style, lighting up the place with her creative hairstyles and unique fashion sense, which always incorporated the latest trends. Her ability to effortlessly command it all to compliment her sturdy, full-figured structure was the envy of many. While encouraging Angela to pursue her desires, including her desire to be in a dating relationship, Judith always advocated balance. “One single thing should never consume you,” she’d counsel. “
You
should have a pursuit; a pursuit should not have you.” 

Angela felt like a dark cloud had suddenly been lifted from above her head; not even that it had drifted away, it had definitely been instantaneously lifted
, when she received the email reminding her of her password. She welcomed Judith’s more objective viewpoint as they browsed through pages of potential matches, but she resolved to take the high road when Judith chose to give voice to sentiments and observations which ought to have remained silent in her head.              

“Oh Lord, look at this one. He ain’t got but three teeth in his head. Move on girl.”

              “Judith, don’t say things like that. The personality is more important than the outward appearance.” Angela’s hypocrisy was obvious. She found Judith’s comments highly amusing, and she knew that physical attraction and chemistry were high on her list of ‘must-haves’.  “Angie, this one has seven children and writes that he wants more. Says here he’s an unemployed business owner. What?”

“Jus
t move on Jude; I dread to think what kind of mess that is. What about this one?” Angela pointed to the bottom of the screen. Judith gave the side of Angela’s head a hard stare. “What’s wrong?” Angela inquired. “His eyes are a little close together, and he needs to work on grooming or taming that unibrow, but I could probably work with that.”

“Just look at his login name.”

“Judas666…oh,” Angela’s voice tapered off.

“Yeah, what does that tell ya?” J
udith raised her right eyebrow - a gesture that never failed to help Angela get her message loudly, clearly and quickly.

Angela shuddered. “What was he thinking when he signed up?
”

“You
’re probably better off not knowing. What’d you think about this one?” Judith proceeded to move on. “He looks normal.” She clicked through the profile then sighed.

“What?”
Angela was playing catch up. Judith silently gestured towards the computer screen.

“Yeah, if they can’t even be bothered to complete the essay questions to let people know a little bit about them, I can’t be bothered to show any interest. Next.”
Angela pointed to the picture of a handsome man posing beside a shiny black Jaguar.

“Well, although he’s 48,
apparently you’re too old for him. He says here in his match preferences that he doesn’t want anyone over the age of 22. He looks good, but the picture alone tells you that his car is likely to be more important to him than you ever would be.”

“Okay then. Keep looking,” Angela
said optimistically. She remembered that there were many more pages of men looking for the right lady. Judith took out a sheet of paper from her purse and began to scribble down some notes. Angela took little notice of what she was doing. “Try this one,” she told Judith pointing to a tall, fairly handsome man of athletic build, standing in front of a busy mural, perhaps at an airport.

“Oh, he looks okay
. Let’s see. Oh no, far too cliché. He describes himself as, ‘Boaz looking for his Ruth.’ He obviously lacks originality!” Angela’s heartbeat stopped for a brief moment, then began beating at a rapid pace. Everything Meredith had said to her the evening before was dancing around her head. Had fate begun to stir things up? Was this a sign?

“Jude, don’t you think drawing a Boaz and Ruth parallel shows insight on his part?”

“No, Angie. If he has to put it out there that he’s Boaz, chances are that he really isn’t. He’s probably more like Bozo.” Without further discussion, Judith moved on to the next page.  “Ooh, cast your eyes on this one – he’s gorgeous. I might just take a break from my dating break and snap him up for myself! He’s a professional…….” Judith’s suspended speech caught Angela’s attention and she narrowed her gaze to see what Judith had zoned in on. “Oh you can have him. Upon closer inspection, I see that he has sufficient man boobs to make any flat-chested damsel envious.”

“Man boobs
?” Angela was genuinely curious.

“Who knows what other extras he has lurking around his anatomy.”
Judith pointed out. A disturbing visual 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.