Beginning of Something New

This is a short-story about a paraplegic man looking for love.

   I look at the computer screen, at the beautiful woman looking back at me: short, cropped, chocolate brown hair and wide, green eyes. Her smile warms my heart as she laughs at a joke I've told. Her name is Miranda Greene.

   Miranda is an amazing thirty-two year old woman that I've been talking to over the internet for the last few months. She's a psychologist at a behavioral teen clinic twenty minutes outside of my town and lives with her dog, Spot, about fourty minutes away from my apartment. She's funny, honest, and eccentric. She is everything I want in a woman.

   I gaze back at her from my computer screen, laughing alone with her. Her laugh sounds lik soft wind chimes, each note striking a cord in my heart. I really like her.

   She takes a break from laughing, and looks right into the screen with a slightly crooked, yet extremely cute smile. "So, tomorrow at Joe's Cafe and Bar, right?"

   I smile and nod calmly, although inside I'm nervous as hell. She doesn't know everything about me. She doesn't know that I'm paraplegic.

   In my late twenties I started on a hiking binge. A year ago when I was thrity, I was hiking and slipped on a patch of snow. I fell and hit my spinal cord and as a resul, I lost all feeling below my waist. I'm now in a wheelchair. Since then, I've been trying to online date, because I don't have the courage to approach women in person anymore. Women tend to see me as the, "nice wheelchair guy", and nothing more. I felt, and still feel, like a sympathy case, and that's why I turned to the online dating scene. But now that I'm about to meet Miranda, I feel nervous because she still doesn't know.

   She looks at me through the webcam, eagerly waiting for an answer. I feel horrible, like I'm decieving her as I say, "Yes, of course." I feel like she's going to be disappointed and push me away like so many people have before.

    Thirty minutes later she declares that she's going to bed, and that she'll meet me tomorrow at seven. I'm excited, but terrified as I say goodbye and log off. I worry what she will think, anf if this relationship will last.

   

   The next day I try to keep myself distracted. I begin my day with a haircut at the local barber shop and then run a few errands. A few hours before seven I watch my favorite movie, Liar Liar, but Miranda is still in the back of my mind. I'm terrified, hopeful, and excited, all in one. I feel like an emotional trainwreck.

    Around six I begin getting ready. I put on my brown leather coat and my nicest pair of shoes, but in the mirror I feel I still look the same. I still look like the "nice wheelchair guy" that no woman would ever want to marry or, much less, build a life with. As reality sets in, I almost decide not to go. I think about calling Miranda and all of a sudden becoming "busy", but in the end I decide that I'll keep my word. I vow not to expect much out of it, though. I'm convinced Miranda could never fully want someone like me.

    I arrive at the cafe about ten minutes early. As I set up my wheelchair I'm grateful that I'm early, because I don't want Miranda seeing me do such a humbling act. It evokes sympathy, definatley not an emotion I want brought out on our first date. I wheel myself to the front of the club, and wait for the inevitable. I hope for the best, but expect the worst.

    Seven comes around and Miranda is still not here. I feel vulnerable and stupid, worried that she probably saw me and then left. I can feel the stares from inside the cafe, and I wish I had never come. I know that nothing good can come out of this.

    A few minutes later I see the most stunning woman, and I know it must be Miranda. Her dark hair is slicked back, and she wears a casual dress that sinews her thin frame. My heart speeds up as she walks closer. She's scanning, looking for me, and just as she's about to grab for her phone, she spots my face. I see the look of surprise, but at least it's not shock or disappointment. She waves, and begins to walk over.

    I'm now completely clamming up. This beautiful woman is walking towards me with a smile on her face, looking happy to see me. I'm waiting for the awkward wheelchair comment, so as soon as she's in front of me I beat her to it.

    "I'm paraplegic".

    She looks at me like I'm an idiot. "Well, ya, so?"

    Now it's my turn to be shocked. "Ya, so?"

    She looks annoyed. "I'm not shallow, Joe. I liked you before I met you, and I like you now". She grabs my hand and smiles again. "Let's head inside and get a couple drinks".

    We stay at the cafe until it turns into a bar, and it doesn't seem to bother her that I can't "dance". It takes me a couple of hours to get fully comfortable with her, but once I do it feels amazing. I feel like it's unreal.

    Around midnight I take her to her car, a shiny hybrid with jungle green paint. She smiles from above me, and looks down at me with glistening green eyes. She lowers her face to mine, and kiss. I'm in a state of shock as I slowly kiss back, unsure if I'll jus end up being hurt again. When she pulls away there's a cute smile on her face, and I can tell that she's sincere.

   "Call me tomorrow, ok? After 5, because that's when I get off work."

   I smile and nod. I open the door for her, and she gets in. She rolls down the window right before she drives away and says, "Hope to see you again, Joe."

   As she drives away, I hope she means it.

   

    The next day around five I finally get the courage to call. After the third ring I'm about to hang up, but then I hear her voice on the other line. We talk a while about her work day, and I feel like maybe I was wrong. Just before the conversation ends, however, it takes a turn in my direction.

    "Hey, Joe?" she asks. "Before I go, I almost forgot to ask. I'm going to a potluck this weekend. You wanna go?"

    I grin forms across my face as I play the whole, "I'll get back to you", card, but I know that there's nothing I'd rather do this weekend. I know that Miranda's different, and as we hang up, I can't help but feel that this is the beginning of something new.

Author's Note

tell me what you think

Reviews

[GunMetal]

In the third paragraph; lik should be like, and did you mean "cord" or "chord".
In the 8th paragraph, you spell "and" as "anf".
In the paragraph where they kiss, you spell "just" without the t at the end. And in this sentence, "She lowers her face to mine, and kiss," it feels like there should be a "we" before "kiss." Or it should be something like, "and kisses me."
In the last paragraph, "I grin forms," should be "A grin forms."
That's all I could find grammatically.

This is a very sweet story, but I thought you were going to try to add more tension in there. I was a little disappointed when she wasn't more shocked at his physical condition; not appalled, just surprised. Maybe even playfully chastising him for not mentioning it before. It made her less believable.

And I just have to mention; I know that you probably didn't mean it like this, but the sentence, "I feel like she's going to be disappointed and push me away like so many people have before," made me laugh because it comes across like a pun (he's in a wheelchair).

Other than that, I enjoyed this very much. I can't imagine what it must be like to be a paraplegic. I imagine it would take me more than a year to attempt dating again, or even be comfortable with the idea of it. I think you could expand this story. Give more depth to the female character, like why is she dating online? Why is where she works relevant? Play more on the fact that everything about her is green; the color of life and safety. This has a lot of potential. Really, keep it up.