The Truth About Lies

"You know, sometimes I wonder…"

"What?"

"Well… if I hadn't been Fox Books and you hadn't been The Shop Around the Corner, and you and I had just, well, met…"

"I know."

"Yeah. I would have asked for your number, and I wouldn't have been able to wait twenty-four hours before calling you and saying, "Hey, how about… oh, how about some coffee or, you know, drinks or dinner or a movie… for as long as we both shall live?"

"Joe…"

"And you and I would have never been at war. And the only thing we'd fight about would be which video to rent on a Saturday night."

The entire conversation kept repeating over and over in her head.

Kathleen flopped on the bed, and buried her head in the pillow. Her thoughts were a mess. She had been waiting for this moment since a long, long time. A few days ago, even a thought of meeting NY152 would have set her heart racing. But today she didn't felt like going to the park and meeting him.

"Why? Why is this happening to me?"

Somewhere, deep down perhaps Kathleen knew the answer. But she was scared to accept it.

"What the hell am I thinking? It can't be because of what Joe Fox said. He is my business rival. Well, now I don't have my book business but he's just a friend. Nothing more than that. I can't possibly be in love with him. No, I can't. It's just that I have been meeting him a lot lately and I think I have just become used to having him around"

She sighed.

He thoughts were very clear. She had sorted everything out in her head. But then why didn't it feel that way?

The longer she thought about it, the harder it was becoming to make a decision. The clock was ticking.

Finally a few minutes later, Kathleen found herslef writing an email addressed to NY152. It was very short unlike the other mails she had written to him earlier.

Dear Friend,

I hope you read this well in advance. I am sorry but I cannot meet you today. Something important has come up and I really can't get out of it right now. I really wanted to meet you. I am sorry once again. ~ Shopgirl

Her finger hovered nervously over the Send button as Kathleen re-read her message. A few minutes passed... and finally she pressed it.