A Chat Between Friends (Part 4)

Nora lay in bed, the covers pulled up under her chin. Why had Bo’s visage crept into her on-line world? He was not a part of this. It had absolutely nothing to do with him. She slowly rolled over and stared at the empty pillow next to hers. As she closed her eyes to sleep, a tear slowly traveled down her cheek and came to rest on her pillow.

Bo sat for the longest time after she had suddenly logged off. Why had she left so abruptly? They were really making great progress. Running his hand through his hair as he continued to stare at his screen, he was still amazed by her description of him. He so wanted to tell her how close she was. He also wanted to share with her the mental image he had of her. Glancing briefly at his watch, he finally gave in to the fact that she wouldn’t be back tonight. “I’ll catch you tomorrow, SlowDancer. Definitely Tomorrow!”

Nora woke the next morning, more tired than when she went to bed. Her mind wouldn’t let go of Bo and her fantasies of ‘ChiliDog.’ She got ready for work, got Matthew on the bus and went into her office to grab her briefcase. The computer sat there, practically calling her name, her fingers absentmindedly cradled the mouse, moving it around the mousepad. With a sigh of frustration, she pushed the mouse away and picked up her briefcase.

The knock on the door caused Hank to look up in frustration. Yet another interruption and it wasn’t even noon.

“What!” Hank bellowed at the intruder.

Slowly the door opened and Nora peered around the edge. “Bad Timing?”

Sighing and smiling, he leaned back in his chair, “Come in Nora. You’re welcome anytime.”

Stepping into his office with a questioning smile, “Really??? Anytime??” The surprise showing on her face.

“Well… Most of the time,” he laughed in response. Motioning toward the empty chair, “Come… take a load off.” He watched her cross the room. Obviously something was weighing on her mind. He waited as she nervously looked around the room. Finally her eyes rested on his face and he could see the lack of sleep, the raw emotions. Something was definitely bothering her.

“What’s up, Honey? You look like hell.”

Frowning and smiling at the same time, she sighed, “I need someone to talk to Hank.”

“What about Mr. ChiliDog?” Hank asked with a chuckle. “I thought he was your new confidant… Your new ‘soul mate’…”

Nora’s head snapped up from contemplating her lap when Hank uttered the words that had been used so often to describe her and Bo’s relationship. “Why’d you say that?” she scowled. Not waiting for him to answer, she continued, “I never said anything about him being my soul mate… Why…”

“Hey! Hey!” Hank held up his hands to halt her protests. Smiling slowly, he continued, “I just thought after the way you talked about him the other night…”

“Well stop thinking, Hank!” she scolded as she stood and began to pace. “I’ve made a BIG mistake…” waving her arms around, “Imagined feelings that weren’t really there…” She was pacing and talking to herself. Hank watched, wondering what could have changed in just a day’s time.

“What happened?” he asked, the question causing her to pause in stride.

“What happened?? What happened?!?!” Walking up to the front of his desk. “I made a complete and total fool of myself! That’s what happened!!” she turned away to continue to pace.

“Oh come on... I doubt that. First of all, you haven’t had enough time to make a ‘Complete’ fool of yourself,” he said smiling.

Nora whirled around, “Are you making fun of me????”

“No! No!” he said apologetically. “It’s just last night you were sure this guy was the best thing since they combined Jelly with Doughnuts… What changed?”

She slumped back into her seat and dropped her head on his desk, “Oh God, Hank, I’m crazy about this guy.” Hank smiled quickly and then returned to a serious, concerned look as she slowly raised her head.

“I’m confused,” he shrugged his shoulders. “If you’re crazy about this ‘ChiliDog’…,” his voice chuckled as he said the word.

“What’s so funny?” Nora frowned.

Chuckling, “Nothing… Absolutely nothing… It’s just someone named ‘ChiliDog’ is so strange to say,” pausing briefly, “Are you sure he’s not Gay?” Hank said jokingly.

“Oh… I’m sure,” Nora quickly replied. “We cleared that up last night.”

“Oh really?? How’d you do that?” he asked.

“He said he was attracted to me.”

“So… What did you say?”

Again looking down at her lap, staring at her hands, she answered so quietly that Hank barely heard her, “I said I was attracted to him too…”

Slamming his fists on his desk, startling Nora, he smiled broadly, “Well then there ya go! What’s your problem?” he paused. “Oh! OH! I know…,” Nora looked up, half expecting Hank to know the REAL answer. “You don’t want to change all your stationary to Mrs. ChiliDog, Attorney at Law,” Hank could no longer suppress his humor and even Nora managed a slight smile at Hank’s attempt to lighten the mood.

“No…” was all she could manage to get in between Hank’s laughs, “That’s not it…” She grew quiet and Hank wiped at his tears and saw the moisture growing in Nora’s eyes. They weren’t tears of laughter.

Hank quickly rose from his desk and went around to her, pulling her up into his arms. Nora couldn’t hold back the tears any longer as she hugged him tightly.

“Honey… Honey… It’s OK. Tell me what happened,” pulling back away from her and wiping the tears from her face.

“It’s Bo!!!” she blurted out. The surprise showing on Hank’s face.

So… She figured out who ole ‘ChiliDog’ really was, Hank thought.

“Honey, I don’t understand why you’re so upset. You love Bo and ChiliDog is…”

“That’s the problem, Hank,” she interrupted as she pushed away from him. “I do love Bo, I always will. But we’ll never be together again.” Hank’s confusion was showing on his face. “We’ll never be together and I can’t seem to move on…”

“Huh?” was all he could think to say.

“Oh Hank!! I’m so attracted to this guy…”

“ChiliDog???”

“Yes!!” she snapped in frustration. “Can we please get past the ‘ChiliDog’ thing!” Taking a deep breath, “We were talking last night. I started describing to him how I pictured him in my mind.”

“Yeah?? So…”

Showing her frustration, “So… I said, ‘I see you with Brown hair, blue eyes, about 5’10” to 6’ tall, a smile that could melt a woman’s heart…’” she stood there waiting for it to all sink in. Hank still seemed lost. Sighing loudly and looking exasperated, “Sound like anyone WE know, Hank?!?!”

The knock on the door caused them to separate as it slowly opened. Nora turned her back to the door to quickly wipe away the few remaining tears.

Hank glanced briefly at Nora and then to the door. The words were spoken as an answer to her question, “Bo!!”

She turned around quickly to agree with him, “Of course, Bo!…” The words halted in her throat as they both stared at Bo standing in the door with that same heart-melting smile on his face. Quickly changing her shocked expression, she forced a smile, “Bo…,” raising her eyebrows and trying to look natural.

To be continued. . .