Night on the Town

Jane leaned back in his chair and tapped his nose pensively. The week was over and it had been a slow week. They were out of town for a seminar and the days had been busy and mostly boring. "Good and bad," he thought. "No one is dead but I'm really bored. I never knew that seminars were so crashingly boring!" The characteristic sound of windows booting broke him from his reverie. "Looks like another exciting night on IRC," he muttered, sounding almost as trilled as he really was.

He logged onto a random IRC server and scanned public channels with 3 to 5 people. That way you weren't alone, nor was the channel so busy that you couldn't get a word in edge-wise. "Here's a strange one. The Room. Not very descriptive." Sometimes those could be fun. He joined and scanned the chatters. VampEl was channel op and there was KinkDude, leatherman, and him, InPJs. "Is there life here" he typed.

To his surprise he got a response. [VampEl] Life is what you make it. It's here, there, everywhere.

As the was preparing a response, a second window popped up from VampEl. "I'd rather talk here. The other two will just try to hit on me and I'm not in the mood right now."

Jane typed, "You could just kick them. You are the channel op."

"Yes, but they add to channel population to make the room look busy. It's early and I'm not in the mood for them. Later, there'll be a lot more people, then I might."

Jane leaned back and considered: female, clever, manipulative, and to a degree, subtle, while trying to appear open. "This could be fun," he thought. "A little verbal sparring should lighten my mood."

"What sort of people normally visit your channel?"

"Goths, kinks, vampire wanna-bes," she typed back.

"The Vamp in you name is for vampire?" Jane grinned. Better and better!

"No! It is the other vamp, as in sexy. A friend once called me a vamp and my name begins with El, hence VampEl."

"So, you are sexy (pant, drool)" he responded.

He received a "[G]" followed by a url.

"What the hell," he thought. "I'm reasonably well covered. Besides, there's nothing critical on this machine. He clicked the url and held his breath. A browser window opened and displayed three pictures. One was of a rather good looking, prim lady, wearing glasses and standing behind the desk in a library. The second one was a rather sexy lady, wearing riding leathers, straddling a Harley. She was smiling and seemed very comfortable on the machine. In the background, there were three other bikes, populated by some rather scary biker dudes. The third picture seemed professionally done and showed the same lady wearing almost knee high black leather boots, a tight black, leather, skirt that came to mid thigh, a semi-translucent white silk blouse and a black leather cape, casually swept back over her shoulders. She had jet black hair and a very pale complexion.

Jane's breath caught as he viewed the third picture, full screen. It was incredibly sexy, not for what it showed, but for what it didn't show and what it hinted at. His hands were poised, motionless, over the keyboard. "you still there?" showed in his talk window.

"Yes, I'm trying to catch my breath. Ok, I'll admit it. You are sexy!"

"LOL. Thank you, sir..... I do know how to take an honest complement."

"If that is really her, she is a knock out! Why would a woman like that be on the computer on a Friday evening?" He rubbed the side of his nose, deep in thought. "How come you're not out on the town on this evening?" he typed.

"[G] Why aren't you?" appeared almost instantly.

"Ok, I'll play this game." He sighed and typed, "I'm a poor hard working guy who just needed a little down time. How about you?"

"[G] No date, huh? "

Jane felt a flash if irritation. Damn it, she was right. A second message followed the first. "Me too. Believe it or not, I do have a problem getting dates."

Somehow that seemed to take the sting out of the previous message, and for some reason, he believed her.

"I hear you, but I really do find that hard to understand. My guess would be that you'd have guys lined up to keep you company." He pressed enter, realizing that sounded lame.

"LOL. I don't, so if you want get in line, you'd be next."

Jane could visualize a wry grin on her face. "Ok, since I'm next, what's a good time for you?" Jane saw the text appear in the talk window. "Did I really type that," he wondered. "Am I being played, here? This is really weird."

"I'd say within the next hour, but the odds are against us being in the same state, let alone the same city!"

Jane sighed. Right! He'd been so caught up in the conversation that he'd forgotten the nature of IRC. What the hell.... "I'm in Denver," he typed. He waited for her response. Some moments passed and he wondered if she'd disconnected. So far, she'd been really quick on the responses.

"Me too."

Jane bit his lip. "Look, you don't have to. We just went with the flow and we both know that a young lady should not be meeting strangers on IRC. Not a problem." He felt genuine disappointment.

"You're right, we did go with the flow. Let's meet. How about in front of the library in an hour?"

He realized the loud gulp in the room was him. "Ok, I'll be wearing gray suit and vest. I'll be the one looking very nervous."

"I'll be wearing what I was wearing in the third picture. So I know for sure it's you, when you see me, just say that you have your pjs" He grinned at the allusion to his screen name. She was quick.

VampEl vanished from the channel so he disconnected. It was only a short walk to the library. He had a rental car, but if they needed it, they could walk back to get it our she might drive. He decided to walk. "I hope I don't regret this," he mused.