Photo by James Cruikshank
During the past three years of frequenting chatrooms, Sunny had met some truly wonderful people, getting
close to a few...maybe closer to some than she should have. None the less, things like that happen on-line, and
situations arise that one often has no control over. Feelings become intense, and the hurt is very real, and
enduring. Some things should never happen, but when they do and it's too late, there are consequences to
be dealt with..
After much of that hurt, she concluded it would never happen again...but it did. Never expecting it, she was
a sucker for punishment...this time, she had only herself to blame.
One of those very close friends, Lane, had her laughing so hard the first time she talked to him. Being fairly
new to the chats, he was having difficulties posting a picture in the room that she visited. After a few
attempts, and her asking if he had a web page to upload pictures...which he didn't...she offered hers. Little
did she realize that the picture he sent to her e-mail was actually of him rock climbing. Grinning as she
looked at it, and thought...here is a real hunk of a guy...nice body, all muscle...and cute too. He didn't want
anyone to know right away that it was him in the picture, as he thought they might think him a little
conceited and egotistical.
Shrinking the picture, and adding the name he wanted, Sunny sent it back to Lane,
explaining how to post. Still having problems, she asked for his ICQ number and would
send the coding for the picture that way. Wondering how three pictures showed on
the screen the next time he posted, she giggled and told him exactly what to do. He
learned fast, but she teased him relentlessly about it for a long time after.
Chatting a bit, they found there were only seven or eight hours distance between them...
she'd passed by his town many times on her way to visit relatives near where he lived.
Lane was thirty one, six feet one inch tall, brown hair
and hazel eyes...had a little boy, and was separated for
about six months. He was going to school to be a
pipefitter. Later, he mentioned that he had talked to
her under another name a few times, but never did tell
her what it was...she found she liked him right from
the start.
After having had a couple of hurtful on-line relationships,
and him telling her that he would never have one of those kind of
romances, Sunny felt quite safe with him. He was still dealing
with some issues in his life...was lonely, and in need of a friend.
Her being the way she was, befriending all...Lane was no exception.
Most nights she went to the chatroom around ten, he would be
there shortly after. Although he said he wasn't following her, she
knew better, because if she had just left a room, he'd message her
on ICQ, saying he just missed her.
Lane spent late nights in the chatroom, and often, after Sunny
said that she going to bed, she would pop back in to chat. He'd
laugh and tell her that she missed him so she had to come back. It was
true but she never told him that...her excuse was that she couldn't
sleep.
Not wanting to call her by her nickname, Lane gave her another
one that made her smile from ear to ear. Her ICQ already had
a few sounds from friends so when a message came through, she
would hear that sound. Teaching him how to add a wav to his,
took very little time and when he sent his sound wav, she added
it to the others. Every time he sent her a message it would say
"hi sweetness". Sunny loved it, smiling every time she heard it...
his voice so deep and sexy, it sent shivers through her body.
In return she made him one that said "hi cutie"...all of her
male friends were called cutie, but she had made this wav only
for him.
Comparatively innocent to the happenings in chatrooms, he did know something about them. He was
very interested and willing to learn anything. His curiosity about cybersex was a topic they discussed...
him asking her many questions about it, and her answering the best she could, up to the point
where they did a scenario in one of the rooms.
Lane was amazed...told Sunny he wanted to learn from her...not that she had much experience. She laughed
and said she would teach, then he could find himself a sweetie. There wasn't anything serious on her part.....
yet. Telling her he might not want to be with anyone else was a complete surprise to her. He was monogamous,
real
and virtual time. Unsure of all of this, she hesitated, but thought that maybe nothing would come of it...
she wasn't really into playing around.
Talking every night, both on ICQ and in the Hot Tub chatroom, Sunny knew he had a crush on her, although
he would probably never admit to it. She was developing one too, but it wasn't as obvious...she would keep it inside.
Asking for his phone number, he gave it...she got up enough courage to call one morning, waking him up.
Sighing, she recalled his voice...how nervous she was talking to him. Eventually she gave him hers.
After that first call, they talked every night on the phone...their addiction to each other
apparent. Not a day went by without many messages and long conversations. If she
wasn't on-line, messages asking where she was would pop up on ICQ from him, and visa
versa.
One of the best laughs she ever had was when Lane changed everything to icons and they
were all over his desktop...she called him Icon Man for a long time. A friend was going to make
him an avatar with that name...he had a great sense of humor, and she loved that about him.
Jealousy reared for both parties...his more than hers...he didn't
seem to like to share her, although she never ignored him.
In the short time that they had talked to each other,
Sunny devoted as much of her time to him as he did to her.
Lane was special to her, but, she didn't want him to
consume her, nor the opposite.