Ernie sighed. She was seated, staring at a piece of paper. It was an email that she had just printed out. Daniel had finally replied after an absence of 10 days.

She remembered the first time they had chatted in MSN. It was 10.50 pm on a Saturday night. They finally dared to have a "decent conversation" after having read each other's online daylogs for about 2 months. Guestbooks and tagboards had been the only form of communication then but he had suggested that they "talk in real time". Soon after, due to shifting priorities and commitments, email became the ultimate connector. As far as Ernie recalled, she had been emailing Daniel close to 2 years as it was.

In his email, Daniel explained that he had just undergone surgery to correct some complications in his system. What kind of complications, he did not elaborate. He seemed rather vague and unlike himself. Ernie was worried. Perhaps he had found a new friend..?

She hated to admit it. They were just friends, nothing less, nothing more..or were they? Daniel had poured out his heart to her; the gentle sneers and rejections that he had received from ex-crushes, the worry that he might not make it to the graduating batch of 2003, the parents whom he constantly missed back in Singapore, the fear of dying alone. She on the other hand, had been slightly guarded. She had never told him that her parents had divorced when she was 16, that she had lost her innocence the same year, that she had ran away from home 4 times, that she was addicted to nicotine and bourbon Coke.

"I can't ever tell him all that. I just can't! He'll be afraid, he'll leave, he'll never want to talk to me again!" Ernie's thoughts savaged in her mind, day by day. "He comes from such a good family. His parents are business tycoons. He was always the top student and now he's in Australia. What will he think when he knows about my..my.."

She burst into tears.

Daniel looked at himself in the mirror. Today is the day. His efforts had not been wasted. His parents would have been so proud to attend the convocation ceremony if only they were not in Europe, attending a business seminar. When both parents are so involved in work, it is hard to get away, even for an important event in their only child's life.

He understood them better than anyone else. And they understood him. They always had. They would always support him, wherever they were. They would be clapping for him.

He decided to hurry.

"I am coming home Ernie."

He had wanted to see her after all. He had wanted to finally meet up with his "confidante and saviour", the one who had been listening to his crap when he was down, the one who had pulled him through some darkest moments in his life.

He would be distinguished, just as he had looked like in his suit, before he left for Australia some years back. He had never really sent her any other adult pictures of himself, while she had emailed him countless, being a sweet little vainpot. He never minded. In fact, he enjoyed her pictures and he had often told her how beautiful she was to him. And she had glowed radiantly, like a lava lamp in the dark, pleased and beaming at his kind compliments.

And now they were going to meet.

She had rehearsed her lines. She was going to tell him everything on her past. She was going to tell him how she felt towards him. She was going to tell him her fears and insecurities.

"I'm sorry Ernie. Did you wait long?"

She couldn't speak. She became rooted to the spot. Her mouth went dry and her tongue felt hot. It was burning, it was simply burning!

"I hope you can accept me for who I am, Ernie."

Her same exact thoughts! But where was her tongue?

"Please, call me Daniella. It's much more convenient."

I wrote something like this after my Os. There's a similar story, which I believe had been circulated and probably still circulating online. Boredom lah.

Ta.