The Long Cyberchase Part 1

Miranda Tempest uses the Internet to track down the lover that abandoned her and is surprised when her quest leads her to fall in love with someone new.

Part 1

     Miranda Tempest would have never met David if she hadn’t of been stalking Jamie.  If she hadn’t of stalked Kalvin then she would have never met Jamie.  Funny how things work.  And although she knew that her obsessions were ultimately considered unhealthy, she was thankful that it gave her the opportunity to meet someone new. 

      It all started in 2005 when MySpace was just becoming popular.   She received an invite to join from her ex-boyfriend Kalvin.  Kalvin had disappeared out of Miranda’s life for some time.  He’d broken up with her nearly ten years before and then had gotten involved with Jessica.  For a while Miranda heard whispers and rumors about Kalvin’s whereabouts from her their mutual friend Charlotte.  Miranda still had feelings for Kalvin, but forced herself to move on.  She started dating a nice man named Steve and soon the two were living together.  

      Charlotte had last heard that Kalvin had moved out of state around 1997, but had no idea where he was living.  She only knew that he was no longer living in Winter Place, Florida.  This had been the last that Miranda had heard of Kalvin for eight long years.  Then, out of the blue, he found her.   Her pulse quickened when she opened her email and read the invite.  Excitedly, she responded and set up her own profile this new social networking website.   She uploaded a few pictures and filled in her personal information, then accepted the friend invite from Kalvin.

       Soon, Kalvin visited her new profile and sent her a message.  He told her that he was now living in Austin, Texas.  He was newly single and looking to see how she was doing.  This began a year long correspondence between Kalvin and Miranda.   It didn’t take long for them both to realize that they’d truly fallen out of love. 

       Miranda immediately felt guilty.  She didn’t wish to cheat on Steve and she had no intention of leaving him for Kalvin.  Still, she couldn’t help fanaticize about what it would be like to reunite with Kalvin�"if only for one brief night. 

       Then Miranda and Steve started having problems.  Steve was depressed and withdrawn for several months.  During that time, Miranda grew quite frustrated.  She practically threw herself at Steve and he rejected her time and time again.  He simply was no longer interested in having sex with her.  

       Not wanting to break things off quite yet, but still miserable, she turned to Kalvin for comfort.  He suggested that the two of them meet up once again and he could comfort her in person.  Knowing that Kalvin was not likely to stick around, but desperate for some love and affection, she agreed to meet with him.

       They set up a day and time that they would meet.   He was going to visit Winter Place and so it was find a restaurant near where he would be staying.   When the day arrived, Miranda left early that morning saying she was going to visit a friend who was in town for the day.  She did not tell Steve her friend’s name and he did not ask.  

       Miranda spotted Steve at Gyro Sandwich Shop and slid into the booth across from him.   His big blues eyes sparked when he saw her.  “You are still as gorgeous as ever,” he smiled. 

       “Thanks, you aren’t looking so bad yourself.  Though I see you’ve shaved off most of your hair and then glued it to your face,” she laughed.

        He stroked his beard and said, “I thought it made me looked distinguished.  It isn’t that cheesy is it?”

     “No,” she said reaching out to touch it.   “I like it.”

    “Good,” he said.

    They chatted a bit more before ordering.  Then, while they waited on the food, they continued their long talk.  Kalvin was the same smart a*s as ever, but Miranda found she really had missed him over the years.  He told her about prison and what life had been like since he’d gotten out.  Things had been tough for him.  Currently, he was in between places.  The friend he’d been living with in Austin had given him the boot when his girlfriend moved in.  Kalvin was left homeless, but not without options.    He had returned to his home town, but not for long.   If his mother wasn’t able to give him a place to stay or if he couldn’t find friends to live with soon, then he was going to buy a bus ticket to another state.   He didn’t specify where, but he did have family in other states.

     Once Miranda had paid for their lunch, he suggested they go elsewhere.  They ended up going back to his hotel room, where they sat on the bed.  Miranda wanted to be with him again, but she still felt incredibly guilty for possibly hurting Steve in the process.  Once Kalvin started kissing her though, she soon forgot about her guilt and began to enjoy the feeling of being ravished once again.  

      Kalvin peeled off her clothes, piece by piece.  Soon she lay naked upon the bed.  Quickly he undressed himself and lay on top of her.  As he kissed her continuously, he slipped inside of her.  For a moment Miranda worried about the fact she hadn’t made him put on a condom, but then she quickly forgot about that particular problem.  

      She had gone off birth control a while back simply because she’d been too lazy to refill the prescription.  She didn’t think there was a point if Steve wasn’t going to have sex with her.  She didn’t count on having sex with anyone else at the time. 

      Kalvin pulled out before he came and rested a bit.  Then he was ready to go again.  Miranda smiled and kissed him as they prepared for another round of love making. 

       Several hours later, Miranda pulled her clothes on and said she had to get back to Steve before he got suspicious.  Kalvin pulled her back down into his arms, telling her that he wished she could stay with him forever.  He kissed her some more before finally letting her back up.  Miranda finished dressing and then bid her ex-boyfriend and lover goodbye.  Practically floating, Miranda strolled out of the hotel room and back to her car.  She drove the short distance home.

       When she arrived she cooked dinner and talked with Steve like normal.  She found it surprisingly easy to slip back into her old life and forget about her liaison with Kalvin.  The next day at work she tried to call Kalvin.  She missed him dreadfully in the short time they were apart.   Miranda had been under the impression that Kalvin was going to stay in town for a while longer, so she was completely surprised when the woman at the front desk of the hotel said that he’d checked out that very morning. 

       Shocked and saddened, Miranda hung up the phone.   She stared blankly at her computer screen as emotions threatened to overwhelm her.  After a moment she drew a deep breath and went to the restroom.  Once in the safety of a private stall, she began sobbing uncontrollably.  How could he do this to her yet again?  Worse yet, how could she have not seen it coming?  She was so angry and hurt she didn’t know what to do.  

       In between work phone calls, Miranda set about calling around to see if anybody had heard from Kalvin.  She called Charlotte first.

      “You did what?” Charlotte cried in surprise.

       “I slept with Kalvin again.  Now’s he’s disappeared.  I wanted to know if you’ve heard from him at all?”

       “No,” Charlotte said.  “Well, I heard from him yesterday morning.  He called to say he was in town was all.  We talked about meeting up for coffee or something, but never did.  He never said anything about the two of you hooking up.”

       “He didn’t say anything about leaving Winter Place or where he was going?”

       “Not that I recall,” she said.

       They talked some more and then Miranda hung up.  She brainstormed about where he might have gone or who might know his whereabouts.  Miranda picked up the phone again and dialed his mother’s number.

      “No, I haven’t heard from Kalvin.  I didn’t even know he was in town,” she said.

      Miranda left her name and number with his mother in case he was in contact and then hung up.  

       The trail of Kalvin was full of dead ends it seemed.  No one knew where he was, but many of them were not exactly happy Kalvin.   He’d managed to burn lots of bridges and piss a lot of people off recently Miranda discovered.  

       The next couple of weeks drug by slowly and miserably for Miranda.   At the end of the two weeks she realized that she should have started her period, but she hadn’t.  Worried that Kalvin had gotten her pregnant, she rushed to the drug store and purchased a pregnancy test.  She took the test in the store, for fear of Steve seeing the test in the trash when she was finished with it.

       Miranda held the stick under her urine stream and then pulled the stick out.  She capped it and set it on the sink as she wiped and pulled up her underpants.   She stood up and then took a look at the test.   The pink line had seeped across the window and left a faint trail behind it.   Miranda studied the test for a moment unsure if it was positive or not.  The pink line remained faintly even after the rest had faded.  The pit in her stomach grew as she considered the possibility that she was actually pregnant with Kalvin’s baby.

       First, Miranda had to get the test confirmed by the doctor before she started panicking.  But if she was pregnant, she had to find Kalvin for sure.  She couldn’t let him slip away and avoid taking responsibility for their child.   Miranda tossed the test in the trash, took her purse and left the drug store restroom.

       Once home, Miranda called and made an appointment at her gynecologist.  Then she called Charlotte to tell her the news.  Charlotte was shocked and dismayed.  This was trouble indeed.  She hoped, for Miranda and Kalvin’s sake, that it was a false alarm.  The subject switched to Charlotte’s latest dating fiasco and how she discovered what her latest boyfriend was up to via MySpace. 

      That gave Miranda an idea.  She hung up the phone and got onto the computer.  She logged into her MySpace account, which she hadn’t done in weeks. She caught up on friend requests and emails before checking on Kalvin’s profile.  His profile showed that he’d logged on recently, so she sent him an email.  She told him about the possible pregnancy and her pain at his disappearing act.   Then she logged off.

      The next day she went to the doctor and they ran a pregnancy test.  It was negative, much to Miranda’s relief.   When she returned home she checked MySpace to see if there was any word from Kalvin.  She saw that Kalvin had read the email, but had yet to respond.  She gave it another couple of days and still no response.  This frustrated her greatly.  Why wouldn’t he take the chance to explain why he left so abruptly or say he was sorry.  He was sorry wasn’t he?  Miranda couldn’t fathom that the man who’d professed to love her so deeply even after all these years could treat her so cruelly and not regret it.  

    Several more days passed and Miranda sent him yet another email.  That one was read, but never responded to as well.  She sent several more and still no response.  Though she knew that she probably should have let it go and forgotten about Kalvin, she found herself enraged.  All the years of being treated like a doormat had caught up with her and she felt like it was more than she could take. 

    Finally, she stopped trying to be nice and forgiving.  She was done with trying to be all sweet and nice so he’d talk to her.  Miranda typed “I HATE YOU!” about ten times, followed by a string of cusswords.  This rant surprised even her, but it felt good to get it out and actually express her pain and her rage.  

     That email finally elicited a response from Kalvin who was just as shocked at her email as she was, if not more.  This angry female was not the kind and gentle girl he’d fallen in love with so many years ago.  It didn’t occur to him that he’d created the monster in her.   It didn’t register that she was responding to pain that he’d caused.  In his mind, she was being dramatic and obsessive all on her own.  He thought that she should have just accepted that the bridge between them had been burned.  That is what others had done.  Why not her he wondered? 

     Kalvin apologized for leaving so abruptly.  He explained that he didn’t even know he was going to leave until the last minute.  He was sorry about the pregnancy scare, but he didn’t know how she could get pregnant since he didn’t ejaculate.  Then he proceeded to blame her for stalking him on the internet and contacting all of his friends and family in regards to his whereabouts.  He felt as if his privacy had been violated and that she’d gone too far.   He didn’t want to be found and she should respect that he thought. 

     When Miranda opened the email, she was excited to hear from Kalvin at long last.  She smiled when she read the words “I’m sorry” but her smile quickly faded. It was replaced by an angry scowl as she read onward.  She started crying when she read how Kalvin blamed her for being too attached to him.  The tears continued to flow as she pounded out another angry response. 

     Kalvin ignored the next few emails and refused to respond to her legitimate concerns.  He didn’t know what else to say or do.  She made him extremely defensive and there was no way that he was going to admit any fault at that point in time. His pride wouldn’t let him. It was over as far as he was concerned and he was moving on.  There was nothing left to discuss he decided. 

     Miranda’s focus started to shift after from Kalvin to her new friends on MySpace.  She friended Krystal, who worked with Kalvin.  He mentioned her several times, explaining that they’d had a casual sexual relationship.  When she contacted her, she had no clue where he was, but she accepted Miranda’s friendship anyway.  The two of them talked about bisexuality, stripping and polyamorous relationships.  From Krystal’s profile, she found Kayla.  Kayla was also a bisexual stripper into polyamorous relationships.  Kayla and Miranda emailed back and forth as well, creating a sort of friendship. 

     Kayla had met Jamie at a local Gothic club a few months ago and the two of them were friends on MySpace.  It was off of Kayla’s profile that Jamie saw Miranda.  Thinking was cute; he put in a friend request and waited to see what happened.