Every Seventh Wave Read Free

later
    Re:
    Sleep well, Emmi.
    The following day
    Subject: Straight to the point
    Hi Leo,
    Let’s get it over with, then: I can do Saturday at two. Shall I tell you what I look like, so you don’t have to spend too long searching for me? Or would you rather I found you? You could be sitting somewhere in the crowd looking bored, leafing through a newspaper and waiting for me to come and talk to you. I could say something like: “Excuse me, is this seat taken? Erm, you wouldn’t be Mr. Leike, by any chance, the man with closeted feelings? Well, I’m Emmi Rothner, glad to meet you, or rather, to have met you at last. So …”—peering at the newspaper—“… what’s going on in the world?”
    Two hours later
    Subject: Sorry
    I’m really sorry about my last email, Leo!! It was so, so, so … well, it wasn’t particularly friendly, that’s for sure. I probably deserve to get the Systems Manager for that one.
    Ten minutes later
    Re:
    Which Systems Manager?
    Fifty seconds later
    Re:
    Oh, don’t worry about it. It’s a running joke between me and myself. Does that work for you, Saturday at two?
    One minute later
    Re:
    Two o’clock is fine. Have a good Wednesday, Emmi.
    Forty seconds later
    Re:
    Which is more or less the same as saying: “That’s the last email you’ll be getting from Leo today, Emmi.”
    Seven hours later
    Subject: (No subject)
    At least you’re sticking to it!
    Three hours later
    Subject: Just for the hell of it
    Is your light still on, Leo? (You don’t have to reply. I was just wondering. And since I was wondering, I thought I might as well ask you.)
    Three minutes later
    Re:
    Before you come up with the wrong answer yourself, Emmi, yes, my light is still on. Good night!
    One minute later
    Re:
    So what are you up to? Good night.
    Fifty seconds later
    Re:
    I’m writing. Good night.
    Forty seconds later
    Re:
    Who are you writing to? Pamela? Good night.
    Thirty seconds later
    Re:
    I’m writing to you. Good night.
    Forty seconds later
    Re:
    To me ? What are you writing? Good night.
    Twenty seconds later
    Re:
    Good night.
    Twenty seconds later
    Re:
    Oh, I get it. Good night.
    The following day
    Subject: Two days to go
    Dear Leo,
    This is the last email I’m going to send you until you send me one (first). That’s all I wanted to say, really. In case you don’t reply, see you the day after tomorrow at Café Huber. I definitely won’t be wandering through the café searching for you with a crazed look in my eye. I’ll be sitting at a small table, somewhat apart from the crowd, waiting for the man who spent two years corresponding with me, building and dismantling feelings, until he decamped to Boston and locked away closets full of his own Emmi-feelings, waiting until this man finds me, so that we can bring this adventure of the mind to a fitting conclusion, once and for all. So I’m asking you to try your best to identify me. You have three versions to choose from, as you know. And in case you’ve forgotten your sister’s descriptions, I’m happy to give you a few prompts. (It soooooo happens that I have your email from back then.) Emmi One: petite, short dark hair (could have grown a fair amount in a year and a half, of course), boisterous, “a dignified arrogance masking a slight insecurity,” a bit lofty, fine featured, rapid movements, buzzing, temperamental. Emmi Two: tall, blond, large breasts, feminine, a little slower in her movements. Emmi Three: medium height, brunette, shy, unsociable perhaps, melancholic. So I don’t think you’ll have any problem finding me. Do write back, and if you don’t, have two relaxed/stress-free days. And take care of that key of yours!
    Emmi
    Ten minutes later
    Re:
    Dear Emmi, you’ve made it easier for me to recognize you, easier than you meant to, I expect. You’ve finally admitted that you’re Emmi One,