<Hey Sweetheart> the subject read, from VinB186. Jen didn't know any Vinny's or Vincents, or actually anyone who would be calling her that, but what the fuck. Maybe she had a secret admirer.

<I loved chatting with you yesterday, lets do it again soooooon!!!"
signed,
The Vin Man>

The Vin Man? Ugh. Jen had a mental picture of a chubbie 45 year old Vinnie Testosteroni with too much gold jewelry, disco hair (slightly balding) sitting on a vinyl slipcovered sofa with a nasty gut spilling out over the top of his unbuttoned pants; still thinking what a stud he was {and most definitely married). Feeling simultaneously nauseous and dizzy, she was grossing herself out. Quickly she hit the "delete" key.

Who was he? A vague feeling of familiarity crept up into her brain, but she couldn't quite pull it out. Too busy at work to be checking her personal email anyway, and not particularly intrigued, Jen put it out of her head.

Laurie came by a few hours later. She and Jen palled around a lot, mostly gossiping, comparing beauty secrets and complaining too much, generally giggling way too loud for the corporate environment that held both of them captive from 9 to 5 (well 9ish to whenever) every day.

"So can we sign on to aol and chat today?" Laurie asked, "I don't have too much going on." "Get lost!" Jen grumbled, and then laughed, "I'm crazy, I got deadlines up my you know what."
"Oh, c'mon, we had fun yesterday"
"Ding" went the little bell in Jen's head.
"Oh my god I got mail from that guy!"
"What guy?"
"The guy you were chatting with! You told him you were a babe!"
"I am a babe."
"You told him you were 5'6", blond, blue eyes, named Candy!"
"Oh my god!"
Both of them collapsed with laughter.

"But Jen."
"What?"
"Jen, you are gonna be so mad."
"What. Tell me" Jen was beginning to get annoyed.
"He thinks I'm you"
"What?"
"He thinks I'm you. I...we...I signed on ...well you did it...it was your name...I was using your name in the chat room."
"Oh my god!" both of them screamed in unison, their giggles echoing down the battleship gray corridors of the office.

<Why didn't you write back?> was the next letter. Jen ignored it, didn't even open it. She just wanted this guy to go away like heartburn after bad pepperoni pizza. Too bad Tums wouldn't do it.

<What's wrong> arrived in a few hours. "Give me a break," she thought, "doesn't this guy know the rules?" She assumed the internet was like real life; not returning calls was a kind way of saying no thanks.

Uh uh.
<Don't you want to play?>
What did that mean? Didn't he get the picture?
<I know who you are>

Fuck that. Still, Jen was more than a little nervous. She logged on to see what info someone could find out about her in the member directory. She was pretty sure her bio was empty, but still, this guy was creepy.

"Cha-Ching," went her computer as the instant message box came onscreen. <I knew you'd come around>

How the hell did he know Jen was online? This was becoming way too sick. She didn't reply to the message, checked the rest of her mail, and was about to logoff when the music played again and another instant message popped up.

<don't ignore me>

Shit. She didn't know what to do. Only a few seconds later up popped

<Bitch, don't you ignore me, you don't know who I am>

"A frigging maniac, that's who you are," she thought, feeling pretty helpless. She was at work, and was busy, and really couldn't ask her colleagues opinions about this. It was her mess, after all. She and Laurie had fooled around yesterday, never in a million years thinking that they'd be hassled.

<I just want to be nice to you>

She'd had enough.
<Leave me alone. I'm not interested.> she sent back.
<why not? we had fun > instantly replied.
<I'm not who you think I am.>
<I don't care>
<I was lying, I'm not blond, my names not Candy>
<So what, you're still a girl.>

Ding.
<well, actually, I'm not>
<well, actually, I don't believe you>
<too bad, just go away, find someone else to bother>
<I like talking to you>
<I don't. Stop. This it it.>
<Candy?>

Jen did nothing, but stayed online.
<Sweetie?>

Still did nothing.
<Oh baby, it could have been soooo good.>

Jen signed off. Shivers ran up her spine. Yuck. She hoped she'd never hear from him again. She needed a break. She grabbed her purse and ran down to the cafeteria to score on a pack of Yodels....something about those cute little cakes always seemed to smooth things out, if just for a little while.

Of course, in a couple of days when she connected to aol again and there were no messages from him, she felt a little tinge of regret. "What if...," she thought for about a nanosecond But then she got over it.