Dear Adam (4 page)

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From: Adam -

Date: Thu, Aug 2, at 9:28 AM

To: Eden E

I usually write poems when I experience
negative emotions. As I said yesterday, it's like therapy. I wrote
it a couple of months ago.

It doesn't bother me. It's a compliment I
suppose.

Eden looked at the files
on
her
desk, on
top of which was a
particularly
depressing one, with a defendant who was charged
with domestic violence with great bodily injury. He broke his
girlfriend’s arm during a fight. She could relate to the anger and
hopelessness in Adam's poems.

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From: Eden E

Date: Thu, Aug 2, at 9:40 AM

To: Adam -

When you write your poems, do your negative
emotions then become expunged? Do you truly believe that the world
is as bleak as this poem depicts?

I’m working on a case right now which,
although not as ugly as some others I’ve come across, still makes
me angry. In my line of work, I often see the terrible side of
people.

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From: Adam -

Date: Thu, Aug 2, at 9:46 AM

To: Eden E

They do become expunged. Or at least, it
aids the process. I do believe the world is this bleak, yet I also
believe there are niches where the misery has not yet arrived, or
in some ways, said niches are resistant to it.

I presume you can't share what said case
concerns.

Do you cook well?

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From: Eden E

Date: Thu, Aug 2, at 9:57 AM

To: Adam -< [email protected]>

It’s very easy to become depressed when I
work on these things. I can’t share but I’m sure you can imagine
the worst of humanity – and that’s what I see.

I am a decent cook but an even better eater.
I keep a stash of chocolate in my drawer at work and when I get
stressed out, I raid it. Two squares of chocolate = OK day. Four+
squares = the world is going to hell.

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From: Adam -

Date: Thu, Aug 2, at 10:12 AM

To: Eden E

I enjoy cooking, a lot. I don't like
chocolate.

My vices are old fashioned masculine vices,
drinking, smoking, gambling. Though I believe if you smoke in the
US nowadays, you're a social pariah?

Excuse the delay, a truck with a monkey on
the side drove past again and I wanted to stop the man driving it
and ask him what he was carrying.

He smokes,
drinks
, and gambles. And
doesn't like chocolate. The Hemingway reference should have been a
tipoff.

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From: Eden E

Date: Thu, Aug 2, at 10:18 AM

To: Adam -

You don't like chocolate? Chocolate is my
life. All communications between us must now cease. But not until
you tell me what that monkey truck was carrying.

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From: Adam -

Date: Thu, Aug 2, at 10:26 AM

To: Eden E

I'm afraid not, but I cook well with
chocolate. You are a meat eater though, right? Otherwise we'll
really have to terminate this relationship.

It was carrying Coca-Cola and coal. Ha, only
on this island!

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From: Eden E

Date: Thu, Aug 2, at 10:39 AM

To: Adam -

I'm sorry to inform you that I'm on a vegan,
gluten-free, organic, and fair trade diet. And I had such high
hopes for our friendship ...

Do you have any signature dishes?

A truck carrying Coca-Cola and coal at the
same time. Strange. So you're on an island, living in an old mill
house with an abundance of lemon trees outside. Not in a city then.
I'm painting a charming picture right now - you must add more
details.

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From: Adam -

Date: Thu, Aug 2, at 10:52 AM

To: Eden E

I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or
not ... ?

I have several signature dishes. I think you
would like my pasta e fagioli or my French onion soup.

I'm in Agrigento, Sicily.

He was also selling cigarettes, milk and
salami. Fantastic.

What is your home like?

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From: Eden E

Date: Thu, Aug 2, at 11:05 AM

To: Adam -

Did I scare you? That's too funny. I'm an
omnivore, although I have cooked all-vegan, gluten-free meals
before for friends/family who have such diets.

I don't think I've ever had pasta e fagiole
but I love French onion soup in the winter.

My home - right now there are a riot of
roses blooming in my patio. Sometimes I launch into a daydream
while washing dishes and looking out my kitchen window. I love
color so I have a wine-colored couch, yellow walls, and a bathroom
in red and gold, which my brother says makes him feel like he's
going to the theater whenever he pees. No, I don't have subtle
taste.

Your turn. You can shame me by telling me
about your tasteful, minimalist decor.

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From: Adam -

Date: Thu, Aug 2, at 11:18 AM

To: Eden E

I just thought, did I find the biggest
California cliché, just my luck.

Most of my skilled cooking is Italian and
Chinese. I am proficient in other cuisines but I haven't mastered
them.

I despise minimalism. The mill is going to
be more French Renaissance with Venetian Townhouse and English
Cottage combined. I like wood, not metal. I like dark, rich colours
for some rooms, and light, low tone colours for others. An
Englishman's home is his castle, so I am taking this process
somewhat seriously.

With regards to colours, 99% of my wardrobe
is black, mainly black suits. After black, I like orange. Orange is
the happiest colour - I share Sinatra's vision on that one.

Your son lives with you or his padre?

If I don't answer your e-mail right away,
it's because I'm cooking dinner.

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From: Eden E

Date: Thu, Aug 2, at 11:52 AM

To: Adam -

What's scary is, that particular California
cliché is rampant where I live.

French Renaissance with Venetian Townhouse
and English Cottage - trying to picture what those combination of
styles would look like. Mine is ... eclectic.

My son lives with me and sometimes stays
with his dad.

Black is my favorite color as well. After
black is red. The color of power.

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From: Adam -

Date: Thu, Aug 2, at 1:19 PM

To: Eden E

It sounds like my version of hell. That's
one of the things I like about this island. It's like stepping back
in time. Here comes the loaded statement: women are women, men are
men, people say what they see without worry of reparation. It's one
of those niches I spoke of. Good, honest people.

I have several other properties as well so I
don't have some egotistical desire to leave a personal imprint on
this home, I just want it to be the most comfortable, practical,
functional and relaxing living space.

I knew after black it would be red for you.
Do you like power?

I have just finished eating dinner. I swear
this country will make me fat. I am very bad at cooking for one.
There is always enough for 4.

What have you been doing in my absence,
other than pining and awaiting my return?

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From: Eden E

Date: Thu, Aug 2, at 2:13 PM

To: Adam -

To console myself, I took a long walk during
my lunch hour. That's how I keep my sanity (and deal with your
absence) - I flee as far as I can in the time I have. I get
restless and grumpy otherwise and start snapping at people.

You do know that you have to explain your
loaded statement. I'm afraid I can't let you get away with it.

Do you consider yourself old-fashioned? And
what type of statements do you make that land in you hot water
everywhere else but in your refuge?

Yes, I like power. Over myself and my life.
I don't seek power over others. I hate feeling helpless.

You sound as if you exert power in your own
sphere. You're certainly not afraid to voice your strong opinions.
Although, I find people are more outspoken online than they would
normally be in real life, feeling that they're shielded with
anonymity.

What did you eat?

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From: Adam -

Date: Thu, Aug 2, at 2:33 PM

To: Eden E

I figured you'd have to resort to something
like that.

What I mean is - gender boundaries are
becoming increasingly blurred with the turn of each half century.
Men are not men anymore, women are not women. We are different.
Women have stronger qualities than men, men have stronger qualities
than women, and that's OK. We are not equal. That isn't to say one
is above the other. It means, we have our differences, and they
should be cherished, not manipulated so we all become asexual,
robotic, politically correct entities.

Call me a hybrid of old and new. But I'm not
one of these posers who thinks they have a "vintage" style. I
appreciate some of the ways of old and I was raised by people who
had deeply rooted values in the past.

I make statements that would land most
people in hot water, but people tend to fear me, though not always
justly. However, sometimes I like playing devil's advocate,
especially with feminists. Silly creatures.

I prefer my refuge, not because I need it,
I'm one of the few that don't, but because it is more comfortable
for me, for a plethora of reasons.

I don't seek or enjoy power over others,
though sometimes it's an obligation for me. I do enjoy and require
complete control over myself and my own life, it's
non-negotiable.

I thought you would consider me over
confident because I'm sat in front of a computer screen. In all
honesty, and it's only ever worth being honest, I'm toning down
said confidence and being outspoken during our interactions.

I made Basa (a meaty kind of fish), with a
plum risotto and roasted asparagus blended with onion purée to form
small squares. I don't bake so you'll have to take care of
desserts.

Now I'm sat in my favourite chair, with my
favourite American ragazza, a glass of whiskey, Frank Sinatra, a
cigarette, low light, and my neighbour's dog who often visits
around this hour, despite my neighbour living a significant
distance away. This dog, Ludo, is an occasional houseguest.

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From: Eden E

Date: Thu, Aug 2, at 3:06 PM

To: Adam -

I've been reading books on evolutionary
psychology which, among other things, supports the thesis that
basic gender differences between men and women are not an outcome
of socialization but how we evolved. It's just human nature. But
just because it's natural, doesn't mean it's the way things should
be.

Further, that the driving instinct for
everything - art, finance, you writing your book, why Frank Sinatra
crooned so beautifully - is to mate. Sexual selection. And
according to this book, female choice is the basis for all of
civilization. Of course I can't support such a grand statement
because I'm not a scientist and to regurgitate these books at the
moment is beyond me.

"Men court and women choose."

So you have to retreat to an island to deal
with the crazy, topsy-turvy modern world where men are emasculated
and women are too powerful? Hmm.

Support your claim that your are a blend of
old and new. What is the "new" of you?

People fear you? Why is that?

Are you mean-spirited in real life?

Are you fearsome to behold?

Why are you obligated to seek control over
others?

Why are you toning down your confidence?
Then you are not being completely honest are you? Do you think I
would dislike it if you revealed your egomaniacal ways?

I had an overripe banana and a sliver of
store-bought cake for lunch. It's okay to pity me. And tonight,
because my son won't be home for dinner, I'll probably scrape up
some leftovers. I hardly ever cook for myself - I need to cook for
someone.