Donna unplugged the modem, counted to 60 AGAIN, plugged it back in and watched the light.  Blue, blue, red, blue.

“Damn it.”  She looked at the clock.  17 minutes.  They had 17 minutes to get her internet up and running.  She’d called the company three times already.  It was out statewide.  She was just a cog in the wheel. 

She opened the laptop’s camera and checked her makeup again.  The lighting in the family room was not optimal, but that’s where the laptop lived and besides the background was more interesting than any other spot in her house.

There had been a hundred messages back and forth.  Five phone calls.  Now they had graduated to Zoom.  Brian wanted to meet in person, but Donna was cautious.  Overly so her friends said.  She had no reason to think he was anything other than what he said, but she’d heard too many horror stories to relax.  But oh did he feel perfect. 

He ticked off everything on her must-have list except cats.  He was allergic.  He could be in a room with them but couldn’t get close to them.  She could live with that.  Her cat was standoffish and didn’t like her friends, much less a stranger.

He lived two counties over.  A bit far, but her friends assured her that was a good thing.  He wouldn’t constantly be in her hair.  She was protective of her alone time.

Thirteen minutes.  She clicked on the icon again.  No Internet popped up.

Damn it.

She was tempted to call the company again but they were losing patience with her.  Then it occurred to her.  Statewide outage.  He might not have internet either.  She tried to remember if he’d mentioned his ISP.  Not that she could recall.

But oh they talked about everything.  Their weird childhoods.  Their jobs.  Their failed marriages and what they thought went wrong.  They talked about politics, sports, and religion and though they had differing opinions on the finer points, were in agreement or at least weren’t in disagreement on anything major.

Eight minutes.

She decided to text him. 

Brian, my internet is out.  The company says it is statewide.  I was so looking forward to seeing you.  My day is now ruined.

Oh, Donna.  I hate that for you.  It’s so annoying not to have something you rely on. I was looking forward to it too. Let’s reschedule. Are they giving you an estimated time for restoration?

No.  They haven’t identified the problem yet.  Could come on any second or could be a week.  I hate this company but they are my only choice.

They continued texting for the next hour.  Donna loved that he could and would listen to her babble on.  Her ex said she talked too much.  Brian didn’t seem to mind. 

She finally excused herself.  It was time for her to rustle up some dinner. 

Will you be up later?  I have some things I need to do.

Not sure.  I have an early day tomorrow.

Brian the banker took off the toupee he was going to wear during the Zoom call and let loose the ponytail that hung down his back.  He took off the button-down shirt to expose his AC/DC t-shirt.  He hollered up the stairs, “Ma, when is dinner?  I’m starving”

“But you said you had an important computer thing.  It won’t be ready for another half hour.”

“Stupid old hag.”  He grabbed the game controller and fired up Halo. 

He’d dodged a bullet.  He enjoyed baiting Donna.  Told his friends all about their calls and texts.  One of the chicks told him he was a real loser to be doing that to a nice woman. 

He blocked her.