Mitch heard the GIM sound the one click he'd designated for online contact alerts, and he could see from the kitchen area that it was Elizabeth. The length of her nickname on the messenger was more easy to spot than most, and with the capital B and E of BethEliza, Mitch had gotten into the habit of just looking for the word BE to know it was her.
He brought the two warm slices of bread over to the computer area. Placing them on a napkin he'd put down earlier, he smiled at the word and emoticon Elizabeth always used to start a conversation: Hi! :D
He replied with the usual: Cribbage?
They'd been playing cribbage every morning together for a month now, and his rating on the game site was already on a daily basis of fluctuation in the top ten of players in the rating level they were at. Elizabeth had quipped that soon he'd be out of her league, but he told her he'd still game her even if he got to a higher level. He beat her almost all of the time, but she never gave up and asked a lot of questions on his strategy. Usually after a hand was done she'd explain what her six cards had been for that round, what she'd put in his or her own crib (the area a player puts two of their own cards combined with two of their opponent's cards) and she'd ask him if he'd have done the same or if she should have placed two other cards other than the ones she had put into the crib.
Teaching her his strategy was easy. Hiding his motive was not. He'd slipped up at least a dozen times since their initial cribbage game, mentioning things from her blog accidently during webcam chats, saying "Happy Birthday!" to her before she'd even told him it was her birthday. Little things that she always let slide, shrugging it off with the text: Mitch, you're a psychic or something! :D
Posted by nft at June 16, 2004 08:52 AM