Book #4 Continued

On the drive home that evening Jacey reflected on all the stories she heard over the past two hours.  Some of them were sad, some were lonely, some were funny in a twisted sort of way.  But the common denominator Jacey noticed is that all of these people had met Lucas some where along their path.  Either as previous drinking partners or simply as strangers at a chance meeting.  Regardless, Lucas was the key.

Jacey pulled into the garage of her condo and got out of the car.  Lugging her laptop inside, she stopped to pet "lucky" her pound cat.  Dropping her purse off on the kitchen table, she walked over to the freezer.  She looked through her selection of perfectly portioned premade frozen meals and chose chicken alfredo.  Popping it in the microwave she walked over to the wine cabinet and picked a beautiful Pinot Grigio to have with dinner.  Sighing to herself she poured her wine and sat down at the table.

Lucas.  Luke.  Teach.

He was all she was thinking about at the moment.  Why was this man she barely met affecting her so quickly?  The deadline for the first draft of her book was coming up soon and she barely had her plot compiled.  She should be concentrating, but man, watching Lucas tonight in his element was distracting.  This man really cares about these people.  While Jacey should have been taking better notes on the speakers, her mind kept reaching out to Lucas.  He gave off such a calm and gentle spirit.  Listening to him speak tonight was the highlight of the evening.  Oh boy!  Jacey you are in T-R-O-U-B-L-E.

The microwave dinged and brought Jacey back to reality.  She pulled out her laptop and powered it on.  Quickly she grabbed her food and a fork and sat down at the table.  Looking through her emails and responding to her editor the hundredth time that the first draft was "almost" complete, she noticed an email from Donna.  They had exchanged information after class but wasn't expecting any contact so quickly.  Jacey clicked on the email:


Hi Jacey, 


It's me Donna.  Duh, you probably knew that! LOL. Anyhow, I know the first night can be kind of tough when you are making an effort not to drink.  So I just wanted you to know I am here for you.  Anytime.  DAY or NIGHT.  I swear.  You can call me.  Text me (but make it after 7pm cause it's free then).  You can call though anytime (cause that's always free).  Anyway....just wanted to say hi!  Hi! LOL.  


K - bye


Donna


Jacey smiled.  Donna sure did know how to write an email.   What does LOL stand for anyway?  Jacey reached for the laptop and googled "LOL".  Huh. Laugh out Loud?  Interesting.  There were all kinds of these little "slang" words.  If you could really call them words.  Jacey hit reply and typed a short email back:

Thanks Donna,


I appreciate you checking up on me.  I am fine really.  Just sitting here surfing the internet and eating my dinner.  I am drinking kool-aid right now! LOL.


Thanks for being available.


See you at group in a couple of days!


-Jacey


Jacey glanced over at her glass of Pinot and slowly shook her head.  Grabbing the glass she headed for the sink.  It's for the best she thought.  How can she justify drinking wine at night when she is attending AA meetings for a pretend "alcoholic" problem?