Woman I was emailing pt. 2

     Very shortly after that encounter at the bar, every restaurant, every school, every gym, every business shut down. Some people vacated the city to their properties in the country but most of them stayed locked in their homes, having no idea what was happening next. Grace being one of them, even though she thought often about that girl in the bar. She figured she had no time for her, due the uncertainty of the world. She understood but still, she wondered. So to see her name pop up in her email after three weeks, she couldn’t believe it. She got closer to the screen, put down her tea and focused in. 

SJFlax91@gmail.com: Hey, Grace! Sorry I haven’t been in touch. A few days after we met, my job shut down and both of my roommates got let go, so we’ve been pretty preoccupied to say the least. But about a week ago, we decided to head upstate since one of their parents has a cabin in the Catskills. They said we could stay out here as long as we need to and just get away from the craziness that’s happening in the city right now. I didn’t forget about you though, and so now that we’re settled up here and it looks like we’ll be here at least a few weeks, I just wanted to reach out and say hi. So … hi! LOL. Looking forward to hearing from you soon.

-Sarah

Grace was elated and so of course, she wrote back right away.

GraceyCamdon28@Gmail.com: Sarah! It’s so good to hear from you. Hi! Wow so sorry to hear you all lost your jobs, but I’m in the same boat, so I get it. My job shut down shortly after meeting you too. Both of my roommates left the city to be with their families, so I’ve just been here alone for the past few weeks. I’m glad you were able to leave. It’s kind of scary to think about New York being the city that never sleeps and now it’s just desolate. I’m doing well though, just taking time to meditate, clear my head and work on some new hobbies that I finally have time for. How are Catskills? I’ve never been but I heard they’re beautiful, especially this time of year. Glad to hear you’re safe and doing well. Looking forward to hearing from you soon.

-Grace 

She sat back, picked up her tea and smiled. After all the pretty shitty news that has been circulating these past few weeks, hearing from Sarah was a breath of fresh air. As she sat in her chair and flashbacks of their encounter rushed to her mind, her inbox pinged. It was Sarah.

SJFlax91@Gmail.com: Aww sorry to hear that you’re all alone. Had I known, I would have definitely extended an invitation. But it’s nice to hear that you’re finding ways to fill your time and taking on new hobbies. Learn anything good? The Catskills are beautiful, I’ll send you some pictures soon. I know what you mean though, about New York being so empty. The streets were pretty empty when we left but once we hit the highway and started heading north, it got more crowded. I guess a lot of people had the same idea. I’m looking forward to being away for a while though and enjoying the new scenery. Going to make the most of it before we get called back to work. I’ve been hearing some jobs are looking to reopen at the beginning of May, so we’ll see. Not looking forward to coming back for work, but I’d love to come back and see you once things calm down. That is if you’re interested. :)

-Sarah

Grace beamed and couldn’t contain herself. Of course she was interested and of course she wanted things to calm down so they could be reunited. Before she prepared to respond, she opened her ubereats app and placed an order. She was not leaving the house anytime soon. 

GraceyCamdon28@gmail.com: I started painting a lot more, it’s something I used to do a lot as a kid but kind of put to the side as I got older, but I do miss it. Yea these last few weeks of no work have been spoiling me, so I’m really not looking forward to going back. I'm not rushing it. I feel like these updates keep changing so quickly, it’s really hard to keep up. But keeping up keeps me stressed so I’m just going to focus on what I can control, which is myself. And what is this you say about pictures? I’d love some, just make sure you’re in them, too. :) I would really like to see you again, so I’m hoping things open again soon, for that reason alone LOL. But in the meantime, I’ll attach my zoom link to the bottom and maybe we can plan a “date”? Let me know

-Grace

Another ping came through her computer, this one much faster than the last

SJFlax91@gmail.com: What are you doing tonight at 8?

-Sarah

Grace looked down at her bummy house clothes and then up at her reflection in the mirror above her computer. Her hair was a mess and her face was unwashed. She looked back at the time on her laptop which read, 2:45pm. Then she responded.

GraceyCamdon28@gmail.com: Nothing. 

-Grace

Ping!

SJFlax91@gmail.com: I’ll see you tonight at 8

-Sarah

Grace shot up from her laptop and let out a squeal. “Excited” wasn’t even the word. 

“I got a daaate! I got a daaate!” She sang to herself as she made her way to her bedroom. 8pm was hours away but she didn’t care. She was going to spend her time deciding and undeciding what she was going to wear, how she would do her hair, makeup or no makeup? Yes makeup, but not too much. This had been her first date in a while so she just wanted it to go smoothly. In the midst of all of her frenzy, the doorbell rang. It was her food. She made her way to the door and checked the peephole. She started to open the door, but then she second guessed. 

“Uber eats. I’m here with your food”, the delivery guy called from the other side.

“Umm. You can actually just leave it right there. Thank you.” She watched as he left it in front of her door and exited her building. When he left, she grabbed her food and brought it to the kitchen, but she was too excited to eat. She cleaned her whole apartment to kill time but also, in case she wanted a tour, she didn’t want to embarrass herself. She got in the shower and listened to her favorite playlist as she got ready. 

“Alright, Gracey” she said to herself as she looked in the mirror and let out a breath. She smiled as she checked out the outfit she finally landed on. Simple cute yellow top and blue jeans, easy on the make up and a simple bun. She heated up her food, brought it to the laptop and opened up her zoom link. She was nervous, but she was good nervous. She was ready. 

As she sat there waiting, she got the notification: “Sarah J. has joined your waiting room” and she clicked accept. She held her breath as it loaded, before she popped up on her screen. There she was. Even more beautiful than Grace had remembered. She saw her lips moving but she couldn’t hear anything. 

“Hey, I can’t hear you”. She looked around on screen and her keyboard to make sure her volume was up, which it was. 

“Can you hear me?” She asked. Sarah responded and Grace read her lips. 

“Yea. I can hear you.” she mouthed.

“Okay. I’m going to kick you out and then you can rejoin.” Sarah gave a thumbs up before trying again. Take two. Sarah rejoined immediately. 

“Hello?” Her voice rang through loud and clear.

“Hey! I can hear you now” Grace was so relieved. “You look beautiful!”

Sarah smiled and blushed before responding. 

“Thank you! So do you!” They were both so nervous but both so excited to reconnect, even if it wasn’t in the most ideal of circumstances.