Page 5 of Forever with the Mountain Man

FELICITY

Yikes! Don’t look too closely. I’m not a model or anything

Her response astounds me. The woman’s drop-dead gorgeous. The kind of gorgeous that has me dreaming about her at night, and these dreams aren’t of the G-rated sort.

Still, I waver about what to write back. I don’t want to seem overly interested and scare her away. Then, again, I’m running out of time, and I’ve never been good at playing games. So, I decide on a measured response.

ME

Wtf?!?! You’re hotter than hell

FELICITY

I’ve scared her. Great.

ME

Wrong answer?

FELICITY

Up until now, you seemed like a decent guy. But I can’t get behind lying. Hasta la vista

Wait! I’m not lying

…

Look what you’ve done, dumbass!They say no news is good news. But if Felicity doesn’t respond to my text, I’m going to feel like a piece of shit. Weeks of persistence and unfounded hope negated with one careless response.

While I don’t know what I did today to get her to start speaking to me in real time, the helplessness of it ending at a moment’s notice grips me. I stare at my phone for an eternity, my eyes flicking back to her photos as I kick myself for my exuberance.

ME

Felicity, I can tell you’re still on the app, thanks to the little green button

Please don’t ignore me

FELICITY

Please don’t lie to me.

I’m not lying. I swear on my great-grandmother’s grave

I don’t even know who my great-grandparents are…

I let out a long sigh mixed with guilt and relief. Guilt for using an ancestor this way. Relief she hasn’t given up on me yet.

Spying a little button on the app that looks like it has something to do with accessibility, I click on it. My eyes seriously need a break, so I select the dictation option from the pull-down menu that appears.

ME

May I ask you a question?

FELICITY

Shoot.

Why are you having trouble believing that I find you attractive?