I’ve known Kelly for over a year, and we’ve fallen in love, fought, had completely bacchanalian romps in hotel rooms, parks, and dens…but she lives a long way away, and has another life of some sort, so we spend most of our time on Yahoo video chat rather than in person. She really has a way of getting into you, of getting your head all wrapped around her. You’ve never seen anything like it—all you want is her attention, and when you have that, you just want more.

She has to move around for her job, and this year she’s been over in Indiana. So, she has a fair amount of freedom, away from her people back home. It’s been great to visit her at her house in Indiana, even though I can’t get out there as often as I’d like.

A few nights ago, Kelly went out to a friend’s house for a party. It was going to be other teachers there, and music and dancing. She likes to get dressed up, meet people, and dance. Sometimes she talks about “kissing boys,” which she knows makes me a little jealous—but I’ve always pretty much thought she was all talk about that sort of thing. She’s really quite shy, despite her extroverted exterior, and a very private person in her own right.

I was surprised to see her name come up on Yahoo around midnight or so—usually she just goes to bed after wine and dancing. I was delighted to be able to say goodnight to her, and anyway, it would make me feel safe deep inside to see her back home, alone, and not out kissing boys.

I was surprised to see her not at home, but in a hotel room. She was giddy and flush, with a strange manner about her. She looked really sexy in her black dress, her hair a little tousled from a night of dancing, but her eyes had a mischievous gleam and she seemed unfocused. Her pale skin was rosy with a nervous excitement I couldn’t quite place. There was an air of coy resolve about her, and while she talked she half looked off to the side distractedly, and half stared straight at me with a smile I didn’t understand.

She explained that a main had burst in her house, and she’d have to stay in a hotel room for a few days.

“Sorry about that,” I said. “That’s a pain.”

She didn’t seem too upset.

“Look—I can’t talk for long,” she said after just a few minutes. “I’m tired, and I have to deal with plumbers tomorrow.”

“OK, well, I’m glad you had a good time at the party, and that really sucks about the burst main. Have a good night, love.”

She looked at me with a deep gremlin stare, right into my eyes, and said, “You know I love you, right?”

“Of course,” I grinned. “Thank you.”

She searched my features for another moment and then blew me a kiss. She looked up at the screen to hit while her hand gestured toward the mouse. I got out of my seat to go take a sip of my martini in the kitchen. While in the kitchen I did a few dishes and harassed my cat a little.

When I came back into the study a few minutes later, I saw the webcam was still on. I had a view of her empty hotel room, from her computer on the desk. I guessed she was off in the bathroom, brushing her teeth or something. I would give her a yell when she came back in the room, to let her know her Yahoo feed was still live.

But then I heard her voice off screen. When she walked into camera view, she wasn’t in her pj’s, but had brushed her hair. She was talking on her cell, and before I realized I was eavesdropping, I was already transfixed by what I was hearing: “Yeah…uhhuh. It’s the third floor.