Excerpt from Dear Adam by Ava Zavora
"Eden, no one who knows me would ever believe how we met. Or that I am now a willing slave to our e-mails and Skype talks. You have to understand how strange this is for me. Two weeks ago, if a friend of mine had told me he found a woman online, I wouldn't have hesitated in telling him to run the other way and not look back."
"But we haven't met," she reminded him. She debated on whether or not to bring up the topic that had lately begun to insinuate itself into her every other thought.
"When," she started to ask hopefully. A definite when, not if. "When do you think we'll be able to meet?"
It worried her that he hadn't asked yet to meet her. Was she not enticing enough? Was she taking the whole thing too seriously? Was he still deciding if she could be trusted? Despite how much time they've spent together, she was starting to doubt herself. Maybe he didn't think she was worth flying halfway across the world.
His reply was swift. "Six months." His tone was firm. This topic was non-negotiable. "At least."
"Six months!" Eden exclaimed.
"I could be there tomorrow," he relented, softening a little. "But I can't leave my business for too long. It's at a critical phase at the moment and I need to be here to make sure nothing gets overlooked. And for our first meeting, I'd want us to have at least a week, maybe two. More importantly, we can’t rush things, Edie."
"I'm not saying tomorrow," Eden said, deflated. "But six months?"
He cautioned against rushing things, but earlier he was hinting of a future together. It was becoming more difficult each day to let him go, no matter how much they e-mailed, no matter how long they talked. Even in the midst of conversation, she would be overwhelmed with an unexpected ache of missing him. His physical absence was a hollow, ever present void.
"We could be really amazing, you and I. But if we are going to do this, I want to do it properly. I want it to last. And that takes time. The best things are worth waiting for. We are worth waiting for. When it’s right," he said in a voice that was unshakably certain, "Name the place. Name the date. Name the hour. And I will fly anywhere in the world to meet you."
