I do not remember exactly when I wrote this, but it was sometime after being with Vickie for a while. Enjoy and vomit as needed!
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George Deacon was no hero, at least he didn’t think so. Not the sort of
hero most people have in mind. He was a computer techie, and was extremely
talented in that profession. He had probably saved thousands of jobs and
financial lives with his expertise, knowing how to derail Trojan horses, worms,
and other destructive influences that harm workplaces and personal bank
accounts every day. He supposed he could be called an anonymous hero, like
blood donors. Simply, though, he did his job and was done for the day when he
wanted to be. The real hero bit would come when he never suspected it would.
One August afternoon George had decided to take a day off and walk on
The Strip. He was one of the few people who could stand the heat of the Las Vegas California
The driver of the car tried too late to compensate and smashed into the
cab in front of him. The woman, indignant about the hands on her at first,
turned to see where she’d been. Her mouth fell open with shock. The driver got
out of his car, dazed. He had the nerve to shoot a dirty look at the cab that
was, in his mind, in the way. That look disappeared when the small crowd looked
at him with angry glares. The cab driver got out, and it looked like trouble.
George paid no attention. He looked at his damsel in distress. “Sorry I
had to do that, I just didn’t want you to get hurt, or killed.”
The woman smiled weakly, still shocked. “It’s ok.”
George looked at her for a long moment. She was looking familiar to him
for some reason. He knew he had seen her somewhere before.
She interrupted his thoughts. “I’m Shannon .”
“I’m George.”
They shook hands, then Shannon pulled
his arm to her and gave him a hug. “You saved my life!”
“I would have done it for anyone.”
“That makes it even greater.”
George blushed. “You sure you’re all right?”
“I am now, thank you, George.”
He kept blushing as he looked at her. A nice figure, red hair, decent
curves, though she was a bit taller than he was. He shrugged. “Well, I better
get going. If I were you, I’d stay a few feet from the curb from now on.”
“I will. Can I have your number?”
“Why do you need that? I think you should get that driver’s number
instead.” He pointed to the bad driver, who was having a heated argument with
the cabbie. Violence seemed to be imminent unless a cop showed.
“No, I’m ok. But I really feel I should have a way to contact you, to
say thank you again.”
“You just did.”
“Please?”
George shrugged, took out his wallet and gave Shannon
his business card. She looked at it carefully. “Computer consultant?”
“That’s me.”
She put it into her purse, then put out her hand again. “Thank you
again, George.”
“You’re welcome.” He moved along, forgetting his spilled soda on the
sidewalk. A few people cheered him as he passed them. George Deacon, the
lifesaver.
George got back to his apartment on the east side of Las Vegas
Minutes later he sat at his computer with the coffee mug next to him. He
logged in and then went to www.greatdates.com,
one of the sites where he had maintained a personal ad. He searched the site
for a few minutes, but found there were too many local profiles to sift
through. On a hunch, he looked at his inbox and there it was! A mail from
SexyShan, dated three months ago. He opened it and read it again. Of all the dames in the world, he
thought in an inner Bogart voice.
Two days later, while writing a report on new viruses, his cell phone
rang. He let it ring twice while he studied the number. He didn’t know it, but
decided to answer anyway. “Hello?”
“George Deacon?”
“Yes.”
“This is Shannon .”
George paused a moment. He had not really expected a call from her.
“Hi.”
“Are you busy?”
“I am working.”
“Do you have any lunch plans?”
“I do.”
“What are you doing for lunch?”
“Eating.”
“I mean, are you going anywhere?”
“I wasn’t planning on it. My afternoon is full of catch-up work.”
“Well, would you like to have lunch tomorrow?”
George sighed. He knew this was coming. “Shannon ,
you don’t have to invite me to lunch.”
“I do, though. You saved my life.”
“I did, and I was happy to do it. But you don’t have to reward me.”
“Just lunch, ok?”
“Ok.”
George hung up the phone and stared at it, like it was growing a fungus.
He put it down and then went back to work.
The next day they met at Won Bing’s, an upscale Chinese restaurant in
Summerlin. The food was not upscale, but the prices were. George and Shannon
sat and talked for an hour, he telling about his job and how boring it would be
if he didn’t make good money at it. She told about her job at a law office, and
how she was under constant pressure to have contracts drawn up on time and to
keep the schedule updated. He showed the proper interest in what she said
without getting overly involved, yet she seemed fascinated by what he did. He
knew she was faking it, because her eyes glazed over when he described the
complicated world of computer code. Yet, she remained focused.
Finally, the check came and Shannon
grabbed it right away. “This is on me.”
George nodded. She invited, she paid, simple math there. After the bill
was taken care of, George stood. “Shannon ,
thank you for lunch. I need to get some work done today, though.”
“That’s what standing up usually implies.”
“Did I do something wrong?”
“No. This was a great break in the day. But I do work freelance, and my
clients need me to earn my pay.”
“A few more minutes? Coffee?”
George shrugged and sat down. It wasn’t as though she were an ogre, but
she did bother him. He was curious, though, about something. “Do I look
familiar to you?”
“Yes.”
“No, that was the first time I ever saw you.”
George nodded and smirked to himself. Nice choice of words, he thought. “I was just wondering.”
“Do you think we’ve met before?”
“No. I thought we had at first, but you are not the same person I
thought you were.”
She nodded. “Yeah, I saw you were staring at me the other day.”
“Sorry, I don’t mean to stare.”
“It’s ok! I’ll tell you something, though. I think you are handsome.”
George smiled. “Really?”
“Yes. You have a lot more character than the other creeps in this town,
too.”
George shrugged. He seemed to be doing a lot of that around her. “I
couldn’t be a player if I tried.”
“Good, keep it that way.” Shannon
stared at her coffee uncertainly for a minute. “George, can I ask something?”
“Shoot.”
“How would you feel about a movie?”
“Shannon, that’s nice to ask, but I don’t think I’m your type.”
She looked up sharply. “My type?”
“Yes.”
“And what’s my type, George?” There was an angry edge to her voice.
“I think you go for taller guys with the fake charm, the ones who buy
women drinks at the clubs and expect to get laid in return, the ones who will
buy you what you want and expect to get laid in return. In other words, you go
for guys who will do what you ask, and whether or not they get what they want
means nothing to you. That guy isn’t me by any means.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that, it’s just who you like. Tall, dark,
handsome. That’s not me by a long shot.”
“But you’re a good man. And I’m thinking I’ve been looking in the wrong
place.” She reached out and grabbed George’s hand. He accepted the grab
awkwardly. “Come to a movie with me, please?”
“What’s today?”
“Wednesday.”
“Friday night is the only time I can go.” He said that just for the
reaction.
George nodded.
Friday night, the two went to see a new science fiction adventure based
on some comic book series. They sat together, sharing a medium popcorn at high
prices, and each had a soda. George concentrated as much as he could on the
movie, but Shannon ’s hand on his was quite a
distraction. Occasionally she leaned over to put her head on his shoulder. He
didn’t take the cue to put his arm around her.
After the movie was over, the two walked to their cars in the parking
garage. He was a gentleman and walked her to her car first. When they reached
it, she turned around to face him. “George, why don’t you like me?”
“I do like you.”
“I mean, LIKE me.”
“Well, you can’t rush stuff like that. It takes time.”
“George, I’m not talking about feelings, I’m talking about sex.”
“I know.”
“You don’t want me?”
George looked down for a moment, trying to find the right words. “Shannon , you don’t want me. If I hadn’t pushed you away
from the car, you wouldn’t have even noticed me on the street.”
“If you hadn’t pushed, I might not be alive!”
George smiled gently. “Look, we’ve become friends. I wasn’t even
expecting that. The truth is, I found someone a month ago. She’s really great.”
“Oh. Where did you find her?”
“Online.”
Immediately, Shannon ’s face turned a
bright pink. “I tried that once. I hated it. All those guys ever wanted was
sex. Most weren’t my type.”
“Most your type don’t need to use the Internet. A lot of guys like me
do.”
“Really? What sites were you on?”
George quickly rattled off a few names, including the one she had sent
an email on, but she did not register recognition. The two stood silent for a
moment before George spoke again. “Chris didn’t like it that we went out
tonight, but I told her we were just going out as friends.”
“I know, but it can’t be.”
She reached over and pulled him into a kiss, he resisted gently, not
pushing her away, but keeping her tongue out of his mouth just the same.
Finally she backed away and took a breath. “Did Chris ever kiss you like that?”
George nodded. “Yes.”
“Oh. Well, I guess I’d better get home.” Shannon
looked crestfallen, her plans for the night had not gone well at all. She
opened her door and slowly got in. George watched her as she pulled away, then
headed toward his car on a different level.
It was a week later, and George had pretty much moved on when his cell
phone rang. It was Shannon . He had programmed
her number so he wouldn’t be surprised. He answered, “Hello?”
“Hi George.”
“Hi! How are you?”
“I’m good.”
“Glad to hear.”
“You doing all right?”
“Always.”
“Do you miss me?”
“Hard to answer that one.”
“I know, just putting you on the spot.”
“What’s up?”
“Dinner.”
“No.”
“No, wait a minute. I want to have it with you and your girlfriend
Chris.”
That stopped George. “Really?”
“Yes. I thought about what you said. I like the idea of friends rather
than the idea of nothing.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
“How’s Saturday for you two?”
“I’ll ask her, but it should be all right.”
“Same restaurant, say 6:00?”
“Sounds great, Shannon . See you then.”
At dinner on Saturday night, George was thoroughly enjoying being with
Chris. Shannon watched them, trying to look
like she was having a good time. She listened to Chris describe her job and
what she did. When Chris asked her about herself, Shannon
answered very politely and matter-of-factly. All she saw was how round Chris
was, with round cheeks, a bit portly in the middle, and thick thighs. However,
whenever George asked Shannon a question, Shannon
answered brightly and cheerfully.
At 7:00, Chris had to go to her father’s house to help him out. He was
in a wheelchair and needed help getting around when her mom was at work. George
kissed Christina warmly goodbye and she left with a happy smile.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, do you find her attractive?”
“I do.”
“How can you?”
“Because she makes me smile and laugh, because she listens to what I
say. I listen to what she says, and I make her smile and laugh. We have good
times together.”
“But, she’s HUGE!”
George’s face darkened. “Stop! You don’t know her.”
“I think you deserve better than her.”
“And who the hell would that be?”
“I keep trying to tell you, it’s ME!”
George closed his eyes. “Do you know how long it took me to find a woman
who would accept me for me? Do you?”
“No.”
“A long time, Shannon ! I was ready to
give up when I found her. I’d emailed a lot of people and gotten some
responses, and a few actual meetings. Nothing ever really panned out. All they
saw was that I’m a computer tech geek standing at 5’5. They didn’t bother
listening to me, they just saw the outside. Christina saw the inside, liked
what she saw, and gave me a chance, and I have made sure that I do not
disappoint her. All she asks is acceptance for who she is, and I accept her
with my heart and my soul.”
“Yes you do. You’re confusing gratitude with something else. You have
thanked me for saving your life in so many ways, and I think you’ve thanked
enough. You don’t need to try to save my life, because it doesn’t need saving.”
“It does! Let me show you! I accept you for who you are. I LOVE you for
who you are.”
George wanted to lash out when he heard that word, but he stopped
himself. He looked at her curiously, keeping under control. “I want you to come
to my place.”
“Really?”
“Really. I think that only there can we make things right between us.”
“I agree!”
“I have the check tonight, all right?”
“Are you sure?”
“I think I can handle it.”
An hour later, they walked into George’s apartment. Shannon
looked around, trying to find something to admire. But she was not there to
admire the apartment. She wanted George. George knew that. He invited her to
sit down. She did.
“In the time we’ve known each other, have you ever figured out where we
met?”
“We never met, George!”
“We did meet.” He turned to his computer and found the website. After
logging into it, he found the email, but first clicked the link to her profile.
It popped up. “Look.”
“I’m sure you did. I’m sure you also don’t remember an email I sent
telling about myself and saying I was interested in meeting you.”
“You never sent an email.”
George clicked on his profile and showed her. “That doesn’t look
familiar?” he said forcefully.
“No!”
He finally returned to the email from her. Luckily it contained a carbon
copy of his original message. “Read that!”
“George,
Sorry, but I do not even talk to guys
like you. There would be no chance in hell of us even chatting online. Do me a
favor and get off this site and get others like you off so I can meet some real
men.
SexyShan”
He shook his head. “Nothing to explain. You meant what you said in that
note. And if another one like me were to pass you on the street, you wouldn’t
even notice. Hell, if a car came at them, you wouldn’t try to save THEM. I’m
only special because I did choose to save you. If I had to do it again, I
would. That’s who I am.”
“George, please. I was a different person then.”
“No. I saw the way you treated Chris tonight: with utter disrespect. I’m
glad I met you finally, and I’m glad you rejected me, because it allowed me to
find the right one.”
“You rejected me first.”
“Not according to that email.”
“But that was online! That doesn’t count.”
“I found you and you rejected me. Then somehow you found me and chose to
accept me out of gratitude.”
“I want you to leave, Shannon . Thank
you for turning me down back then. You let me find the one for me.”
Silently, slowly, Shannon rose from the
computer chair, tears running down her cheeks. She looked pleadingly at George,
but he stood still. Finally, she walked to the door, opened it, and closed it
from the other side.
George sat at his computer, read the email one more time, and finally
deleted it. Then he picked up his cell and called Chris.
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