4

Lydia threw open the door and J rushed into the outstretched arms with a great leap. Olga was standing beaming to see her friend being swamped by the show of affection from her young son. They were very close and Olga appreciated what Lydia did for J all the more, especially since she had no brothers or sisters and her parents were far away, living a retired life on the Baltic ‘Riviera’ at the other end of the country.

“What is that yummy smell here?” Asked J, his eyes beaming

“Well, I heard from your mummy that you might like chocolate cake sometimes when you are a good boy” answered Lydia

“I love chocolate cake ALL the time!” shouted J

“Then you shall have to practice to be a good boy who deserves cake ALL the time” countered Lydia, smiling over the boy’s head to Olga. She gestured for them both to come inside and make themselves at home.

“Come see my new computer” she said, throwing wide the door to her bedroom, where the computer was installed. The computer was turned on and in the corner of the screen Lydia noticed the ICQ “flower” was blinking. Someone wanted her to read a message, she would check that later.

Wandering into the kitchen Lydia busied herself with the kettle and making some coffee. Olga settled J to the computer with the Ben-10 website – this she knew from experience would keep him occupied for hours if need be. She needed to tell Olga of her plans and was excited at the idea she could try to chat with this remarkable Anton Fehrnzeit.

When Olga came into the kitchen Lydia had just assembled the coffee things on a tray and so they headed into the living room to sit and catch up on life while J was busily zapping a host of noisy “aliens” on the computer next door.

“So, you have finally saved up enough then” said Olga, “Now you shall have a friend for life in J! He will always be asking to visit so that he can play as his beloved Ben-10 or something, never mind eat more of your chocolate cake!”

“Well, that will be no hardship, so long as you do not mind him spending the time that way” Lydia smiled at the thought as she poured the coffee.

“Oh, but of course not! I remember too well how it was for us when we knew everyone in the West had a computer and access to this new ‘internet’ but we were stuck with our dusty old library books. He shall have all the access he likes to any computers, but I shall just have to keep an eye on which sites he goes to, I wonder if we can move him away from Ben-10 and more gently towards something educational?”

“That is a worthy aim”, Lydia smiled at the idea – she knew it would be impossible with a boy like J, he was born for play and not for study. “On the other hand I know from personal experience just how distracting the internet can be when you are using a computer”.

“Oh yes?” Said Olga, raising her eyebrows to enquire further.

“Indeed. Why just this morning I found some most interesting content – I was quite distracted from my usual casual ICQ chatting”. Lydia smiled, she trusted Olga intimately, but was unsure how much she wanted to reveal about the mysterious AntonF. It was almost as if she wanted to protect him as her secret and no one else’s, but at the same time her girlish excitement was urging her to confide in her closest friend. “Of course, I was only researching England, but I came across a most engaging personal site just today.” Lydia hoped she was being enigmatic.

“Oh yes?” Olga knew her friend well and had a good idea what the computer might be employed for. With a young child of her own Olga had seen how Lydia both wanted to find a husband and yet rejected all the advances of the local boys and men-folk. She could easily imagine her good friend entering into email correspondence with foreigners and being drawn to romance abroad through the window on the world that the computer would give her.

“Why yes, and it would seem that although the author is in England his name is intriguing – do you think Ferhnzeit could be an East German name?” asked Lydia.

“Possibly, quite possibly”, Olga smiled, her friend was sometimes a little predictable, “It is even possible the name originates from Poland you know, his family could almost be neighbours!” Olga’s eyes smiled mischievously. “When J has finished saving the universe with his Ben-10 perhaps you can show me more about this young man? I take it he is not so old then?”

“Well, I certainly do not think he is a boy, and nor does he seem to have the attitude of our parents generation”. Lydia nearly blushed as she recognised how warmly she was feeling towards Anton already.

“I see, well we must look into that….” Olga smiled warmly, for the situation was plain and she wished her friend every success in finding the love of her life and understood perfectly the desire for him to come from afar. J’s father had been a local man, and now look at her living the life of a single parent, rejected by the conservative society of her homeland. She sometimes had to stop herself from agreeing with them and calling herself a “bottom feeder” in society, she knew this was a bad influence for her son and worked hard not to say such a thing in front of him.

Lydia moved to the oven and bent to retrieve the arm cake, the aroma of sweet chocolat filling the kitchen and drifting through the apartment. As she had hoped, she heard the sounds of Ben-10 go quiet in the bedroom and a voice chirped up, “Can I smell that yummy chocolate again?”

“Yes, come here like a good boy and you shall have your reward” Lydia answered, smiling to Olga and putting three plates on the table. She cut the cake, one large piece and two smaller ones, and served them to J as he sat quietly ‘being good’ with all his might and to his mother who sat smiling on the proceedings.

“Now then J, would you like to be even more good and practice your reading for us while I show your mother my new computer, since you seem to have saved the world from the aliens with Ben-10 already?”

J nodded, his mouth full of chocolate cake. It seemed he had hopes of another piece, judging by the way it was disappearing so fast. Olga reached into J’s school bag and retrieved the latest book. He was a bright and studious child, now he had had his turn on the exciting new computer she knew he would reward her with some study time. The school had just begun to set homework on a daily basis and she knew that he could be expected to work for half an hour at the table without troubling her too much.

“Here we are then, son. If you can learn all your spellings and read the next chapter in your book then when we return I shall authorise another piece of cake from your very kind and good friend Lydia!” Smiling, Olga placed the books by J’s elbow and stood from the table. “Now then, Lydia, I think it is my turn to see you at work on your brand new computer”

Lydia and Olga gathered their coffee, set their empty plates by the sink, and headed into the bedroom. Lydia sat before the screen and Olga pulled up a chair next to her. Olga noticed that the ICQ flower was still flashing. But first she opened the internet to show Olga what she could do with this lovely new computer.

Olga saw her friend settling down with the computer and could tell right away that Lydia had made herself at home with her new technology quite quickly. Olga herself was not so comfortable with these modern gadgets, but she was a most skilled reader of people and could feel the importance Lydia attached to her computer.

The browser opened where Lydia had left off from her last session. This meant the web page for the “Fred Blogs” site was immediately presented – and so Lydia clicked on the ‘about me’ link and pointed to the screen. “You see this is the man I told you about!” she said excitedly. “Imagine how I found him right away, when I was just searching for any old blog! I had never expected to find such a person on the internet. He almost seems to belong in an older, more romantic era, but tell me what you think…”

Olga followed her friend’s gesture and read the screen slowly. She found it most strange that someone called Anton Fehrnzeit should adopt a “pen name” of Fred Blogs to write on the internet, and he did seem an old fuddy duddy to her mind, but then again this seemed to have beguiled Lydia into a fondness for him. That came as no surprise to Olga, who knew that part of the reason for Lydia’s obsession with finding the perfect Englishman was a romantic delusion that an English person would be courtly and romantic, not like the Lithuanian louts they met at home. Olga had her suspicions that the real world may differ from this vision, but she was not going to share that with Lydia now.

“He does not reveal very much personal information, does he?” noticed Olga, “I for one would like to know how old this chap is. Is there a way we can ask him?”

“Oh I have a definite feeling he is not much older than you or I” said Lydia “and as for asking him questions, well I have already made a comment, let me show you” and Lydia moved Olga aside and navigated the page to his blog and the comment she had made there. Again Olga bent to read the screen, and was shocked to see the number from Lydia.

“But what is this?! Are you giving this Anton your telephone number already?” Exclaimed Olga

“Oh no… it is not like that” said Lydia, smiling benevolently, “this number is an ICQ number and it is not quite like a telephone number.”

“So, what is it then?” Asked Olga

“Well… you see the flower in the corner?” Lydia noticed the ICQ icon was still flashing, but clicked it anyway, “This opens my ICQ chat window”. And the chat window did indeed open, but rather than being blank as Lydia had expected this is what they saw;

“17:44:54 AntonF – AntonF here. I was so happy to read your comment on my blog. Right away I can tell you are an intelligent and perceptive woman with discerning tastes and I hope you do not find me too forward in making contact with you. I am not familiar with this ICQ program, but it seems it enables me to ‘chat’ with you, am I right?”

Lydia smiled. This was more than she had hoped for when she gave Anton her ICQ number. He had been in touch with her straight away! She felt like an autograph hunter at the front of the crowd who gets the stars attention right away! Coming to her senses, she noticed Olga was smiling at her expression with a twinkle in her eyes. “I see you’re happily surprised” said Olga.

“Why yes, of course, it is always good to make a new friend or contact. I am of the opinion that one cannot have to many. And contacts in England will probably be especially valuable to me” said Lydia, talking a little more than she normally would to cover her embarrassment. “But look at the time! On the message! I must not just seem to ignore him, what would he think of me!” Lydia was forgetting herself as she moved Olga to the side and took over the keyboard.

Olga smiled to see her friend so eager to type. She was really surprised at Lydia and intrigued to see if she would be so carried away that Olga could also read the reply. It soon became apparent that this was the case, for before her eyes Olga saw the reply being typed;

“18:30:33 LydiaDyp – Dear Anton, I am so pleased you decided to install ICQ! It means a great deal to me that you have chosen to contact me. I am so sorry I have not seen your message until now – Are you still there and may I add you to my ICQ list?”

The two young women sipped their coffee and gazed at the screen. Each of them was thinking about another screen somewhere in England and the figure of Anton Fehrnzeit reading this message. They hoped they might see what he made of it before too long. Lydia was not going to simply wait for a reply though; that was not her style.

“18:38:22 LydiaDip – I would really like it if we can get to know one another by chatting. Not only myself, but my friends think your blog has great promise and it seems to me I can get to know you very well from it. I feel we would be quite compatible and make good friends if we were to meet. What do you think?” Lydia felt that now she did indeed have to await a reply. She looked across at Olga and noticed the smile on Olga’s lips was even larger now than at first! She blushed slightly, busying herself with picking up the used coffee mugs, placing them on the tray and rising to take things to the kitchen. Sure, she felt Olga was like a sister to her (perhaps even a big sister because although they were the same age, Olga seemed the more mature in outlook with her son to care for), but she still did not want a friend or even a big sister to know exactly the feelings she was prone to with Anton, particularly not when they became so romantically inclined that she even embarrassed herself!

“Well then”, called Olga from the bedroom as she placed the mugs in the sink, “we shall have to wait and see now – it does not look like he is going to reply in any hurry”. Lydia felt mixed emotions now, on the one hand she wished he would answer right away, the waiting was an agony of suspense. On the other hand the last thing she wished for what his reply to pop up on the screen whilst her friend Olga was watching it!

“Yes, I guess we shall” said Lydia, with a wistful expression.

“I can do it now!” said J, suddenly looking up from the kitchen table. Lydia was shocked at first, so entirely wrapped up in her hopes and dreams she thought for a moment that J had a way of making the message come from Anton right now. “I can read my book for you!” said J.

“Oh what a clever boy you are, let me get you some more cake for when you have read to mum. Here she comes, you can start now”. And J started to read to his mother as Lydia cut a slice of chocolate. To an outside observer the scene was one of domestic bliss. To Lydia the scene was missing two ingredients for her domestic bliss – she wanted a child of her own. But unlike Olga she wanted more, she wanted the father in the picture too.

02:33 PM | Tags: Four