Bronco8881: I wish I could help.
Sissy3211: I wish you could too.
Bronco8881: Maybe if you tell me where he is.
Maggie giggled.
Sissy3211: Maybe I'll just introduce you.
She waited to see if he would pick up on the hint.
Bronco8881: That would work. What does he do?
Sissy3211: He's an accountant and he's good at it too.
Bronco8881: Sounds like he shouldn't have any trouble getting a better job.
Sissy3211: He has a prison record.
Bronco8881: Oh, I see.
Sissy3211: It was a long time ago, but businesses don't seem to be very forgiving.
Bronco8881: No, they don't. What did he get convicted of?
Sissy3211: Stealing a car, grand theft, I think it is called. He had just turned twenty-one, and says he listened to some friends instead of his conscience. He would give anything to take that night back.
Bronco8881: I bet he would. Otherwise, how was your day?
Sissy3211: Busy as usual. Oh, I saw a squirrel chase a cat today.
Bronco8881: You mean a cat chasing a squirrel?
Sissy3211: No, the squirrel chased the cat part way up a tree, and then when the cat turned around, the squirrel ran back down and dashed up a different tree.
Bronco8881: That is too funny.
She sighed. He didn't pick up on the hint, but then, she wasn't sure what she would have said if he did.
Sissy3211: Do you like classical music?
Bronco8881: Love it.
Sissy3211: I went to a concert once and the orchestra was wonderful. I could have listened to them for a week.
Bronco8881: I'll take you to a concert any time you say.
Sissy3211: Now, that's tempting.
Bronco8881: I hope so.
Sissy3211: I'm not very fond of opera though. Maybe when they learn to speak English.
Austin smiled.
Bronco8881: You've got a point. I'm keeping you up past your bedtime again.
Sissy3211: Don't worry; I won't cut your pay in half.
Bronco8881: Just don't cut my time with you in half. You are the highlight of my day.
Sissy3211: Bronco, don't go all mawkish on me now. Good night.
---Sissy3211 has signed off---
"Mawkish," he whispered. "Is that what I'm becoming…mawkish? Who even says that these days?" He signed off and closed the lid on his laptop. "Sissy, what do I have to do to get you to meet me?"
*
It was definitely hurricane season. Dozens of warnings came from weather centers all up and down the east coast, and Carl was well aware of them before he took off from Denver International Airport early the next morning. With any luck, he could get in and out of New York before the storm came up the coast.