Caught in the Middle

Chapter 3

I closed my laptop and shoved it aside the night I fell asleep. When I awoke the next morning, I shoved my wallet and the little computer in my backpack. I couldn't find my phone anywhere and I decided to thoroughly search for it when I finished my shift at Thorton's bookstore.

Until then I couldn't call Irene to make back up with her. Besides her, Ricardo was my other friend but we didn't get along well without Irene. She was the glue that stuck everything together. If it weren't for her constant presence in my life, everything would be boring, like how I felt now.

I wheeled a cart of new books Mr. Thorton, my employer, bought to supply his bookshelves. They were the latest best selling novels besides The Hunger Games, Fifty Shades of Grey, The Maze Runner and Harry Potter series. As I shoved each book into a random place on the bookshelf or put it on display with some other books, I noted the ones I would like to read in the future.

But today I didn't feel like reading anything. Instead I felt like I wanted to explore something on my computer. Fortunately, the tenant that lived above the bookstore had open wifi, which gave me access to the Internet. Since Mr. Thorton had other duties, I rolled the book cart to one corner of the bookstore and headed to my usual place behind the counter. There, I opened my bag under my counter and took out my laptop. I started up the little computer and the emails popped right in my face.

"Single Girl Looking for a Serious Relationship with a Male," I read the subject out loud. "What the hell were you thinking, Irene?"

I hovered my pointer over the "x" box to close the Internet page when maybe curiosity made me stop. "Well, why won't I try to open one email?  Maybe someone will spark my interest." I switched my pointer over to the fifth email and it opened.

Hey Baby,

Do you want to have my baby?

"What the fuck?" Was this how men asked women for a date? "Hell, no!" I deleted his email.

I clicked on the next one.

Hi my spicy woman,

I'm looking for someone to fuck. You name the place and time for our meet up.

My eyes bulged at the vulgar language he used. Instantly, I deleted his email and I opened the next one.

Yo,

I'm a gamer and I spend most of my time watching movies or testing new games. I want to start something new like dating a real woman. You sound like one. Want to meet me up or call me?

This Torento guy didn't sound half as bad as the other two emails but I didn't like the fact that he was a gamer. It meant he was lazy and I didn't like the fact that he called me a real woman.

"Who the hell do you think you are?"

I trashed his email. After the next one, I began skimming through and thrashing them. I was on my second to last email and I was about to trash it with the others when the first line hit me.

Hello,

My name is Nathan P. I won't be disclosing my full name as yet. I was looking through shelfslist.org when I came across your ad. I read it and I am seriously impressed by your honesty.

"What did Irene write in the ad?" I asked out loud before returning to finish read the email.

Not many women on shelfslist.org write about looking for a serious relationship. I like that about you. I'm a twenty eight year old business man looking for something real. I will like to get to know more about you if you don't mind. You can email me at nathanp@mpmail.com if you will like to chat some more.

I smiled. Finally, I found a man with class. Before I knew what I was doing, I opened a new email and began typing in information about myself. Maybe Irene was right. Dating didn't sound like a bad idea.