UNDER THE SURFACE (Love conversation writing contest)

Under the surface

Day 1

Sidney Butler sent:
Hey,
I found a notebook on a chair at Heathrow Airport and it had this email as a contact. Let me know if you want it back.

Sid

Day 2

Hayley Collins sent:
OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! Yes, please!
Thank you so much! I thought it was lost forever. I've been kicking myself ever since I realized I left it somewhere. How can I get it back?

Hayley

Sidney Butler sent:
Hi Hayley,
I'm on the French Riviera right now but I can mail it to you when I'm back (in 2 weeks) or we can meet up for the handover. Do you live in London?

Sid

Hayley Collins sent:
Hi Sid,
Yes, I live in London. I'm in the US for the next 2 weeks as well. How am I ever going to survive without my notebook? I can't believe I left it on a seat. It's my most precious possession!
Please, let's meet up when we're both back in the UK.

H.

Day 4

Sidney Butler sent:
I'm sorry I should have handed it over to Lost&Found but I opened it and was hooked from the first page. I like the first line: Men are pigs. Reeking, dirty, repulsive, sickening, revolting creatures.
I'm a man, but fear not. I won't soil your journal with my disgusting hands. 🙂

Day 5

Hayley Collins sent:
I'm so embarrassed. This isn't the first notebook in my journal. The previous one started on a much more positive note. And if you kept reading (but, oh God, don't) you'd see that things lighten up considerably.

Sidney Butler sent:
Now I feel like you're challenging me. I'm just going to have to finish the first entry (he says, halfway through the entire notebook. Still considering making the switch to women?)

Day 6

Hayley Collins sent:
Haha No. That was just a particularly bad day for me and I don't filter when I write. For all the good it does me, I'm only attracted to men.
It's not fair. You're sitting around with my life written in your hands and I don't know anything about you.
Are you on Facebook? Instagram? Snapchat? Anything?

Sidney Butler sent:
I'm afraid I'm a bit of an asocial animal. I don't do social media. I consider it good enough that I have an email account.
But picture this: busy-looking men, running around in designer suits, briefcases swinging until they put them down to lift, pull and press weights at the gym. Then they go home to pick a gourmet meal from Deliveroo, work some more, go to bed and do it all again.
I'm the guy who shakes his head at it all saying "the things you people put yourself through!", adjusts his glasses (unnecessarily) and heads to the nearest library. 😉 I'm an Optometrist with a passion for everything outer space.

Hayley Collins sent:
Sid, I think I like you.

Day 8

Sidney Butler sent:
Hayley, I like you too.
Will you write about me in your new journal? That repulsive asocial animal of a man holding my original journal hostage. Grrr

Hayley Collins sent:
Haha, no I try to keep my journal entries interesting 😁
And I didn't realize I was facing a hostage situation!!! Will I have to pay a ransom? Can I get away with a huge smile and maybe a pat on the shoulder?

Sidney Butler sent:
Ah, yes! I've read that part where you can't stand to be touched, unless by a man you're romantically involved with. It's a bit weird and I know a thing or two about being weird.
Hayley doesn't like her elbows to be touched!? I understand about the lower back, the belly, the thighs, heck even the neck... but the elbows?
What type of creature are you?