I was picked up by a truck, which belonged to some company called "Callahan". According to the driver, it used to be "Callahan & Son", but with the father gone, the son took over and it became just "Callahan". Now this is as short as the driver could have told me, but he had to start raving on and on about it. He even felt it necessary to tell me how the aforementioned son got together with his wife. Since I don't know these people he spoke of, nor is there any chance of me to actually meet with them, why should I be interested in all that?

So anyway, he dropped me off somewhere inside... what they call the "loop". Didn't know what that meant, and with him talking as much as he did, I had a hard time trying to ask.

Whatever the loop is, I'm not sure whether it's better inside it or outside it. In the city I spotted a gang of motorcyclists. Not much of an oddity, I know, but what if I told you that they weren't human? Seriously, they looked more like mice with antennas on their heads. It could have been a suit, but who'd bother with making such suits, where the masks move as if they were actual faces, only to wear them while riding motorcycles? A movie maybe? Then why didn't I see any cameras? Turtles in New York City and mice in Chicago. What's next? Dinosaurs in Los Angeles? Don't answer that.

I just had lunch in a place called Good Burger, along with someone, not only beautiful, but also a sort of celebrity. At least, a celebrity among chess-players, as I never heard of her. She told me her name was Erica Sanderson, and that she was the daughter of a Peter Sanderson. If I knew that name, I may have been impressed, but I didn't, but she didn't seem to mind at all.

Now you're probably wondering how I met her. It was, in fact, an accident. I sat myself down in some deserted alley, when she suddenly busted out of one of these back-doors. The moment I saw her, I couldn't help noticing just how pretty she was. Today, however, appeared to be a bad day for her to wear heels, as she had to run away from... well, I had no idea of why she was running, but in any event, she broke one of her heels, which got her to lose balance and fall badly. I'd be an idiot to not take my chance to help her then, and getting to know her. The first thing she told me was that she's not in the mood to give me an autograph. Why is it that people in this country assume you even want their autograph? That's exactly what I told her. Still having no real reason to trust me, she told me who she was, but that still meant nothing to me. While other people would have been offended, she decided that this was enough for her to trust me. Why, you might wonder? Because she believed that if I don't know her, that would mean I genuinely want to help her, without any ulterior motives.

All she wanted was just one quiet day, do whatever she wants, whenever she wants, without any cameras being shoved in front of her. And now that I'm with her, she believed she can. She told me exactly what her life is, as being a chess-champion. The only reason she became one, is because of her father. No, not to keep up his reputation. In fact, given something that happened to both of them when she was a child, back in the New England area, his reputation was pretty much blown. He was once suspected of having committed murders. He's proved innocent, but to many of the mass media that means nothing. So she tried to be the champion with the reputation that her father once had. And now that she is, she's unhappy. Not only do people remember who he was, they now expect her to be her father. She's had enough of all that, so meeting with someone who doesn't know her was like an answer to all her prayers. When she said exactly that, I told her to not use that expression lightly, as someone might hold that against her some day. Not only did she agree, she smiled when she did that. I don't even know if she saw me going bright red at the time, but luckily she needed to use the bathroom just then, which gave me a moment to cool off.

You're probably wondering where I am now. I'm at her hotel room. After having spend some time with her walking through town, seeing things as a tourist, rather than as someone who's merely there for a champion-ship, I suppose we created some kind of a bond. I told her that I wasn't staying anywhere, so she offered me to stay with her for the night. She did that for two reasons. One was because she felt she owed me (which is one reason for which she shouldn't ask me) the other... was kinda personal. For that very reason, I'm not going to mention what it is. What I will tell you is this. When her father was suspected for those murders, and the real murderer decided to show himself, something happened to her. It's not a traumatizing event, if you were thinking that. Quite the contrary, she found something that's... a lot more satisfying than sex would ever be. She's done it before (sex I mean), so she told me, but she could never really get into it for this one reason. This one reason was something she could never tell anyone, but she felt comfortable to tell me. So she asked if I could... satisfy her in that matter. Which is exactly what I just did, or in a sense still doing. She doesn't even mind me sitting down writing. I don't know why, but having done this not only makes me feel more comfortable, it also gives me something of that same feeling that I had when I first met Jess, except a little more intense. I can't exactly explain it, not only because I promised to not actually say what it is, but also because... whatever this feeling is, it's something new to me. And the strangest thing is, I enjoy every second of it.