The Apple of My Eye

Free Fallin'

"So who did you want this to be a message to?"

Thus began our first non-work-related conversation ever. When the question popped up on my computer screen—on Skype, to be exact—I barely had time to read who had sent it to me. (You know how the message pops up in the lower right corner of the screen only to disappear a few seconds later, right?) It happened in the middle of the workday, and it had been asked in reference to this meaningless one-liner I wrote next to my Skype profile picture, this U2 song title that goes, "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me." Oh yes, and who had asked the question had been none other than Star herself.

I didn't waste any time thinking up something blasé or debonair to say, which is what I would typically do in a circumstance such as this. I was too stunned, too staggered by her initiative to elaborate much, so I said the first thing that came to mind. I told her it was just this song I was sort of fond of, you know, and it was on my mind, kind of stuck, really, so I'd figured, what the hell, and that was it. Definitely not intended as a message to anyone.

Star had talked to me on Skype before, but it had always had to do with work, and it never lasted more than half a dozen messages, give or take. And no pleasantries, no time for small talk whatsoever. We'd exchanged emails, too, but that was commonplace for everybody who worked there, regardless of department or rank. We had never, I repeat, never talked about anything outside of work. We had never been spontaneous with each other. Until now. It was just about eight p.m., and the last meetings of the day were well under way, which, except for inside the conference rooms, rendered the building rather quiet. Neither Star nor I was in one of those meetings, so she was probably bored out of her wits and unable to find anyone of any interest to talk to at that hour, I reckoned. Most of the people who worked directly with her had left already, so there you go. Whatever it was, I was pleasantly surprised she had chosen me, of all people, to kill time with, and I immediately jumped at the chance.

I thought nothing much of it, though. I certainly didn't jump to any fancy conclusions, that is, it did not occur to me that she could be the least bit interested in me. Nor did I start imagining tactics to woo her or anything of the sort. It was just nice to be able to talk to someone new for a change. And to me Star seemed distinctive enough after all the things I had heard about her and our little incident at the reception and how she had handled herself.

So after I explained why I had chosen the song title on my Skype profile, she proceeded to tell me what kind of music she liked, which came as quite the revelation, coming from a 20-year-old who had spent most of her life in a small town, surrounded by regional music, and who now lived with a rapper-slash-deejay. Whereas most girls her age were listening to music I abhorred, she loved the blues, and she loved jazz, and she knew songs and musicians by name, too. Some I'd never even heard of, and I pride myself on my knowledge of the blues and jazz and what have you. I told her how unusual that was and how I was truly astounded, and Star seemed genuinely delighted that I had found her unusual and astounding. I soon realized that she was the kind of girl who has a strong opinion about everything, but in a most delightful way. I was watching her transform from somebody I knew nothing about, except hearsay, of course, into this keen, witty, very compelling girl. All on my computer screen, yes, but still.

There were plenty of interruptions, though. We were both at work, don't forget, so from time to time someone would either call me or call her or enter our respective offices and want to talk to us. But just as soon as we were done assisting whoever it was that needed our assistance, we quickly resumed our conversation, like it was the only natural thing to do.

At the end of a little over an hour, we said our good nights and logged out. We had not talked about anything too personal, but I felt that first exchange had gone really well. It had opened the door to what could be a series of very promising discussions about music and the world and life et cetera. Hmm.