“Hello?” appeared the line in the chat window. The name beside it and an unfamiliar string of letters that seemed a meaningless jumble. “Is she moving?” asked the chat window. Melanie stared at the screen.
“Hello, Cyrano!” said Korinne, grinning at the screen. She looked at Melanie. “Here’s his advisor,” she said. “Wanna chat?”
Melanie looked at her, then back at the screen….and slowly sat down in the chair before it. Carmen returned, puffing slightly.
“He’s gone,” she said. “He ran out the entrance leading toward the arts building.” She paused, hands on knees, and lowered her head. “He runs fast,” she observed to no one in particular.
“Hello,” Melanie typed.
There was a pause.
“Ah….Melanie, I presume?” said the chat window.
“How did you know?” she typed.
“Your handwriting is different,” replied the chat window. Dawn stifled a hoot of laughter.
“Who is Bobaxxfett?” typed Melanie.
“Ah, well,” said the chat window, “I really couldn’t tell you, since I don’t really know him myself. We only met online a few weeks ago, here in IM chat. I can tell you a few things about him, that’s about it.” Melanie looked at Korinne.
“This doesn’t seem fair to him,” she said.
Korinne shrugged. “How fair is it to give you gifts and vanish without even saying ‘Hi’? This isn’t really violating his rights or anything. HE ran, after all.”
The chat window was talking again. “I understand you’re interested in architecture,” it said. “Are you at all familiar with the work of Louis Sullivan?”
Melanie blinked and began typing again. “He was in Chicago, right?” she typed.
A brilliant architect,” said the chat window, “and a master craftsman. Tragically, he died penniless and forgotten, but some of the best buildings in Chicago were created by him.” Korinne nudged her.
“Ask about the book,” she suggested.
“He bought me a book,” Melanie typed. “Why?”
“Ah,” said the chat window, “that is probably because he is very fond of you. He’s been watching you for nearly a month, now.”
Melanie bit her lip, then typed. “Is he ugly?”
“No, I don’t think so,” said the chat window. “Actually, he comes off as being more overly self-conscious. He lost his last girlfriend for trivial reasons and I think he’s searching for a deeper meaning to the rejection, when the truth is that she was a rather shallow girl.”
Melanie stared at the screen thoughtfully. Then she typed. “Tell me about him, please.”
The chat window flickered, remained blank for almost half a minute, then…
“Well, where do I start?” it said. “We met online indirectly at first, through a common-interest group…”
Melanie looked up at Korinne, who nodded, then returned her gaze to the screen. The chat window continued as she watched, fascinated, and a small smile began to form on her lips…
Next Day
“…I don’t know,” Melanie said, pulling her shirt front down slightly as she, Korinne and Dawn walked across the campus. “I feel like I’ve been a peeping tom or something, prying into his personal life.”
“You ARE his personal life,” said Korinne, swatting at her hand. “Leave that alone,” she remarked. “You have to get used to the feeling, and that’s not going to happen if you keep pulling it down.”
“I’m cold!”
“It’s 80 degrees out,” said Korinne. “You’re just feeling a draft in an unfamiliar place.”
“What if he doesn’t like it?”
“Cyrano said he loves that sort of thing,” said Korinne. “You’re doing something he likes, okay?”
Melanie looked up pensively as they approached the library.
“What if he’s not here?”
“Oh, he’ll be here, all right,” said Korinne. She looked up at the library building and grinned.
“He can’t resist: he knows you’ll be here.” Dawn chuckled.
“I’ll bet he’s really kind of cute,” she said. “I can’t wait to actually see his face!”
“One thing at a time, okay?” said Korinne. “Let’s let our femme fatale have a shot at him first.”
“I wish you wouldn’t call me that,” said Melanie as they climbed the steps. “I don’t want him to think I’m trashy or something.”
“Girl, right now, you are his obsession,” said Korinne. “You’re on a pedestal: get used to it.”
Long straight black hair that hung down to her mid-back, Melanie had taken the time to adorn it near the top with a silver comb piece in the back which bunched it together slightly. Her face still bore the usual glasses, but she’d opted for the thin metal frames this time, hoping they’d be less obtrusive. The lip gloss she’d chosen was a subtler pink, and a slight amount of blush to the cheeks…VERY slight, helped make her more comfortable with the look.
The showpiece was the ensemble: at Korinne’s insistence, they’d gone to the local mall and picked her up a set of ‘dangerously low’ Levi’s jeans, the kind that buttoned down the front, and a light, airy cropped top which displayed a part of her anatomy Melanie was not used to displaying: her belly. Actually, she had a lovely, smooth belly – navel NOT pierced – but she hadn’t put quite the effort into hunting boys that many of her peers had, which made her a bit unsure of the entire scene. The high top she wore still felt strange and…exposing. She had never felt more vulnerable in her life.
“I feel like a piece of meat in a supermarket display case,” she’d murmured to Korinne after trying on the jeans and top.
“Mel, that’s what you ARE, technically,” Korinne had told her. “Men are primarily VISUAL, and without eye-candy, their attention wanders. If you want to reel this boy in, you have to bait the hook with something more substantial than promises.”
In the library’s main room, they headed for what had become ‘their table.’ Smack in the middle of the main hall, under the lights, no cover whatsoever…
Carmen and Angela were already there…Carmen waved enthusiastically as they approached. Melanie wanted to sink into the floor.
“God Mel ! Who are you and what have you done with our sweet nerdy Mel?” said Angela amazed looking at Melanie in awe as she sat down opposite her across the table.“you look like a rock-star’s main squeeze!”
Korinne shook her head – too late. “Enough,” she said. “Showtime.”
Carmen leaned over the table. “Check your line of sight,” she said. “I made sure the section on Hawaii was all the way over to the left side of the rack. I don’t think he knows how we spotted him the last time.”
Korinne sneaked a glance to her left, nodded, and opened one of her books before her. “Chapter One,” she whispered. “Melanie phone Cyrano.”
Melanie took a deep breath, put her fingers to the keys of the computer terminal before her, and began typing. Beside her, Dawn watched.
“Okay, now back out of that,” said Dawn. “Now, click up there. Set the protocols to ‘firewall, no proxies.’ Okay, now ‘apply.’ Click ‘okay’ there. Now log in.”
Melanie typed her new online nickname, ‘Ayesha,’ and waited. Her homepage appeared. She clicked onto the IM channel, and the chat control panel appeared.
“He’s there,” she said.
Korinne turned the page. “Tell him ‘good morning,’” she said.
Melanie clicked on the name, then typed a greeting.
A line of type appeared in the chat window.
“Ah, well, good morning to YOU,” it said. “Interesting online name you’ve chosen.”
“Korinne picked it for me,” she said. “She’s the literate one. She said it sounded like…a belly dancer’s name.”
“VERY literate,” remarked the chat window. “Ayesha….the name from H. Rider Haggard’s SHE, being the name of ‘She who must be Obeyed..”
Melanie glared over at Korinne, who gave her a puzzled look.
“I may change that later,” Melanie typed.
“No problem,” replied the chat window. “So, what’s on the agenda today? Do you surround him and tie him to a chair?”
“I just want to meet him,” she typed. “I told my friends to leave us alone. Will you help?”
“Of course,” replied the chat window. “I love playing matchmaker. The fact that you two are already so close only helps matters along.”
“I don’t even know him yet,” she typed.
“I meant geographically,” replied the chat window. “He’s probably less than 100 yards away from you right this moment.”
“Are you chatting with him?” she typed.
“Yes, but he’s at a different terminal. I think he’s…upstairs?…from you.”
Melanie’s eyes swept the railings of the floor above: the central hall had a clear view to building’s internal roof structure, since the second and third floors above had been left open directly above the main study area. There were stacks up there, of course, and internet terminals…but now the search was going to be more difficult.
“So tell me more about him,” she typed.
A brief pause, then: “He sees himself as a ‘geek,’” said the chat window. “This isn’t necessarily a pejorative, not in this day and age, when the most successful man on the planet is a ‘geek.’ He blames this, in part, on the recent break-up with his girlfriend. Actually, I think she was more interested in pursuing someone else. However, he is resigning himself to a life alone.”
“That’s sad,” she typed. “Is he sad?”
“Hmmm…at times,” said the chat window. “The feeling I get is that he is trying to accept the loss of his last girlfriend as inevitable, his status as a ‘geek’ as inevitable, and is looking ahead toward a rather cloistered future in which most of his sexual life is spent alone with magazines.”
“And you don’t know what he looks like?”
“No, but my experience suggests he is far more critical of his looks than the actual reality of his appearance admits. This is a common affliction of youth…and humans in general. We are always our own worst critics. For example: I’ll bet you ‘dressed’ for him today, didn’t you?”
“How did you know?”
“Just call it an educated guess. So, you feel FAT, right?”
“Not really…”
“Oh come on: you feel like a COW, sagging out over your beltline…admit it!”
“How did you get to be so smart?”
“Good genes. It’s a family curse. What color top did you choose?”
“Light blue…it’s a lace-front.”
“Ah….adjustable…” The chat window paused. “Versatile and very foresighted of you. Perfect. The blue is also a good choice. Ready for some choreography coaching?”
“What?”
“He’s left his terminal and he’s watching you right now.”
Melanie felt a warm blush spread over her cheeks, down her throat and over the top of her breasts…
“Think of me as your dance coach,” said the chat window. “You know he likes girl’s tummies: here’s your chance to be his little belly dancer. First, talk to your friends….you’ve been at the terminal and need a break.”
Melanie looked over at Korinne.
“He’s watching us right now,” she said quietly. “Cyrano says to give him a show.” Korinne nodded, closing her book.
“That’s perfect,” she said, and looked at Carmen. “Don’t you agree, Carmen?”
“Oh, yes!” said Carmen, leaning forward, excitement in her eyes.
“Now,” said the chat window, “being at one position at a terminal is cramping – you need to yawn and stretch…and make it a nice BIG stretch: straighten your legs out and really reach above your head….”
Melanie bit her lip slightly, but put her best effort into the yawn and the stretch…leaning far back in her chair, her butt sliding forward as she straightened her legs and tensed the muscles…and for good measure, sucked in her belly slightly. Her navel stretched into a tantalizing dark slot in her smooth belly as she did this.
Korinne smiled.
“I just felt a change in the room,” she said. “Did anyone else notice it?”
Dawn shrugged. Angela nodded, though. “I sense tension,” she said. “Something feels like…I don’t know…like there’s this charge in the air…”
Melanie returned to her seated position. The chat window flickered again.
“If you did that right,” it remarked, “I rather imagine he’s having a hard time remaining standing at the moment…he’ll probably want to return to his study carrel….but he’ll be torn between that and continuing to watch you, hoping you’ll do something else.”
“Something with my belly?” Melanie typed.
“Yes, essentially,” replied the chat window, “however you have a number of options as to exactly what to do.”
Melanie coughed. Her belly tightened and pulled inward involuntarily.
“That was good!” said Carmen, nodding in approval.
Melanie pressed her lips into a thin line, thinking, then, slowly, moved her hands to her hips, placing the palms flat against the upper sides of her butt…and took a deep breath, closing her eyes and expanding her chest. Her tummy sucked in deeply, becoming a smooth, concave expanse of creamy flesh, the navel stretching luxuriously.
“Oh….my….god….” said Angela, watching. “I think you probably just made him cream in his jeans.”
Korinne was nodding in approval. “I think we’ve gotten his full attention now,” she whispered.
Melanie sat back up slowly and put her fingers to the keyboard again.
“I just leaned back and took a deep breath, and sucked my gut in,” she said.
“Ah – I’m sure he’ll like THAT!
“Is he back yet?”
“You mean to his terminal? One moment…” There was a brief pause. Then: “No, he doesn’ t respond: I would guess he’s still watching you, and probably smitten with desire right about now.”
“How did he feel about us chasing him yesterday?”
“He is convinced you don’t know who he is, still,” replied the chat window. “I have not informed him of your knowledge or of our conversation after he abandoned his terminal. He did return later to close down his IM chat logon, after you had left. So far, he is unaware of our association.”
“When he comes back on, can you keep him talking? I want to surprise him.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem. I imagine he’ll want some advice on what to do for his ‘next move’ with you.”
“What next move?”
“He was planning another gift – a book on Frank Lloyd Wright, I believe.”
“That’s too expensive – he shouldn’t spend so much money on me.”
“Really? How sweet of you! He’ll appreciate that…but he’ll still want to get it for you.” Melanie frowned.
“Ah…he has returned,” said the chat window. “I will delay him. You may make your move when ready.”
“I’m going in,” said Melanie, standing up. She resisted the instinctive urge to pull her top down in front again.
“You want us to cover the exits?” asked Carmen.
“No…just wait here,” said Melanie. “I don’t want to scare him away again.” Korinne nodded.
“Go get him!” she said. Melanie took a deep breath, and headed for the stairs.
The second floor was a quick study…she was able to walk the whole circumference around the central well in about two minutes, finding nothing unusual, but stopping to check a few of the guys who were on internet terminals in study carrels. Nobody fit the description, so she moved on up the stairs to the third floor. She was about halfway through walking around it when she spotted a carrel far down an aisle of books…and the guy occupying it struck a strange vibe in her. She walked quietly down the aisle, her feet barely seeming to touch the carpet, and as she drew closer, she saw the IM chat window open on the terminal’s screen. The guy was typing and she moved up to look at the screen.
“How do I tell her that she’s so cute she makes me want to hold her forever?” he was typing. Melanie’s heart did a little flip/flop as she read the words. She looked at him….the dark hair was unkempt, but not bad looking. The glasses were a little nerdy. The clothing…well, that could be changed. How to DO this? Hmmmmm…
She frowned, momentarily puzzled, then a smile crossed her face. Her thumbs went to her front pockets and pulled down…exposing more belly. She stepped up closer, checked her position, then cleared her throat. He jumped as if he’d been shot and whirled around…to find himself facing her belly. Her navel was poised inches from his face. “I wanted to thank you for the book,” she said, smiling.
He was about her age, and the chat buddy had been right: he wasn’t really bad looking. A little neglected…the hair could be neatened up a bit, but maybe she liked it this way….and the glasses needed upgrading to a new style. His eyes were as big as saucers and he stared at her belly momentarily before his eyes shot up to her face. She smiled gently.
“That was really nice, what you did for me,” she said. “It helped me finish my term paper ahead of schedule.”
“Uh….sure, no problem,” he said, his voice coming out a bit strained and, she noticed, slightly scared. Time to put that to rest.
“I was wondering,” she said, “if you could help me out with some of my other studying. Finals are still going on, you know.”
“Wha – what subjects?” he asked.
“Well, I’m taking English Lit., Trig and Mechanical Drawing,” she said. “Can you help with any of those?”
“Maybe the English Lit,” he said, still looking up at her…with something now looking almost like worship in his eyes.
“That’s great!” she said. “Maybe you could come over to my place: I’m rooming with three other girls in a house off campus.” She put her thumbs in her front jeans pockets and leaned back against the metal shelves behind her, unconsciously pulling her belly in. His eyes got wider. “Do you know anything about comic books?” she asked.
He blinked and swallowed.
“Sure!” he said.
“Good, because I’ve got some old ones I’m thinking about selling,” she said. “I don’t know what they’re worth, so I need an ‘expert opinion.’ They’re mostly old Legion of Superheroes. You know the title?” He nodded.
“I need the money to pay for the X-Box I want to buy next week,” she said. “Anything you can tell me about what they’re worth would be great.”
She smiled and…much to her delight…he smiled back.
“Hey, want to come meet my friends?” she asked, cocking her hips to one side – a move that put a delicious crease across the center of her stomach. “They’d like to meet you, too, and they’re all really cool.”
“Sure,” he said, not looking at all sure, but seeming willing to face anything now that he was known to Melanie.
“Great!” She looked around, and glanced at the screen. “You might want to close down your chat window,” she observed. “I don’t think the librarians would appreciate finding that running.”
“Huh? Oh…right!” He turned to the machine, typed a quick “Bye!” and logged off.
“So…my name’s Melanie,” she said, putting out one hand. “What’s yours?”
“I’m Ron,” he said.
“Ron…nice name,” she said, smiling. She put out a hand. “Come on!”
He reached out, took her hand…and stood up…
awesome