Keyboard/Heart (Chapter Three)

The way I've been feeling since June 12, 2001. . .





This is a continuation of a four-part love story, so I would suggest that you go back and read the first two parts in order to understand and appreciate this part better.



The first part gives some background into the events that led to that beautiful encounter.



The second part takes you on the journey that leads to that beautiful night and shares that night with you.



This part is about what happens next--along with many of my dreams of what will happen in the time ahead.



Part Four will be written in a form of a love letter to Johnny Angel.



He's not really into the Internet and uses it mostly to help him with his work (e.g. research), though he does read the e-mail I send to him. I've found a wonderful online greeting card site that's just perfect for this, because it allows me to send a letter of unlimited length in wonderful greeting cards where I even get to choose the music.



I can also use HTML to make links in the bodies of the text--though I'm not about to put this in there, as this is a shared e-mail address, and I know it would bug him to no end if he ended up getting teased about me by his co-workers!



But he enjoys reading what I write when I put it into hard-copy.



How do I know this?



Because we finally got together again--though it was a little over three months later!



I called his office two days later to ask him if he wanted to go see THE WEDDING PLANNER with me, as he'd talked about our taking in some movies when we both had time.



Another guy answered the phone. I'm not sure if this guy was a business partner or one of the staff (e.g. secretary, receptionist), but he told me that Johnny Angel was busy with a client at the time but that I was to hold on.



When my special angel picked up the phone, he told me that he couldn't talk too long, as he was still meeting with his client--but that he didn't want to miss out on talking to me. Hmmmmmmmmm. . .this sounded very promising!!!



I also learned that he wouldn't be able to accompany me to THE WEDDING PLANNER, as he would be working until late that night.



By the time there would be a lull in his work-schedule, I would be preparing to take a road-trip--during which I would be, for the most part, a VERY long way from Indianapolis.



The summer went on--and the timing was always off.



There was no doubt that we were both actually very busy. I know that, in my own case, I was also living my life in perpetual jet-lag, due to a sleeping/waking schedule I hadn't gotten back into shape (still working on that, in fact). The timelessness of Cyberspace--a place where it was always a normal hour to be awake in some of the time zones covered--didn't help with this matter any.



But I also think that our not getting together again also had to do with wanting to be sure that it was the "right time."



We had been apart for so long that neither of us wanted to "blow it" by getting together at a time that might be all wrong for the other one.



I turned out to be the first (and, so far, ONLY) one to "blow it" in that respect. . .but I'm getting ahead of myself, so more on that later.



I also realized that I was getting awfully serious about a guy when I knew that I wasn't personally ready to get married, as there were so many things I needed to take care of as a single person before taking such a major step.



Did he realize this when he kissed me? Was I leading him on and going to turn out to be a disappointment to him? Was I on the rebound and looking for a replacement for Jim?



Johnny Angel had been through his own hurt and disappointment in the past--which is actually what ended up bringing us together back in 1990--and I didn't want to add to that hurt.



I knew right off that the rebound and looking for a replacement wasn't true. If anything, it came closer to being the other way around, because it's uncanny how the only other person I really fell hard for between 1990 and the present had so much in common with Johnny Angel.



They both had an abundance of dark hair, and they both had beautiful, expressive eyes. They were both six feet tall and in similar lines of work, and both had been involved in politics at one time or another. They were artistic, creative, and sensitive. Their first names even began with the same letter. And there was even more that they had in common.



Although I totally loved Jim for his own precious self and wasn't looking for a replacement for Johnny Angel, it's quite possible that those traits drew me to him in a special way.



I know that there had been times when I would learn something about Jim and think that I wished he were more like Johnny Angel in that particular way. This was even true back when we were getting along. After tension developed between us, I found myself more and more comparing and contrasting him with Johnny Angel.



And Johnny Angel--probably (so so I thought), happily remarried by now, and even starting a second family--kept coming out the winner in these contests going on in my mind.



It was then that I got a very reassuring phone call from a shirttail cousin with a gift of prophecy who picked right up on my reunion with Johnny Angel and was very excited about what was being revealed to her.



Now, I tend to think that these psychic hotlines, Miss Cleo, and the like are a bunch of bunk--but this wasn't at all what this was like. This was a case of this cousin (whom I'd never talked to before) being given a revelation from God while we were talking on the phone--one that she felt a strong urge to pass on to me.



If you want to know more details, go to TWO COUSINS & ONE CLOUD NINE!!!



She told me that what Johnny Angel needed most of all at this time was a friend instead of a lover--although she definitely stated that ours was meant to be a romantic relationship and a lasting one!!!



The reason for this was that we were both busy people and had a lot to accomplish as single people. She talked of a very happy marriage--but placed it out in the future: Not a long ways away but not all that soon, either.



Anyway, I won't repeat myself, as you can find out more by reading the above story.



We finally got to visit again in late October.



Although we hugged goodbye, it wasn't a cuddly visit like the last one.



It took place during his working time, and we sat and talked in a little nook in the reception area. His receptionist got several phone calls for him and would tell him that such-and-such was on the line.



And he'd ask, "Is it important?"



When he found out that it wasn't, he'd have her to arrange for a time when he could return the call later.



I had taken a picture of a beautiful sunset at a place we both loved: Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. I enlarged the picture to 8"x10" dimensions and had given it to him as a gift. He thought it was absolutely beautiful--and was amazed that I'd taken it with one of those disposable cameras.



Soon, a couple came in and sat on a sofa in another part of the reception area. I told him to go ahead and get with his clients--to which he replied, "They're early. They can wait." And we went on visiting.



Don't EVER get the idea that Johnny Angel is a slacker who treats his clients like chopped liver. Far from it! He's very dedicated, and, when he's with them, he's 100% with them! For this reason, he's widely sought out by people needing his assistance.



But, at this time, he wanted to focus on our time together--and I felt like a princess!!!



The only thing I wished had been different about this visit was that my hair had looked better.



When we had reunited in June, my hair had been long and parted in the middle--but I had decided since then that I wanted to change to a curly-perm, something I'd always looked very chic in. Besides that, it was easier to take care of.



Jane (my friend who's also a parttime beautician) and I decided to try something new and only cut my hair to shoulder-length before putting in the perm. We thought that would give it extra body.



It turned out to be a little much, and I had the problem with kinky strands of hair that I had to keep after or else they would stand straight up or straight out.



I had called Jane's answering machine with the news that we really needed to do something about my hair, but she had never gotten the message. She has this husband who likes to tinker with things, so he was probably playing around with the answering machine and erasing some of the messages. I know that she had mentioned this before about missing messages not only from me but from others.



Now, Albert might be completely innocent of this "crime," but he's STILL fun to suspect, because he's such a practical joker and always has a mischievous look on his face!



The little weasel was probably having fun imagining me going around looking like a Don King wannabee or Phyllis Diller sticking a knife into a live toaster!



Anyway, I'm happy to say that my hair's repaired and that I'll look much better than I did the afternoon I spent first-rate quality time with him--and CERTAINLY better than I did when I showed up late at his workplace the night of November 5!!!



TO BE CONTINUED. . . "Keyboard/Heart (Chapter Four)"