[Ellie's Story] Take Care, Ellie

     Hi Simon,

Sorry for not having responded sooner. It’s been sort of a rough week and even the simplest things have been taking twice as long to complete. I hope your week has been going well. Did you settle that case that you were stressing about? And how was your weekend Frisbee tournament? Hope your team won!

My week has consisted of mainly work and eating. I’ve been binging on ice-cream, mandarin oranges, and high-end pastries lately, and trying to enjoy some of the spurts of sunshine that we’ve been having. I’ve roamed around Stanley Park, and even made it out to QE park with Madison last weekend. (Have you seen any of the ducklings swimming in the ponds and waddling about the city? Super cute…) So despite the tough week, I’ve been trying to stay positive and relax whenever I can.

Anyway, I hope next week will be an improvement. Only time will tell! Let me know what you’ve been up to lately – chat soon.

~ Ellie

I double-checked my spelling before sending the email. Simon and I had still been emailing intermittently. I've noticed that his enthusiasm had dwindled with my apparent lack of enthusiasm. In the beginning, he had reached out a lot to try to get to know me. I honestly tried to reciprocate, but some part of me always held back a little, not wanting to expose too much of my inner world to a stranger. He seemed to notice, and subsequently, he too held back. So for the past while, we've only chatted like pen pals would - with any undertones of romance forgotten. Somehow, this suited me much better.

I felt a bit guilty, as he seemed like a nice guy – worthy of any girl’s attention. I just couldn’t bring myself to muster any more energy, especially recently, with my new-found angst over David being back in town.

[Ellie's Story] Fears

Hi Ellie,

Technically, we haven’t met yet, but I’m glad that we are chatting now and I hope that we’ll have an opportunity meet in person soon!

To answer some of your burning questions: I work for a law firm downtown that specializes in environmental law, but perhaps I’ll wait until I get to know you better before I bore you with the mundane details. :)

I did grow up in Vancouver, after my family moved here when I was four. As for hobbies, I like to play racquetball in the winter and a bit of ultimate Frisbee in the summer. I listen to all sorts of music, ranging from contemporary pop to classical. Sometimes I might even indulge in a little country. Hope that doesn’t scare you ;)

And now I somehow feel like we’ve just played 20 questions, so as the game requires, what about you? What are your hobbies and what do you do for work?

Regards,
Simon

And that is how the email exchanges had begun with Simon.