By JungleBumSQ Part 2 But now she is in the capital, attending a course for one and a half month. In the first week they had done well with the long distance thing.

But I knew it was rough on her. I knew her other course mates scurried home to be with the loved ones, but she just could not afford to fly back at every weekends.

I had become almost a surrogate boyfriend, an extension of what I used to be, a cyber boyfriend.

For these few days I am acting as a vent for her anger and frustration, listening to her problems, and offering sage, well sort of, wisdom on relationships, though most of the time it was on the phone or the Messenger.

I myself was not in a relationship. I had several female friends who could be considered play-buddies so I seldom had to worry about sex. If I wanted to get laid, I could easily find someone. Suzanne saw my cheeky yet serious ways and envied them to a point.

At the same time, I envied her ability to find someone that truly cared and loved her. It may have been the empty spots in each of our lives that drew us to be such good friends. I continued working on my hat, and then walked across the room to retrieve Suzannes. She sat on the foot of her bed, trying to pull off her boots, and obviously bothered by something. Need help with those? No, I got them.

Theyre wet and stubborn. She mumbled.

Need help with whats in your head right now? She struggled with the knee length boots a moment more, finally pulling them off. I took them from her and dried them a bit, placing them by her closet. She sat there in silence, as I resumed working on the black felt hat she had been wearing. It was less than 2 hours old, bought together at a shopping complex near the coffeehouse that we went just now and was now drenched. I tried as best I could to dry it off. It would require reshaping and cleaning after drying. Well yours is broke in now I guess.

Bad way to do it though.

I laughed. She looked up at me, her gloom seeming to deepen.

I finished toweling of the hat and sat it in the bathroom, along with the other, on towels to dry. It was obvious Suzanne was depressed and I would do my best, as usual to cheer her up and help her cope with it.

But as I stood in the doorway staring, other thoughts appeared.

She was a truly lovable woman. And much of our usual conversation do revolved around sex. Yes.

Both of us were self-admitted fiends for oral sex, and Suzanne would freely admit that she loved to swallow. Maybe my helping as a friend could include some recreational carnal exercises as well... hehehhh. I tried to shove the thoughts away, remembering that I was just a friend and that I had already broke up one serious relationship that way this year.

Ohhh, thats another story then. I walked in the room and sat down on the bed next to her. She stared sadly at me, her wet hair clinging to her face. I brushed it back and put my arm around her, then hugged her close. She seemed to melt into me, pulling close to me. We sat for many long moments, no sound except for the air-conditioner and our own breathing.

We do love to hug each other, even when chatting on the net. Im cold, Pete. Snuggling close to your heart.

Yup, hugging you close to me, lov, felt your warmth, felt your heartbeat. I dont know how Id live without you.

Youd live, honey youd live. Youre a survivor, whether in here or in the real world.

I know you, youre the best survivor I know.

We have been friends for about three years now, met a few times, mostly in the capital.

She would be flying in every now and then for a meeting, a seminar or anything, representing her boss who have a family commitment thats hard to leave behind.

And I would come down from the north, just to keep her accompany for a few hours.

From just gazing into each others eyes and holding hands in the first meeting, we eventually do what we have been doing for ages in the cyber world, comfortably hugging each other. And by the way she looked at me, I know she needed one right now.

What are you thinking? That I dont know if I can last this long distance thing much longer. I sit here every night and wait to hear from him, and when he doesnt call I feel, like, like Her voice started to crack as she finished saying this.

Within moments, I could feel the tears teasing of her face onto my shirt, feel the sobs starting to build. I pulled her close and lay back on the bed, holding her to me. She snuggled up closer to me and cried, letting all the pain and anger and frustration come out.