IRC – A Flash Fiction

Lets meet IRL. LOL.
We’re both new enough to this to find the acronyms self-consciously cute. You might think they’re annoying or transparent or whatever; to us it’s a sense of finally learning enough to fit in.
But we’ve only known each other 4 weeks! 🙂
I still find it hard to use them, though. I still call things “cool”, even though slang has gone through several iterations since. Smiley faces, though, are a natural.
We connect really well. Do you want me to sum up the time we chatted? Remember, I’m good at maths.
I always imagine her with a British accent. The odd “sum up” and other phrase from the UK makes me wonder what time it is for her. I’ve never asked.
I don’t have any days off from work.
I do. Lots. I saved them.
I’m only now realizing that she’s serious. That the LOL was only at the use of slang, not at the idea.
I couldn’t ask you to
I missed the *typing* prompt; her message appears before I can finish mine.
I”m already usingthem. I flew over alst week.
The screen seems larger than normal. The refridgerator’s whirr fills the apartment. My heartbeat pounds in my neck. She keeps typing. She’s slowed down; there are no more typos.
My brother showed me how to find out what town you live in.
IP somethings.
But I don’t know where in your town.
Hello?
Still here. My mind isn’t. She’s here. She came here… for me.
I want to meet you. Do you want to meet at my hotel?
How will we know each other?
We haven’t bothered to send pictures to each other. Even we know how easy it is to send someone else’s picture on the internet, and we both keep our avatars as cartoon characters. Still, I know what I think she looks like. The way her hair is on her head. The way her lips pout, the soft curves of her torso. I haven’t lied about myself, not really. I didn’t mention my thinning hair, or that it’s obvious I’ve already broken my New Year’s resolution about desserts.
I can tell you what I’m wearing.
Normally we’d be flirting now. But what if I’m not as good as what she’s imagining?
Hello? You still there?
What if she’s not like I’m imagining?
Hello?
Eventually, her status goes to Away, then Offline.
I pretend that it’s perfect.