Dear Adam (9 page)

She was in trouble.

Wrapped in a towel, Eden sat in front of her
laptop, a bit dazed. She knew that Adam was on the other side of
the world, still awake and waiting for her reaction.

One thing she was now sure of, Adam was no
one she had ever met before. She could never forget a voice like
his.

If she had heard it in a crowded room, she
would have been immediately captivated, pushed through and jostled
bodies until she found the man to whom it belonged.

It was deep, as she had guessed. British and
educated, but neither cold nor stiff. His voice was soulful and
mysterious. Commanding. Rich and hypnotic. She wanted to sink into
its sensual depths and be smothered with it.

She should have guessed from his evasive
e-mail. He knew what his voice would do to her. She felt
ambushed.

----------

From: Eden E

Date: Sun, Aug 5, at 3:48 PM

To: Adam -

Who/What is your enemy? Is it a person? An
idea? Yourself?

"Heart full of gristle" "depression that
swarms upon the rivers of blood and gold" - I can't get over these
images.

Why do you want it deleted? I'll do it of
course but just wondering.

So did you ever go to university? After you
left home?

Have you seen/spoken to your mother since
you were little?

----------

From: Adam -

Date: Sun, Aug 5, at 3:53 PM

To: Eden E

I don't know if it's excitement or intrigue
or something else that overcomes you and causes such elisions. I
mean - where were you today? And, you didn't comment on my
voice.

I don't even remember what inspired me to
write that. So I cannot answer.

Because I don't trust your computer, that is
why, with a seasoning of my desire for the ultimate privacy.

I smiled when my iPad flashed to inform me
you had written.

I am glad I could offer you such vivid
imagery.

I didn't go to university, regrettably.

I have spoken to my mother.

----------

From: Eden E

Date: Sun, Aug 5, at 4:05 PM

To: Adam -

Your voice. Your voice. I'm editing myself
before writing anything down. That doesn't count does it? Shall I
tell you something - I didn't want to open the file you sent. I
hurried home and just as I was about to open it, I stopped and
couldn't go on for awhile. I don't know why.

I like your voice.

Why don't you trust my computer? I control
my computer. Does that mean you don't trust me?

----------

From: Adam -

Date: Sun, Aug 5, at 4:09 PM

To: Eden E

Ha, still you don't tell me what you did
this afternoon.

Why couldn't you go on? Something more than
"I like your voice"?

Ha, that's the first ridiculous thing you've
said to me since we met. You think you control your computer, but I
guarantee it's as insecure and penetrable as most people’s. I don't
trust technology in general. I've seen what it is capable of. It's
not personal.

And why were you editing yourself?

----------

From: Eden E

Date: Sun, Aug 5, at 4:19 PM

To: Adam -

I was in the city. I was taking a Krav Maga
class and afterwards I hit the heavy bags.

I couldn't go on - because hearing your
voice would make you corporeal.

I was editing myself because obviously I
didn't want to write down what I first thought of.

I'll delete it right now.

----------

From: Adam -

Date: Sun, Aug 5, at 4:23 PM

To: Eden E

Krav Maga?

What did you first think of? I insist.

Your absence today was noticed.

----------

From: Eden E

Date: Sun, Aug 5, at 4:29 PM

To: Adam -

After I listened to it once, I listened to
it again. Then again.

I was dirty and sweaty from Krav so I took a
shower. And after I got out of the shower, I listened to it again.
Then I got dressed.

I have to go now because I'm having dinner
at my parents' house with relatives from the East Coast. And I have
to cook.

Good night.

----------

From: Adam -

Date: Sun, Aug 5, at 4:33 PM

To: Eden E

OK but that doesn't answer my question
regarding what you first thought of.

Dirt and sweat are underrated.

Alas, I will sleep
then.

Enjoy the dinner. Well, I hope they will
enjoy it.

Good night my dear.

Not intrigue. Not excitement. It was
stubbornness which had overcame her. How could she tell him how his
voice electrified her? She could feel how smug he had been, then
irritated that she hadn’t fallen all over herself cooing about how
sexy he sounded.

But it was more than that. He wasn’t just an
empty wit. Adam had something to say, and the combination of his
voice and talent in saying it – stunned her.

Eden put on a summer dress
and wedge sandals then fixed her hair, feeling heated and out of
sorts, ready to jump out of her skin. She wasn’t really cooking for
dinner, just fixing a big salad, which took no time. But she wanted
to undo the spell his voice and his poem had cast over her. If she
wasn’t careful, she’d turn into a besotted fool.

Once Dante came home from his dad’s, the two
of them took off for her parents’ house, 15 minutes away.

"How are you?" her mother
asked as Eden kissed her cheek in greeting. She looked at Eden with
a searching gaze, something making her brow furrow a
bit.

"Good - great, Ma," Eden replied, looking
over her shoulder at all the people in her parents' living
room.

Cousins she had never met before were
visiting and she made a special effort not to seem distant.

When dinner was in full swing, people out in
the garden or in the kitchen eating, and the house was full of
music and laughter, her mother had set Eden aside for a moment and
asked her again, "You're sure you're okay?"

Eden laughed a little. "Ma, I'm fine.
Promise," then gave her another peck on the cheek.

She was ordinarily shy, but tonight she was
bubbly and talkative. Yet, she was far, far away.

Later, one of her cousins e-mailed photos of
that night, and Eden saw there was a candid one of her taken
unaware. She was in the kitchen, smiling at someone out of the
camera's view. There was something different about her face,
whatever it was perhaps that her mother had discerned.

Her head was filled with the stirring words
of a poet, seduced by the voice of a stranger.

Chapter 6

Subject: Monday

----------

From: Adam -

Date: Mon, Aug 6, at 5:12 AM

To: Eden E

Good morning my dear.

----------

From: Eden E

Date: Mon, Aug 6, at 7:51 AM

To: Adam -

My dear Adam, good afternoon!

How are you today?

----------

From: Adam -

Date: Mon, Aug 6, at 8:21 AM

To: Eden E

I increasingly notice your absence more each
day, when we are busy or sleeping and such.

From my last mail: "OK but that doesn't
answer my question regarding what you first thought of."

I am well today. Quite productive thus far,
and you?

How was dinner?

----------

From: Eden E

Date: Mon, Aug 6, at 8:31 AM

To: Adam -

That is what I first thought of - that exact
scene.

I just got to work and already I'm
distracted. I hope nothing important gets dropped on my desk
today.

I was late to dinner - I misunderstood the
time. And when we walked in, I had the pleasure of a roomful of
mostly strangers turned to my son and my seemingly rude and
inconsiderate self. My son didn't want to go but I cajoled him and
asked, "Don't be unsociable." He laughed and said, "You're the one
who's unsociable!" It turned out to be fine and I got to know a
cousin and her family. Plus, the food was great, which always makes
anything bearable.

Perhaps the poem influences what I think of
your voice - You seem so grave and soul-weary. At first I put down
"cynical" but that wasn't right.

It's a voice of an outsider, dressed all in
black, judging everything with unfathomable eyes. There's none of
the mischief that shows up in your e-mails but then the poem itself
is not very playful.

Is that what you were seeking?

----------

From: Adam -

Date: Mon, Aug 6, at 9:02 AM

To: Eden E

I'm glad of a decent answer, yes. Part of
what you are hearing is my voice, but part of it is my feeling what
I wrote as I read it.

Do you use Skype, Edie?

What I find especially strange is that I
signed up to Twitter, and on my first day I had one contact, you,
and now we are here. A statistical anomaly I would say.

Eden gasped. Skype. Was she ready? Of course
that was where all this was headed but .... still.

----------

From: Eden E

Date: Mon, Aug 6, at 9:40 AM

To: Adam -

Have I read your voice correctly?

----------

From: Adam -

Date: Mon, Aug 6, at 9:41 AM

To: Eden E

Are you busy my dear?

Well, from what you heard of my voice I can
understand your summary, yes, though there's a little more to it
than that.

Skype...?

----------

From: Eden E

Date: Mon, Aug 6, at 9:43 AM

To: Adam -

I've used Skype before but not lately. I'm
not even sure if the account is still in existence. Is it deleted
if not used?

What do you think I'm not hearing in your
voice which I should?

----------

From: Adam -

Date: Mon, Aug 6, at 9:45 AM

To: Eden E

I thought perhaps we could have a
conversation via Skype today. No, no, it is not deleted, but also
extremely simple to create a new one.

There is a warmth in my voice as well, but
that would not be apparent when I read that poem.

I asked if you are busy? Now you have a
second nickname, aside from mother, it is Miss Elision.

----------

From: Eden E

Date: Mon, Aug 6, at 9:52 AM

To: Adam -

Not today! I have eruptions on my face. I
look like I have the beginning stages of leprosy. Very attractive,
I know.

No, I'm not busy. I'm just weighing the
merits of Skype and trying not to throw up.

----------

From: Adam -

Date: Mon, Aug 6, at 9:53 AM

To: Eden E

No, no, I think you misunderstood. I meant
for us to effectively have a phone call via Skype, not a video
call.

Trying not to throw up? I am lost my
dear.

----------

From: Eden E

Date: Mon, Aug 6, at 9:58 AM

To: Adam -

I guess I can talk to you despite being
disfigured. But I have class tonight and I have to cook dinner when
I get home. Tomorrow after work is better. I can't do it here
because we don't have Skype.

Yes, trying not to throw up. Why do you
think?!

----------

From: Adam -

Date: Mon, Aug 6, at 10:05 AM

To: Eden E

Either I've somehow impregnated you over the
internet? If so, please inform me immediately so I can dart like a
fly. Or, you had a little too much to drink yesterday? Or your
rabbit diet is getting the better of you?

OK, it's a date for tomorrow then. That will
work quite well because I'll be up quite late tomorrow.

What is this class you speak of?

----------