SHAM

By...Aly


The day seemed like it would never end. She kept stealing furtive glances at the clock on the wall above her desk.

Was it stuck??

Time was standing still today, that's for sure!

Tina typed furiously on the keyboard at her workstation and tried to focus on the task at hand. The pile of paperwork at her elbow steadily increased as the appraisers kept turning out their work. Seeing a new stack of files placed precariously on the pile, she rolled her eyes at the appraiser. He smiled and shrugged his shoulders as if to say 'Sorry'.

Grumbling under her breath she muttered... " 'Sorry', my nubbin...." Then, with a quick grin she laughed as she thought of all the fun she had found online with her pals. She and her best buds Lynn and Ann had made up some really outrageous words and nick-names and never tired of using them in any way, shape, form or fashion.

Feeling her mood lift suddenly, she managed to get through the remainder of the day without looking at the clock more than... 18 more times!!

On the way home she reflected on the night and weekend ahead. She was looking forward to the weekends more and more as the weeks went by. She would grab a quick bite, breeze through a few chores, and then put on a CD and log onto her computer. Once she got online she started reading her mail and chatting with her friends. Life was good.

As the evening wore on, she started to notice one particular name on her buddy list that kept coming up. She seemed to remember the name but she didn't chat with that person much because they were not online very often.

Moving the mouse to highlight the name, she clicked on it to see if that person was in a chat room or not. Suddenly, an instant message appeared in her screen. "Hi." Glancing at the name, she paused as it registered with her.

It was the same name she had highlighted on her buddy list. SHAM.

Feeling a bit apprehensive, she answered the IM cautiously."Hi. Do I know you?"

As she sent the message, she waited as her palms began to sweat a bit in the few seconds that it took for the messenger to reply. When the tone sounded she turned back to the screen and read the message, "We have talked before. It has been awhile though. I've been missing you it seems."

Tina sat back for a moment and thought back a few months. There was a time, and there was a person. She had IMed with a person that she didn't really know and she hardly ever did that. Matter of fact, she never did that! She had just really been down that day and none of her friends were online. So... she threw caution to the wind and struck up a conversation.

Thinking back, she remembered now about that particular conversation and how it had unnerved her that day. The very thought of it made a chill run down her spine as she clicked the IM closed and tried to block the messenger from sending another message.

Too late.

Before she could block the screen name, another message popped up in her screen from SHAM. "Please. Don't do that."

Tina shoved her chair back from her desk and almost panicked. *How did they know I closed the message? How did they know I was about to block?* She rubbed her sweat-slicked palms on her jeans and looked around her place and tried to still her pounding heart. She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. *They cannot see me. I am safe. I am alright.*

Moving back to the computer, she saw that another message had been sent while she was having a panic attack, "I didn't mean to frighten you that day."

She blinked a few time and watched the cursor do the same. *I didn't mean to frighten you that day....* SHAM remembered too.

Tina thought back to the day that she had first chatted with SHAM. The things that SHAM would say were very odd and left Tina feeling unsettled. SHAM would dodge most questions and be evasive in answering the few that managed to pass muster. Nonetheless, SHAM never tired of asking questions of Tina. However, Tina was very protective with her information and would not answer many questions since SHAM was not willing to do the same. Something just didn't feel right.

Shaking her head to clear the memory, Tina brought herself back to the present. She did remember, however, that SHAM did allow that she was near the same age as Tina and they both bore a common interest. La Femme Nikita, the television series.

Tina typed a message and waited a moment before sending it. She took a deep breath and clicked the send button. She saw the message pop up on the IM, "I will forgive and forget if you will."

SHAM answered immediately, "Let's start over:)"

Tina began the conversation slowly and they ended up chatting well into the night. Tina even laughed a few times at the outrageous things that SHAM would say. SHAM seemed to be full of questions, but still very reluctant to share anything. This was the only thing that puzzled Tina. She was usually as open as possible, especially after she had chatted with the person for a while and felt comfortable sharing select information.

Not this time. Something about SHAM bugged her. Tina was careful in her responses. If there was one thing Tina could not abide, it was dishonesty or deception.

Tina noticed the lateness of the hour and hated to say goodnight, but she needed some rest. Sending her final message for the night, SHAM answered and asked when they would talk again. Tina thought it over a few seconds and figured, *What the heck!* She sent a final message to SHAM that she would see her tomorrow, and logged off for the night.

Over the next few months, Tina and SHAM chatted pretty frequently. They had found a sort of rhythm to their chats and laughed a lot. Tina had finally shared a few things about her life, but not very much. Even after all this time, SHAM was still cagey about sharing details about herself.

Sometimes Tina wondered if SHAM really was a female. Something about the whole situation always made Tina a tad bit uneasy. But not as much as it used to. She had just accepted it as a part of SHAM's personality. If she desired her privacy and anonymity so badly, who was Tina to intrude?

Tina liked to tease SHAM about being someone from their favorite show, LFN, or some other well-known person, chatting incognito. They laughed over this a lot and Tina never missed an opportunity to poke fun at SHAM about the similarities she seemed to share with Roy Dupuis, the object of Tina's never-ending daydreams.

SHAM loved the playful teasing and never missed an opportunity to point out the contradictions between herself and Roy each and every time Tina brought it up.

Until tonight.

The last message SHAM sent had made Tina stare at the screen blankly. She read the message again to be sure she had gotten it correct, "I am coming this weekend. I want to meet you, face to face. I want to know the real Tina."

Tina's mouth went dry suddenly, although she didn't know why. She had finally gotten used to SHAM but there was always something there... in the back of her mind... that made her uneasy.

SHAM sent another message because Tina had not answered yet, "Tina? Are you there?" Tina tried to play it off and used her normal teasing... "Yeah... sure ROY!! Come on down here!!" Tina clicked send and watched the message appear.

"Okay...." was the message SHAM sent back.

Tina broke out in a cold sweat.

Tina placed her numb fingers onto the keyboard and typed a message, "LOL!! Sure thing ROY... LOL!!" Tina waited to see what this message would do. Sure enough, SHAM replied, "You will see:)"

"I have to go now SHAM. I am sorry." Before SHAM could send another message, Tina logged off and turned off her computer. She picked up the phone and immediately called her friend Lynn. She could talk with Lynn about anything and she quickly brought her up to speed. Lynn was concerned for Tina and immediately started warning her about the dangers of Internet stalkers and single women. Tina agreed with all the warnings and asked Lynn if she could come for the weekend, just to be sure.

Lynn agreed to come down for a visit and Tina would stay offline until then.

Tina sat staring at her blank computer screen until late into the night.

Lynn arrived two days later and found Tina a nervous wreck. Taking control of the situation, Lynn threw her suitcase into the guest room and dragged Tina out for a bite to eat. As they munched their pizza, Tina finally started to unwind a bit. It was better not to be alone. She felt more at ease now that she had someone to keep her company this weekend.

Lynn had even managed to get a few laughs out of Tina as they headed back to Tina's apartment. Tina was laughing so hard at something that Lynn had said that she did not notice the car parked in front of her building. Lynn stopped and grabbed Tina's arm. Taken by surprise, Tina stared at Lynn and saw that her friend had locked her gaze on something elsewhere.

Turning her head in the direction of Lynn's gaze, Tina saw what was holding Lynn dumbfounded. There, parked in front of her small apartment building, was a stretch limo. It was solid black with darkly tinted privacy glass.

As the two girls stood staring, a door opened slowly and a figure emerged.

Lynn pulled Tina along and they ran towards the apartment.

From behind them they could hear the footsteps as the man ran to catch up with them. "Wait!!" They heard him call out.

Tina fumbled with the keys so Lynn grabbed them and unlocked the door. The two of them rushed through the door to Tina's apartment and slammed it securely shut behind them. As they stood trying to catch their breath, they heard the echo of the man's footsteps as he came closer to the door.

"Tina...? Tina....?" They heard his voice calling her name.

Tina looked at Lynn with eyes wide in shock... and fear.

Suddenly, a knock on the door moved the girls up and across the room in lightening quick speed. They stared at the door as if it had come alive.

The knocking continued. From the hallway outside, they heard a man call out in a faintly accented voice, "Tina? Are you in there?" Lynn moved over to the door and looked out through the small peek-hole. After staring for a few seconds, she turned with her hand clamped over her mouth and her eyes bugging out of her head. Tina felt the blood drain from her face at her friend's expression.

"What?!?! Tell me!! Lynn..." Tina rushed to her friend and Lynn started to giggle nervously. Finally, she managed to choke out, "Tin, honey, you are not going to believe who is out there knocking on your door...."

Tina looked from Lynn to the door and moved as if in slow motion to the peek hole. On her tiptoes, she finally got a peek outside but saw nothing. She turned towards Lynn, "There is no one out there! Maybe he is gone!" Tina unlocked the door and swung it open slowly. She stepped out just enough to peek down the hallway and that is when she saw him. He was standing in the shadows across the hall from her door. When he saw her look at him, he extended the flowers he held in his hand and stepped out of the shadows.

"Tina?" His voice sounded oddly familiar, yet... not.

Tina couldn't see him through the flowers so she stepped away from the door. Looking back into her apartment, she saw Lynn nod her head that it was okay. Tina accepted the signal from her friend that all was all right so she tried to see who this mystery man was. She took the flowers that he extended towards her and her mouth fell open in shock.

He smiled and moved closer to her. Taking her hand, he lifted it to his lips and placed a kiss against the palm. Tina started to shake. From anger or fear or excitement, she didn't know. All she knew is that here, before her, stood none other than Roy Dupuis.

He didn't release her hand. He held it still in his own and was absently rubbing his thumb across her knuckles in a soothing pattern. He saw her distress and tried to explain. "Tina. I know what you must be thinking. Please... let me explain."

Tina finally snapped out of her stupor. Pulling her hand from his, she rose up to address him clearly. "Okay. Let me get this straight. You... are SHAM? And you... are Roy? So... this means you have been deceiving me all this time? Why? Why me?" Tina could only shake her head in confusion.

She started to walk away down the hall. He moved to follow her and to explain. "I know how you feel about deception. Honest. I didn't want to. It was just the only way I felt I could really talk to you. The only way you would be yourself with me."

Tina stopped dead in her track at that last comment. Turning to him, she tried to block his gorgeous grey-green eyes, the sensuous lips, the chiseled features, the way the black jeans hugged his lean hips, the deep maroon of the sweater that outlined his well sculpted physique, the wind-blown hair casually falling into his eyes. She blocked all that out to remind him. "Remember the time I told you what I would do if I ever saw... you, on the street? Remember?" She waited as he thought about it.

He finally answered, "Oui. You said you would smile and wave and keep walking." Tina turned and began to walk out of the hallway into the parking lot. "Yes, that is exactly what I said." With a lift of her hand, she gave him a wave and with a smile on her face, she headed towards the small park at the edge of the parking lot. She heard him following her.

When he finally caught up to her she had stopped at the swing and was idly swinging, watching him. She smiled to herself as she watched him approach. He was quite gorgeous on the television, but in real life he was overwhelming. How she managed to remain calm was completely beyond her.

He sat on the swing beside her and waited. Tina looked over at him and then back to the flowers she still held in her hands. Finally, she murmured, "So, Roy. What are going to do about this... SHAM?" She laughed as he smiled and took her hand in his own. Moving closer to her, he reached up and traced the outline of her jaw and let his fingers trail down her neck. His hand came to rest on her shoulder and she could feel the gentle pressure he was using to turn her towards him.

Smiling up at him, she thought to herself as he moved closer for a kiss... * I wonder if now would be the right time to tell him Tina is not my real name either....*

The End


~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~

As she read the last sentence, and closed the book, she looked up. Standing there, in front of her, was a store clerk. She had not even heard the clerk walk up to her, and when she saw them looking from her to the book in her hand, she blushed in embarassment.

"Can I ring that up for you?" the clerk asked, as she looked down at the book in her hand. She looked back up, and smiling shyly, nodded her head.

After having payed for the book, and getting a "Have a nice day" from the store clerk, she turned and walked towards the door. Once she had crossed the threshold, and was standing out on the sidewalk, she removed the book from the bag.

Gazing once again at the cover, and wondering what thoughts were running through the minds of the man and woman pictured there, she turned the book over. As she did, she smiled, and once again read the blurb...

DECEPTIONS...

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you to Sherry, Northstar, and Aly for such wonderful and enjoyable stories this time around!! I am sure that all of us are thankful and grateful that they decided to share them with us. KUDOS GIRLS!!!


Back to 1999 Illusions Index

Alphabetical Index