It felt as if all of the molecules in her universe had just given up, thrown up their hands, had just quit moving around. Her feet were cold. Cold coffee. Cold knees and arms. Her brain also felt frozen. They swore in her office that the heat was pumping. Was it? She had on powder long underwear and two pairs of ridiculously socks. Her sweater and top, her hair and ears, her fingers and palms: all of these things were also cold. Even the cold was cold. Call it –7 degrees, but they all might as well have started living inside a dead dinosaur’s asshole. It was colder than Jesus must have felt on the cross. It was, you guessed it: fucking cold.
And the advertisement on her screen was just sitting there, seemingly disinterested in itself. She hated the ad, and the ad probably hated her right back. They’d spent every minute of the last week together: sleeping or eating or dreaming or dreaming about dreaming. But mostly it was a sad combination of all of those. The honeymoon was over, they were both looking forward to the divorce. She twirled her hair with its purple streaks, which had seemed like such a good idea. They weren’t. She looked maybe 23. She definitely wasn’t 23.
She stared at it and it stared back at her. She moved a cow. She moved it back. She hated this font. She changed it for the billionth time. She knocked over her coffee. She spent 10 minutes cleaning up all of her spilled coffee. She moved the cow. She moved the goddamned cow back. She wanted to detonate that fucking cow.
Time to IM her nerd boy.
purple_1: yo nerd boy
nerd-boy: wait
purple_1: what up, fool?
nerd-boy: almost
nerd-boy: ok, what the fuck?
purple_1: bend to my will, motherfucker.
nerd-boy: yeah yeah
nerd-boy: what up?
purple_1: what was that font you used on that thing
nerd-boy: wa?
pruple_1: That font, which was it?
purple_1: on that thing
purple_1: you know, retard!
nerd-boy: shrug
purple_1: pissing me off now
nerd-boy: oh, the thing?
nerd-boy: oh
nerd-boy: you probably don’t have it
nerd-boy: It’s like super italic Garamond ultrafine special special something
purple_1: whatever the fuck
purple_1: I need it now, lackey
nerd-boy: looking
nerd-boy: I’ll e-mail it.
nerd-boy: I’m downloading porn, may take a minute
purple_1: WILL KILL YOU AND YOUR FAMILY
nerd-boy: Jesus
nerd-boy: I’ll send it
nerd-boy: I don’t even like my family
purple_1: kool, thx
She waited, wiping a dab of some leftover coffee from the corner of her elbow. Her nerd boy was pretty funny and kinda hot in his own virgin kinda way. She liked flirting with him on the IM and she imagined someday that she would grab him after a Holiday party and pop his cherry in the janitor’s closet. And then blame it on tequila.
A little envelope icon appeared in the lower right hand corner of her computer. She fiddled through her e-mail and began the download. She screwed around a little and restarted her crappy little hard drive. She’d gotten coffee all over her keyboard. Letters stuck to her fingers and coffee stuck to her fingers and everything was coffee or the memory of coffee. Cold fucking coffee.
She went back in when it all came back. And she moved the cow. That goddamned cow. And she highlighted the text and tried out his super font. From that thing he did. Whatever it was. It looked strange: kinda tall and dignified, but somewhat shimmering and wavy on the edges. Was it her screen or was it really doing that. This wasn’t the font from the thing. No, no. This was definitely not the font from the thing which was now somewhat captivating, falling apart at the edges but also standing tall, straight and flat as a board. But disappearing? How to describe it? Wow. It kinda made her gut holler.
purple_1: what the fuck is this?
nerd-boy: hunh?
purple_1: you sent me the wrong thing, douchebag
nerd-boy: I did?
nerd-boy: wait
nerd-boy: what the fuck
nerd-boy: I just knocked over my coffee
nerd-boy: ….
purple_1: c’mon
nerd-boy: oh shit
nerd-boy: I did send you the wrong one
nerd-boy: go ahead and erase that portia
purple_1: what is it?
nerd-boy: nothing
purple_1: it’s pretty cool looking
nerd-boy: some font I downloaded
nerd-boy: I was actually playing with it
nerd-boy: thinking of using it for something else
nerd-boy: you should probably just erase it
purple_1: why would I do that?
purple_1: it looks like it’s pulsing maybe
nerd-boy: I think it’s hypnotic
purple_1: ha
nerd-boy: no
nerd-boy: seriously
purple_1: ha ha
She looked back at the font and could sort of feel it moving inside her, like a key turning in the lock of her eyes. Maybe the word hypnotic had put the idea in her mind. But the words had a new gravity. It held her face like a hand and she wasn’t blinking. Not for a long time. It seemed. Which is pretty fucked up.
purple_1: you are fucking with my head methinks
purple_1: you there
nerd-boy: seriously
nerd-boy: delete it
nerd-boy: pls
purple_1: we should try it out
Her last post kinda hung there, like someone who had bounced on a trampoline but had never bothered to come back down. Maybe he had cleaned out his desk and left the building as quickly as he could. Where was he? The little fucker. He really was fucking with her mind. In her view she could see white stars and maybe the letter h, just kind of loop-de-looping. That must have been her imagination.
nerd-boy: try it out how?
purple_1: make me do something
nerd-boy: hunh?
nerd-boy: oh
nerd-boy: you mean in IM?
purple_1: OK
nerd-boy: nah
purple_1: do it
purple_1: I think you may be right
purple_1: try it out
nerd-boy: what should I make you do?
purple_1: something I wouldn’t do
purple_1: something I would never do
purple_1: like listen to radiohead
nerd-boy: um, how about smoke a cigarette with me?
purple_1: well, I would never do that
nerd-boy: OK, you sure
nerd-boy: you ready?
purple_1: Yes, motherfucker!!
nerd-boy: COME HAVE A CIGARETTE WITH ME
After a brief interlude outside, which became smoky and a bit scary, she returned to her desk. Then she returned to his desk, ready to have a cigarette with him. They had another cigarette. Kind of the same mix of scary and smoky, the seriousness of that font sinking in. She couldn’t help herself. Even with an old command that was still up on her computer. Her body moved without her. She felt as if someone had lifted and carried her to these places to do these things. She didn’t feel the least bit cold. She felt strangely filled up and everything was amplified and illuminated and on fire. And she was getting less grossed out by cigarettes. He smokes ultras, which weren’t so bad. When she returned to her desk the old IM box was closed and a new one was opened.
nerd-boy: I think you ought to delete that file now
purple_1: maybe
purple_1: you could make me
nerd-boy: I guess so
nerd-boy: do you want me to?
purple_1: I don’t think you want me to want you to
purple_1: you there?
nerd-boy: phone
She played with her IM, selecting the font.
purple_1: COME HERE
He appeared at her desk more quickly than she expected. He looked kind of panicked, and maybe liked he’d ingested a little helium. They did not speak. He turned around and disappeared, only to reappear a moment later. It was still in the IM box on his computer. She x’ed out the box on her computer, closing the IM in both places. He swiveled and again disappeared.
purple_1: you ok?
nerd-boy: yes
nerd-boy: don’t you think we should delete it?
purple_1: no
purple_1: this could be fun
purple_1: we could run the world with it
nerd-boy: I guess
nerd-boy: we still don’t really know what it can do
purple_1: we should find out
nerd-boy: are you busy tonite?
purple_1: yeah, yoga
nerd-boy: blow it off
purple_1: I missed last week
nerd-boy: BLOW IT OFF
Whoa. Now she couldn’t go. It was an interesting sensation. Like the feeling of obligation and responsibility, zip, flew out of her ear like a balloon and sailed off. She remembered wanting to go to yoga. She remembered him typing. She felt warm, though, like she’d chugged some hot chocolate. She was fiddling with her computer to get the font and use it when
nerd-boy: DO NOT USE THE FONT AGAIN UNTIL I SAY IT’S OK
Well, that settles that. At least he didn’t make her delete it. She wasn’t filled with anger. It was as if she’d taken a hug puff of air. She simply couldn’t open the font, she couldn’t go near it.
purple_1: what are you going to do
nerd-boy: DO NOT CLOSE THE IM
purple_1: ok
nerd-boy: DO NOT BLOCK ME
He was one step ahead of her. But there was nothing she could do. She felt sucked in and shoved aside by the font, which seemed to be growing in intensity in her mind.
purple_1: ok
nerd-boy: sorry
nerd-boy: it’s a strange feeling
nerd-boy: making someone do anything
nerd-boy: especially you
nerd-boy: I have a crush on you
purple_1: no duh
nerd-boy: yeah
purple_1: please don’t hurt me
nerd-boy: I won’t
purple_1: you could probably just make me forget it later if you did
Oh, shit, why had she typed that?
nerd-boy: YOU NOW HAVE A CRUSH ON ME
purple_1: wow
purple_1: oh, wow
nerd-boy: HAVE AN ORGASM NOW
purple_1: Jesus Christ!
purple_1: everybody’s looking at me!
nerd-boy: YOU ARE IN LOVE WITH ME
purple_1: whoa
purple_1: it’s so weird
purple_1: I can feel it happening
purple_1: it’s wonderful!
nerd-boy: Meet me at the Hotel Sumner in an hour
purple_1: I have to work, sweetie
nerd-boy: MEET ME AT THE HOTEL SUMNER IN AN HOUR
purple_1: ok
nerd-boy: YOU’RE NOT IN LOVE WITH ME ANYMORE
nerd-boy: YOU HATE MY GUTS
purple_1: whoa, that was weird.
purple_1: my head just cleared out
nerd-boy: DO NOT CALL THE COPS
nerd-boy: OR SPEAK TO ANYONE ABOUT WHAT IS HAPPENING
purple_1: motherfucker!!!
nerd-boy: MEET ME IN THE LOBBY
When she walked into the lobby she walked right up to him and punched him in the face. It was a great punch. She knocked him on his ass. He laughed a little and held up a sign printed on white paper with the font.
YOU DON’T HATE MY GUTS ANYMORE
“Jesus,” she said, the anger falling out of her nose like an exhale. “Why did you make me hate you?”
“I was curious just what it could do,” he said, surprised and very convinced. He flipped the sign he was holding over.
BE QUIET AND FOLLOW ME
She had a million questions, all of which would go unasked. They went into the brass elevator and then found their room on the 4th floor.
She followed him into the room, to the foot of the bed. There was another sign. She was just along for the ride. For there was another sign.
UNDRESS SLOWLY
And she began, thoughts popping open like bubbles but floating off before they could catch. She felt wonderful, aroused, sucked into the letters and white space. All of the layers came off, slowly winding off of her, all finding themselves intertwined in circles along the floor. This was the dance she was dancing, but it felt like unfamiliar hands were picking the pieces away and that sunshine had replaced everything inside of her.
She looked up, mute, when she was done. He had chosen a gold wooden chair with red velvet fabric. Her green eyes glistened. There was another sign.
GET ON THE BED SLOWLY
She snaked on top of the covers. She could see the steam stretching across the windows this afternoon.
HAVE A TREMEDNOUS ORGASM NOW
She did, writhing and substantial. She silently fell across the pillows and covers, her arms lifted up and her head nodding back and forth. She frothed and her green eyes rolled back. She was lost inside the painting by the headboard, impaled along every silent evergreen in that winter forest. When she grew strong enough, she looked up. There was a wet spot along his green pants, and a solid backdrop for it.
YOU MAY SPEAK
“Oh God, oh God, Oh God.” She didn’t know how many times she said it. It was like breathing in and breathing out. The words were nothing and everything. She was sprawled out and wonderfully captured. She looked at him again, and a familiar sign.
HAVE A TREMENDOUS ORGASM NOW
She was howls. She was howls and slithering. Somewhere that afternoon she had stopped being herself and started being breath. And joy. And she didn’t know how it was happening or how long it lasted. She was a snake that had swallowed its tail, she was part of an impossible, unstoppable O. Which was rolling away from this earth.