Four hour conversations are becoming normal for Moe and I. He's still expressing a lot of concern over his job, feels they're laying the ground work to justify letting him go. He's sure he's going to be called into the office tomorrow when he returns to work and given some sort of bad news. I told him not to give up hope... yet.� I find myself wondering if he was really serious about moving here should he lose his job.

Moe and I had made a promise in the beginning to be honest with each other if either of us became interested or involved with someone. Moe had once said, "If you meet someone and want to date him, go for it. I figure if we're meant to be, all roads will lead back here anyway."

Being true to my word, I commented to Moe in my snail mail that an 'internet love that had gone real time' from my recent past, had suddenly reappeared after a four month hiatus-- someone who had lived in my town, now lived three hours away, that I still occasionally emailed and chatted with. He made no mention of it when we talked on the phone or in a short email he sent from the library.

I told Moe I had finally posted our story on the love@firstbyte site and that people had emailed me concerning the story. Several of those who wrote expressed a little sadness at finding that things hadn't worked out wonderfully between us. They'd had such hope at the beginning of the story. Moe said in a sort of 'matter of fact' tone, "Well, its not over yet." My first thought was that maybe he was feeling a little more for me lately than he'd been letting on. I quickly squashed that thought. If he was feeling something more, I'm sure he'd never tell me anyway. I'd assumed that any possibility of us ever becoming more than friends had been thrown out the window. Maybe I'm wrong.

My distant ex-love, Jeff, had now made two trips to see me within a period of a week. I had to be honest with myself, there was still a little something there. I hadn't defined what that something was yet, but it was there, nonetheless. This relationship had been a bit complicated. With much the same circumstances still present, and now, with the added distance, I wasn't sure I wanted to pick up where we'd left off. And to complicate things even more, he'd said something he'd never said to me before... "I love you."

The week also brought another surprise. I'd had a recent chance encounter with a man who's path might possibly be crossing mine again in about ten days. I found myself drawn to him, found him attractive. After thinking about it, I realized he looked like a cross between Moe and Jeff, probably the reason for the attraction. I had thought about asking him if he were involved with anyone, and if not, maybe inviting him out to dinner. Still undecided.

And, on top of all that was happening, I had received an email and response to my Significant Other form, from a man named John, that immediately captured my attention. After exchanging a few rather lengthy emails, we decided to talk on the phone. Our conversation was great and we felt we'd made a nice mental connection. We're both interested in pursuing our new found friendship and getting to know one another better.

When it rains, it pours...