The Killer Net

Something You'll Never Forget

The late afternoon sun peered through the blinds as Jennifer Warren entered her living room carrying a tea service tray. She walked ridiculously slowly, trying not to spill the steaming liquid which sloshed dangerously close to the brim of the cups.

Her visitor and co-worker, Sally Plimpton, noticed her effort and remarked, "You don't have much experience with tea trays, do you?"

"God, no," Jen laughed. "If my mother could see this, she'd never believe it. I can't tell you how many times she wanted me to have tea parties with my stuffed animals so she could show me how to hold the tea cup and which spoon to use for the sugar, etc. She was always trying to make me learn how to be a 'proper little girl' as she called it. I wanted no part of all the pink, the dolls, and the craft activities. I much preferred to be outside running around with the neighborhood boys, playing ball and climbing trees."

"Nobody would ever guess that. Look at you now," Sally said with a hand gesture that referred to Jen's designer skirt, perfect manicure, and flawless makeup.

"Thank you," Jen said graciously. "Sometimes I feel it's like playing a part. Whatever the role calls for, you know."

"Like you hear a voice in your head saying that the role of secretary is now being played by Jennifer Warren?"

"Exactly," Jen laughed.

"Honey, you're thirty years old and single. You play that part for all it is worth while you can. Fifteen years from now when you've got the husband and the kids like I do, you'll look back fondly on your single days when you had the energy to get dressed up nicely for work. Now I'm lucky I have time in the morning to put my glasses on, never mind makeup," Sally said.

Jen didn't want to say anything negative to her friend, but it was true that Sally's look could most kindly be described as "plump and matronly." In fact, Jen had heard some of the guys refer to Sally as "fat and dumpy" which Jen told them in no uncertain terms was certainly crossing the line.

Jen opted to take her tea unsweetened. Sally added extra sugar to hers saying, "That's one advantage to being married with kids, you don't care if you have a few extra pounds on your body!"

Sally picked up the DVD of You've Got Mail from the coffee table. "Oh, I love Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. I missed this movie when it came out in theaters last year."

"Please, feel free to borrow the DVD," Jen offered.

"We don't have a DVD player. I still tape my soaps on my old VCR."

"Sally, we're just months away from the new millennium! Join the rest of us, will ya?"

Sally just rolled her eyes. "I know, I know."

"Wait a minute. You've got a computer at home. It probably has a DVD player built in. You can watch the movie on that."

"Computer? I never go near that thing. My husband, however, spends three hours a night playing on it. I could've been a guest on this talk show I saw the other day. The topic was Computer Widows - My Man Would Rather Touch the Keys than Touch Me!"

"That's funny," Jen admitted. She glanced across the room at her own PC which was sitting neatly on a desk in the corner. "Computers are like a compulsion. I was even going to meet some guy in person the other night that I talked to online."

Sally's wide-eyed reaction indicated that she was both scared and fascinated. "What happened?" she asked as she added another spoonful of sugar to her tea.

"I chickened out."

"Was he angry?" Sally asked imagining the horrors that could befall a young, single girl who angered a stranger online these days.

"I don't know. His screen name was deleted the next time I signed on."

"What if he finds you somehow?" Sally gasped.

Jen shrugged and took a sip of her tea.

* * *

Kathy Branson sat in the living room of her luxury condo. She spent her days multitasking at work and then spent her evenings at home doing the same thing, albeit with different goals in mind.

On this particular evening, Kathy was doing three things at the same time: drinking a glass of wine, balancing a cordless phone on her shoulder, and typing on her computer keyboard.

While she waited for her friend to answer the phone, she thought about how tired she was of telling people about her dates at her age. She was only thirty-one, but she hadn't planned on dating at this stage in her life.

She had constructed what her professor called a "life plan" when she was taking a (what she now regarded as useless) psychology class in college. Her life plan had her married, caring for a toddler, and pregnant with her second child by her thirtieth birthday. Instead, here she was, a thirty-one year old single woman doing this "Internet dating" that was all the rage in the women's magazines she bought at the grocery store.

After several rings, her friend's answering machine clicked on and played its usual message. Kathy dutifully waited for the beep as commanded.

She spoke really fast because she hated it when her friend's machine cut her off before she finished a message. "Hi, it's Kathy. Have I got a message for you! You'll stop yelling at me about all this time I've been spending on the Internet instead of going out barhopping and clubbing with the rest of you. I'm finally meeting a man - tonight, in person. I'm talking to him online right now. Call me tomorrow for all the details."

The sound effect coming from her computer speaker told her there was a new IM. She loved that little chime. It made her feel special. It meant that someone wanted to talk to her at that precise second, someone who literally could have spoken to any one of hundreds of millions of other people around the world at that very moment who were all connected to the Internet.

Kathy pressed the off button on the phone and gave her attention to her monitor. The IM window indicated that LUVFINDER, the screen name of the man she had been talking to for about an hour, had just sent her another message.

LUVFINDER: I promise I'll make our first meeting something you'll never forget.

Kathy smiled. She knew just what to wear to make sure that she was unforgettable as well.

* * *

Several hours later, her unforgettable red dress, the tightest one she owned that made her boobs really pop, was strewn about the floor in a heap. Ironically, it had been completely forgotten. The other thing Kathy almost forgot was what the man said his name was. Luis, she reminded herself mentally.

Kathy hummed along with the classical music playing in the background while she tidied up her kitchen counter. When she reached up to place the box of cat food in the cupboard, the sheer nightgown she wore popped open, completely showing off her left breast.

Before she had a chance to close it again, she felt his hairy, muscular arm brush against her soft skin as his hand felt its way towards her exposed flesh. She could feel his chiseled chest against her back, right through the nightgown. The sweat on his pecs, the result of their long and enjoyable romp in the bedroom, wet the material as if he were marking his territory.

Kathy smiled as he gently swept the hair away from her neck giving him access to kiss her lightly from the top of her spine to the back of her earlobe. She got goosebumps and involuntarily shuddered as he cupped her breast and squeezed it in just the right place. "That - was incredible!" Kathy said, referring both to what he had just done to her in the kitchen and what he had done to her earlier in the bedroom.

His hand reached for the counter. He accidentally touched a spot with spilled flour. Realizing he missed what he was reaching for, he tried again. This time, his finger came down on a black pan handle, leaving a partial fingerprint.

Swaying in his arms and still cleaning up after their snack, Kathy said, "No wonder we were starving." She heard him murmur agreement in her ear, taking the opportunity to give it a little nibble while he was there. I can't believe I met such a wonderful guy over the Internet, Kathy thought to herself.

He moved them both a step back and a couple inches to the right, finally allowing his hand to reach beyond the spilled flour and the pan to what had held his fascination since the moment he entered the kitchen - the knife rack.

I can't wait for everyone to meet him, Kathy thought. She silently debated whether she should invite him to one of her regular after work office parties on a Friday so she could first let her co-workers get acquainted with him or instead make special plans with a few of her closest friends to introduce him to them first. No matter, she thought, as long as they all finally admit that I wasn't wasting my time looking for guys to date online.

With his left arm still firmly wrapped around her, he silently removed a butcher knife from the knife rack with his right hand. As his fingers gripped the handle, he loved everything about the way it felt including the smooth, cool metal against his palm and the power it contained in such a compact weight and design. He expertly twirled the knife in his hand, glancing over to see the shiny metal tip catch a small reflection from the light above Kathy's sink.

"So, Luis, what do you want to do next?" Kathy asked him with a sexy giggle as she picked up a glass bowl to wipe.

Behind her back, which was clearly visible through her sheer nightgown, he lined up the knife with her spinal cord at about the height of the kitchen counter. He brought his arm back as far as possible in preparation for a forceful swing.