Installment #3

NSTALLMENT #3
EBay
Meg moved the mouse over the eBay logo and double
clicked. While the computer called the program to the forefront
and automatically did the things necessary to get her screen open
she set a cup of water in the microwave and punched
“Beverage”. Technology. Where would she be without it? After
Tom had died and the memorial service was behind her, life
became very mundane and tedious. She had friends, but she was
the widow woman now. The third wheel that just did not fit in.
Her friends tried to include her in thier social life, but she was
always the “extra” at the table. They tried inviting a single man,
but that was not the answer. There did not seem to be an answer
so she had drawn further inward and found herself taking
quilting classes or art classes and had even learned to weave.
Then she discovered eBay.
EBay offered hours of entertaining buying. Then she
tried her hand at selling. By opening a store for only $14.95 a
month she could keep track and list and PayPal collected her
money and sent it to her bank when she wanted it. She started
out just listing a few things on the auction. First was a quilt she
had snagged at the local Goodwill for $15.00. She had it
appraised and found it to be worth $437.00. She put it up for
auction with a $49.00 opening bid. The next morning she had
her bid and 6 watchers. Soon it was up to $179.00. This was
getting to be kind of exciting. By the time the week was up she
had 26 watchers and a high bid of $189.50. It sold in the middle
of the night for $198.50. Meg’s Market was a success! She
began to list things at a Buy It Now price in her store with a
Good Till Canceled time limit. She enjoyed writing the
descriptions and researching what they were worth. She read
everything eBay had to offer on how to have a successful store
and put it all into practice. Her minister turned over a Lion and
Lamb collection and this opened more doors. She began to haunt
the second hand stores, the estate sales, and garage sales. Her
friends put items on consignment and soon she was a power
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seller with 100% feedback. EBay was becoming a lucrative
venture.She began visiting the chat rooms that eBay maintained
for members. Just now and then at first and only one or two.
But then she made friends. This was now a social network.
Meg had been making jewelry and now she started listing that.
More sales. It seemed in the golden world of the Internet she
was quite the success. Customers messaged her through eBay
and asked her questions and visited and wished her well and
bought her products. One guy in particular caught her fancy in
the chat room and she began looking forward to visiting him in
the evening. Redranger. Just a little harmless flirting. What
could it hurt? But then she checked her messages and found one
from redr726584433. That was how eBay disguised him to
protect his identity.
“Meg, I would like to contact you outside the chat room.
I think we have a lot in common and I would love to know you
better. I need your email.”
She remembered how she had blushed as she hit the
reply button and typed in her email address and hit the send
button. The marketl a d y@h o tma i l . c om . That had been
almost a year ago. The emails came every day.
Sometimes many, many times a day. They visited at all
hours and laughed and Meg began to feel alive again. His name
was Eldon. No last name, just Eldon. He lived up North. Way
up North. She had no intention of ever meeting him, so
addresses and all that were pretty much a moot point. He
worked as an engineer in New York and did a lot of philanthropic
work. He spent two days a week in the local soup kitchen. That
was all she needed to know. They were friends and Meg needed
a friend she could talk to. It was nice to discuss Kevin with
someone. He understood about Tommy and shared her loss as he
was a widower. She could vent to Eldon and he would tell her
she was special. She needed the strokes sometimes just to get
through the day or the night. And what better way than with a
faceless stranger 2000 miles away. She joked that this was the
best kind of relationship because she could leave him in a box at
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night and not bother with him for days if she chose. He was
always kind because he had no reason not to be. And of course
money was never a problem. The perfect man.
As Summer turned to Fall and then to Winter Meg began
to notice a pattern with Eldon. It seemed that about every four
weeks he would disappear for 6 or 7 days. Nothing. No
forwards. No “Meg?” No nothing. Dead silence on the mail
page. Then as suddenly as he disappeared he would pop back in
her life. No explanation. Just the email with “Meg?” and they
resumed where they had left off.
In June she decided to fly out to San Francisco and spend
a few days with Kevin. Getting away was not easy with the
chickens needing daily care and the two dogs and the insane cat,
but it could be worked out. She called a friend of Kevin’s who
still lived in town. Sure, he would be happy to come out a
couple times a day and gather the eggs and put them in the
walk-in cooler and play with the dogs and ignore the cat. Daisy
and Elvira were very easy dogs. Couch potatoes to the max.
The cat, Icarus, was another matter, but then anyone who has
ever owned a cat knows that cats are not owned.
Meg sent the note to Eldon. “Hey sweetie, I am going to
San Francisco to spend a few days with Kevin. I will holler when
I get back.” There was an immediate reply.
“Meg! Do you think it is wise to be flying with all the
terrorist stuff going on? Can’t he come and see you? Who will
take care of the farm? What about your eBay store?”
This was very uncharacteristic of Eldon. Actually a bit
disturbing. She replied, “I have not seen Kevin in almost a year
and have never been to California. I have a friend of his coming
to watch the farm. I will put the store on vacation. I just don’t
see the problem.”
“Meg, I just worry about you going off like that by
yourself. When are you leaving? I want flight numbers
and times. I will pray for you.”
“Oh, Eldon, you are so sweet. I will be fine and I am
attaching my itinerary, so quit worrying.” She hit the attach
button, chose browse and clicked on the itinerary file, and then
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hit send. There. But it did feel good to know he would be
worried about her. Must care a little bit. Who knows, maybe
someday. She heard no more from Eldon that day or the next.
The morning of her trip arrived and she emailed him a
happy little note and heard nothing in return. So she drove to
Denver, parked in the long term parking and caught the jet to San
Francisco. This would be a glorious four days with Kevin.
Nothing could spoil it for her, and when she came out of the
tunnel and saw Kevin she ran to him. Her son! He was brown
and healthy and seemed happy. That was all she could hope for
at this time.
The next few days were spent sight seeing and eating in
Kevin’s favorite places. She visited his job site and met his staff.
They all seemed pleasant enough. He had taken a few days off,
so they were bumming. Meg had brought her jogging shoes and
they ran on the trail behind his apartment each morning. The last
day they went to the Golden Gate Bridge. The bridge glowed
golden and the bay was calm and serene as they stood looking
down from the bluff. “ I see why you love this place, son.
California is definitely different than Colorado or Montana.  Meg suddenly shuddered.
Kevin looked startled. “What was that all about? Are
you cold mom? “ She laughed.
“No, it was just a rabbit ran across my grave, I guess.
That is what Momma always used to say. I don’t know.”
Meg turned slowly and caught sight of a tall man getting
into a silver SUV. She had thought they were alone on the bluff,
but apparently they were not. As she and Kevin started down the
incline to the parking lot she watched the silver Jeep Cherokee
slowly leave the lot and turn onto the highway. She wondered at
the uneasy feeling in her chest, but dismissed it as a mother not
wanting to leave her only son. That was all