Woman I was emailing pt. 1

     It was a brisk afternoon in April, 2020 about 56 degrees. Grace finally got out of bed, as most people did at that time, and made her way to the kitchen. She grabbed her favorite mug, her favorite tea and the boiling water was the signal that her day had begun. Adorned in an oversized t-shirt, long socks and panties, she poked around her cabinets a bit, looking for a makeshift breakfast, even though she knew she was long overdue for a grocery store run. She found some bread, and just enough ingredients for a sandwich, but leaving her apartment at some point that day, was now at the top of her to-do list. The kettle clicked off, and as her tea was steeping, she walked over to her desk and opened her laptop. She didn’t really know what to expect, seeing as she’s been out of work for the past few weeks but at this point, checking her email at the start of her day was more muscle memory than anything else. She scrolled past a few credit card offers, some Starbucks coupons that were expiring soon and every thrift store she had ever been to, that offered her 15% off if she signed up now. But under all the garbage she saw one that stuck out. SJFlax91@Gmail.com. Grace leaned in closer to her screen as she saw the name and read the subject line; “The brown-haired girl from the bar. Remember me?” The last weekend Grace was out before the world shut down, she met a really sweet and funny girl named Sarah at a bar. They connected briefly, as her friends were pulling her to go and Grace had just arrived. They became acquainted, as they waited for Sarah’s friend to come out of the bathroom.

“Hey, I really like your bag,” Sarah said loudly, trying to drown out the music with her voice. Grace turned around when she heard the sound and tried to identify where it was coming from.

“I’m sorry were you .. were you talking to me?” She asked.

“Yea”, Sarah said back with a smile.

“Oh. Am I in your way? Did you need to get by?” Grace started to back up and create space, when Sarah gently reached out and placed her hand on her back to alert her that she didn’t need her to move, and to also stop her from bumping into the waitress passing behind her with a tray of empty dishes. 

“No,” Sarah said with a laugh. “I said that I like your bag.” They were closer now so it was much easier to hear each other. 

“Oh.” Grace chuckled feeling a little embarrassed. “Thank you. Yea it was a birthday gift from my mom.” 

“That’s really sweet,” Sarah said smiling. They looked at each other for a moment, before she continued. “I’m Sarah. What’s your name?”

“Nice to meet you, Sarah. I’m Grace.” They shook hands and smiled awkwardly at each other as Grace tried to think of what to say next. She wasn’t the smoothest and she was usually on the shy end of things, but for some reason, that night and this encounter encouraged her to change that. 

“Do you want to come join me and my friends? They’re sitting in the back. Let me buy you a drink.” She had no idea where this sudden spark of confidence came from but she was going with it.

“I wish I could stay but I’m actually on my way out. I’m just waiting for my friend to come out of the bathroom.” Sarah responded sounding genuinely disappointed, because she too wanted to get to know this beautiful stranger she had just met. 

“Oh damn, that sucks. Umm …” She paused for a moment before giving her suggestion. 

“How about you take my email?” she said.

“Your email?” Sarah responded, questioning her proposition. 

“Yea, I’m really not on social media too often and I’m not big on talking on the phone that much either. But I would really like to keep this conversation going. Is that weird?” She laughed lightly and slightly withdrew. She was really hoping she wouldn’t actually find it all that weird.

“Um, I mean it’s definitely weird but weird isn’t necessarily bad.” Sarah laughed and handed Grace her phone with it open to the notes app. “You can write it here.” Grace happily took the phone, typed in her email, and returned it.

“Yo! Sarah!” A call came from behind them, as Sarah’s friend exited the bathroom and gestured for her to follow. 

“Alright. Looks like I’m being summoned but it was nice to meet you, Grace. I’ll be in touch.” She smiled and turned to join her group of friends as they walked out the door and into the night.