She listened to the splish-splash of the waves as cyber fishes swam across the screen of her monitor. She hadn’t moved her mouse or touched a key in the past fifteen minutes; just so that she could see the colorful fishes come to life on her screensaver. It really was amazing what this “box” could actually do. No wonder her husband had presented it to her as an anniversary gift. At first she had been suspicious; when he said he was going to buy a “laptop” – now what would that be? She was visibly relieved when later; he brought home, not some gorgeous-looking hot model, but an ordinary, traditional gift wrapped box. Excitedly she tore it open, but was disappointed to see, not jewelry, not the dresses she had eyed knowingly and meaningfully when they walked across the glass windows of “Exquisite Collections”. She would falter her steps and tug at his sleeve, while he would smile and look away and pretend it was getting late.

She directed a questioning gaze at him. “Well, this is the end to all your complaints of boredom and restlessness. You won’t mind me staying late at office, as I sometimes, OK, often, have to. In fact you won’t even bother when I come home. And you can chat and chat with all your friends, your relatives and oh yes even your mother! You know something? In these past seven years, I still haven’t figured out what you have so much to talk every time you call her. OK, OK! No, seriously, this laptop is going to change your life. You just get into this magic world and you will never ever want to get out ….”

And so as he extolled the virtues of the net, she listened, partly gazing at him admiringly – he was such a clever man, he knew so many things about which she hadn’t the faintest clue. And partly skeptically – what was she going to do with a computer? She had never ever been the least interested in this contraption. What use would Tarzan have for a cell-phone? However like all good wives she accepted it with the greatest delight and joy – after all it is the thought that matters.
 
That was three months ago. She took ten days to learn how to open and close the “box” as she insisted on calling it. Another ten to distinguish between “Boot”, “Shutdown” and “Restart” and finally by the end of the month she had opened the browser and typed her first URL - greatrecipies.com. (Oh yes! There was something good in this thing after all.) By the end of the next month she was able to tell her husband (when he came back after a long day at the office) the advantages of buying the item 4SDF22, the mahogany table of course, online from goodbargains.com than buying it from the salesman at Designer Collectibles from down the street.

And so the days passed on. She had now worn-out the forefinger of her right hand, as she typed in page after page of the detailed descriptions of her new life in this city, where they had come after his transfer, leaving everything and everyone she knew so well.

Then one day, she got an idea. Why not chat with her own husband – not as herself but as someone different? (I’ll just tease him a bit and then surprise him in the evening.) Now where was that secret scrap book – where he stored all his user-ids, passwords and pin numbers and left it carelessly on the table? Ah! There was his chat room id – “phil_young007”

She logged on. She browsed. She created a new ID – “dreamgirl2001”
DG: “Knock! Knock!”
PY: Who is there?
DG: ur Dream Girl
PY: ur dream girl who?
DG: ur dream girl who has come true.
PY: Since when?
DG: Since I first laid my eyes on you.
PY: This is a surprise! Who are u?
DG: Come on! You don’t think I am so dumb? I will tell u this though – I have been watching u for a while now. And I like what I see. Shall we be friends?
PY: Well…
DG: I’ll take that as a “yes”. Yes! Bye. Talk 2 u later.

When he came home in the evening, she couldn’t hide her excitement. She was bursting to tell him, it was her, but she wanted him to tell first – “Guess what happened today?” or “This hasn’t happened to me since”. But he was business as usual – “Honey! How was the day?” type. Well maybe he was too busy at work, or it slipped from his mind. I’ll catch him tomorrow.

Next day, as soon as she logged in, he was already there.
PY: “Hey! I have been waiting so long for u. Why did you drop off yesterday? Where were u?”
DG: Well, I was here and there. What’s the matter?
PY: What do you mean? Have u forgotten - u r my dream girl come true! Now give me a clue – do I know you? Have I seen you? Have I talked to you?
DG: OK. Let us see, we’ll make this interesting. Let us play “20 Questions” – I’ll answer to 20 of your questions in Yes or No. And I’ll take that as 3 questions - Yes, Yes and Yes!
PY: Hmmm, this makes it easier. Are you my colleague, my friend or just an acquaintance?
DG: I’ll take that also as 3 questions. Not ur colleague; Weeeeelll, you can call me a friend, and no not certainly “Just an acquaintance!”
PY: Ok! I got to be more careful now. I have already exhausted 6 questions. Are you …er…gulp …I mean, are you single?
DG:  Nope, I am married.
PY: Oh?! That makes it difficult, doesn’t it? Well, it can’t be helped in these matters. Do you know I am married?
DG: Oh! Yes, I know all about you. Infact, I was there at your wedding. You looked really cute.
PY: So let me understand this. You plunged into this knowingly and willingly? Are you not afraid of the consequences?
DG: Yes & No and Bye. Gotta go.

An hour later he came from office.
“Darling, what’s cooking for dinner?”
“Tortillas and Beans. Phil, so what’s up? How was your day? Anything interesting happening?”
“What should happen? It was the same old boring day. Boss came as usual for his rounds, searching for a pen, asking about some mail, poking around as usual.”

Two days back she would have listened to his boss-stories with eager relish – He was better than Dilbert’s boss. But now she wanted to hear all about his new adventures as she hoped he would tell her. But why wasn’t he telling? OK She was going to cut to the chase.
“Well, did you meet somebody new today? Did you chat with anybody today?”
“Whom would I chat with? With the old man checking on me every 10.6 seconds, I can’t even logon to sportsworld.com without having him fuming smoke out of his ears….”

That night she couldn’t sleep. Did she really know this man sleeping next to her, her husband of seven years? Or did he know it all and was playing with her? But she knew, at least she thought she knew her husband – he couldn’t keep a secret. The mischievous twinkle had always given him away. She was not the suspicious kind but was this, the dreaded 7-year itch?

PY: Hey! I know who you are!
DG: Well! Finally! You know I was beginning to get a little …
PY: You are my front-door neighbor who winks at me everyday as I set off to work, right?
DG:
DG:
DG
PY: Hello?! Are you there? Caught you didn’t I?
DG: NO. YOU ARE WRONG!
PY: Hey, You don’t have to shout. OK. Let me think, I knew it - Maria, you were in my college! Remember those days?
DG: OH? SO THAT WAS HER NAME?????!!!!!
PY:  I think you got you caps lock on. OK, let’s see, who else can you be? Not her, Not her, Not that one either…Could it be … No, I don’t think she ever cared about me. Oh…I give up.
DG: Already? Your 20 questions are not over yet.
PY: Oh, never mind that. Who are you, dear, mysterious, dream-girl? Will you remain in my dreams forever?
DG: Oh no, I won’t let THAT happen!
PY: Tell you what? Why don’t you meet me at the mall tonite?
DG: The one in Lakeview?
PY: That’s the one. Stand in front of the fountain. You’ll come, won’t you?
DG: Oh, I wouldn’t miss it for the world. What about your wife though?
PY: Don’t worry about that – she’ll believe anything I say. It is a deal then. Catch you at 8:00 then. But wait a minute, how would I recognize you?
DG: Don’t you worry about that, I’ll catch you by the collar. I mean, I’ll catch you.
PY: OK, then, seeya, the boss is coming on his rounds.
As soon as the phone rang, she knew who it was and why.
“Hi Honey! I am going to be late today. Got a client meeting. You know how it is with these time zones. Sorry Hon! Just have your dinner and go to bed, OK Sweetie?  I don’t know how long it will take. Bye. Love you.”

By 7:30 P.M she was at the mall, by the fountain. There were lots of people, mostly teenagers. No sign of him yet. Maybe she should hide. If he saw her, he probably wouldn’t come anywhere near and she would never catch him. Eight and still no sign of him.

Meanwhile, back home, Phil comes in. “Darling, I’m back. We didn’t have that meeting after all. Got any thing left to eat? I am starving… Hey where are you? Oh, well she probably went out shopping. Let us see, what’s there in the kitchen.”

Taking a big bite out of the apple, he switched on the comp. Might as well get the latest baseball scores while I wait. Hardly get any time to use the net at office. Oh, yes, while I am at it, I might as well type in that long-pending email. Where was that scrapbook?

To: phil_young007@xyz.com
From: phil_young76@aol.com

Dear Mr. Phil,

You must be surprised to get this mail from another Phil. I have been meaning to get in touch with you for a long time. Our near similar ids have caused unimaginable confusion. I keep getting all sorts of mails and messages from whom I believe are you friends. Recently one Ms. Maria contacted me thinking it was you. My effort to explain who I am has gone in vain. I am sure a lot of my friends would have contacted you in the same way.Could you take a minute to explain this to all of your….”

Filed under: Slice of Life