The Whisper Box by Roger Olivieri Page B

his excitement. Meeting a complete stranger who enjoyed the things he enjoyed was fun. The stranger's great sense of humor made it worse, or better, he was not sure. He scanned the chat room to see who was there. He saw the usual culprits. Aaron was already beginning to recognize these people. He knew which ones were wise guys and which ones were serious. He knew who the Democrats were. There actually were Democrats in the Republican rooms looking to start arguments. He thought it was foolish, but sometimes it was fun. As he scanned through the letter A , he saw AmericanRepublican (one of his favorites), he then saw BeantownBush, ForeignTrade, GoRepubParty, and all the others. He got to the “L” section. She was not there. No LadiesFirst! He was so disappointed he felt, a lump in his throat. Aaron decided to wait patiently. Maybe she was just running late or her husband might have come home unexpectedly. Aaron felt frustrated. He could not wait to discuss all the days' events with her. Farnsworth was going to fry and Aaron was excited.
    While waiting for LadiesFirst, Aaron went to another one of his favorite web sites, CNN.com. The Headlines were large. FARNSWORTH FEELS HEAT. He read four different articles. A woman living in New York named Laura Greene, a former White House employee, had some incriminating evidence on the leader of our country. That was all that anybody knew. One reporter pointed out that she had a nervous breakdown after the death of her mother, that the woman could not be trusted. Another reported that she was asked to leave the White House after making repeated sexual advances towards White House staff. It made Aaron sick that the media always rallied around the President.
    The stories were there. This would be a great time to get the President while he was down. Instead they were helping him. In Aaron's mind the government controlled the media.
    He asked himself under his breath over and over, “Who is Laura Greene? Where is she right now? When is she going to break the silence? Is she legitimate?”
    Aaron was sure the media would have all these questions answered by morning. This was no small story. This was the next O.J. Simpson story, one of the great stories of the century. He shook with anticipation.
    Aaron looked back into the Republican Chat Room. LadiesFirst still had not come in. He was annoyed. He zipped back to the CNN page and he read another smaller article about our President just to pass the time. The President was in France this past week and returned to Washington today. The media clobbered him when he arrived.
    Mr. President spoke to the American people through his media. “I never even knew there was a woman named Laura working in the White House. I know my staff. I trust we'll get to the bottom of this through the proper channels. I have to worry about the American people now, not a woman seeking the media's attention.”
    He made a couple more of those evasive comments that government officials are famous for, smiled, waved, and moved on into a limousine. The limousine sped off. Aaron shook his head and then he jumped back into the Republican Room. He scanned through the “L's” one more time. His eyes locked. His heart jumped. She was there. He wrote her.
    RepublicanStud: Hey stranger!
    LadiesFirst: Hi. I have to go. Sorry.
    RebublicanStud: What's wrong kiddo?
    LadiesFirst: Have you been watching the news today?
    RepublicanStud: YES! Salivating the whole time!!!! Can't wait to hear more from this woman.
    LadiesFirst: I know the rest of the story.
    RepublicanStud: Who broke the story? Is it on television yet? What happened?
    LadiesFirst: Nobody broke the story. I just know what all the buzz is about. I have to go RebupStud. Sorry.
    RepublicanStud: NO. WAIT!
    The message came back: LadiesFirst disconnected from server.
    Aaron was speechless. Is this woman crazy? He doesn't know her at all. She could be a cracked up psychopathic lunatic. He remembers Miles telling him about some