Gail and Jake met on the telephone through a popular service called “The Relationship Line.” This service enables men and women to leave voice ads expressing their desire to meet that special someone. They have been talking incessantly for three months and have fallen in love. Sounds hard to believe, but it's true. Each fulfills a need in the other. They have become as close as two people can get without ever meeting, sharing everything from their first kiss to their last heartbreak. Besides providing each other with basic physical descriptions, pictures were not exchanged leaving the plenty to the imagination.

Fear kept them from meeting. The fear of being rejected. Staying “phone friends” was safe. When the met the relationship could possibly end and neither wanted that to happen. After weeks of stalling both agreed to meet face to face. The uncertainty had to end. The time is eight o’clock Friday night.

The downstairs bell rang.

“He's here!” Gail exclaims. Her heart starts beating a mile a minute. With shaky hands she buzzes him in.

“Okay, here we go. There’s no turning back now.”

Gail happily reflects back to the first time they spoke. Jake’s welcoming and friendly voice attracted her from the start. They were both a little nervous and by the end of the conversation had become fast friends. After weeks of getting to know Jake better, feelings developed and the mutual fantasy began. His genuine kindness and care for her ultimately won her over. Only one thing could now keep them apart. Gail shuddered at the mere thought of things not working out and not having Jake in her life.

Her friends wondered why they didn’t exchange pictures. They thought she was crazy to continue a phone relationship for so long without meeting. Gail never told them her true feelings. Instead she lied and made light of the situation. Secretly she feared he wouldn’t find her attractive. Besides, pictures never did her justice and Gail refused to let some crummy snapshot be his first physical impression of her.

Truth be told, she liked talking to him. She looked forward to his call every night. It was exciting and arousing. Most importantly, she didn’t feel so alone anymore. But like all good things, this too must come to an end. They knew there must be mutual physical attraction to further connect. Gail was well aware of the risks involved, risks both of them were willing to take.

Looking in the mirror she tries to calm her nerves by taking a few deep breaths. She smiles at her reflection. Her thoughts wander once again. Like so many times before Gail plays the scene in her head. She opens the door and Jake stands there looking as handsome as ever. She can tell he feels the same way about her by the way he smiles. They embrace and then kiss for the first time. The cat’s meow snaps her back to reality. She’s feeling a little flustered. Gail bends down, picks up the cat and strokes his soft fur.

“He’s right downstairs,” she says excitedly. The cat looks up as if giving her a reassuring look and Gail whispers, “I hope it works out too.”

Jake walks into the building and heads for the elevator. There are two. One is all the way up on thirty, which is her floor, and the other has a huge sign that reads “Out of Order.” He impatiently presses the button.

“Hurry up,” he says aloud, “I can’t wait much longer.” Jake paces the floor trying to calm his nerves. The whole day has been spent in agony waiting for this moment. He almost canceled twice.

Thoughts jumble through his mind. Like Gail, he recalls their first telephone conversation and all that’s happened since. After talking the first week they planned to meet but something came up and it got rescheduled. The second attempt failed as well, leaving them both a little frustrated but at the same time relieved that this fantasy could be prolonged just a little longer. One time he decided to surprise Gail and made it all the way to her doorstep. Hearing the faint sound of music spilling through her door made it all too real for him. He ended up chickening out and left a note with a rose instead.

They both delayed meeting as long as possible. Both were afraid of what the other might think. Both were worried the attraction wouldn’t be there. The truth will finally reveal itself tonight.

The elevator door opens and Jake gets in. It stops at the second floor. A woman with three kids enter, immediately causing a commotion. The kids are carrying on about something the dog did when suddenly the two boys start fighting and the younger girl starts crying. The mother pulls them apart and screams something in another language at the top of her lungs. They get off at the tenth floor and the last child to leave, one of the boys, quickly presses random buttons and then sprints off laughing.

By now Jake is ready to explode. Normally he would just laugh at the little guy’s prank instead of wanting to break his neck. When the door is just about to close it reopens and an elderly woman inches her way inside.

“What floor?” he asks.

The old woman looks at him confused and says rather loudly, “What?”

Realizing she must be hard of hearing he asks louder, “What floor?”

“Oh,” the old woman says, "Twenty-one please, thank you.”

It may just be anxiety talking but this ride is taking forever. He tries calming down but it only makes the reality of meeting her even more real.

The elevator stops at twelve due to the boy's prank. Thankfully, no one is there. It then stops at fourteen, seventeen, and twenty. At twenty-two the old woman slowly gets off without a care in the world. If he didn’t have a conscious he’d push her out.

“Here we go. “Gail must be wondering where I am.” No sooner did the words leave his lips when the elevator makes another stop at the twenty-fifth floor. A man enters, nods politely, and presses twenty-six.

By the time the thirtieth floor comes around Jake is mentally exhausted. He jumps out of the elevator as if it were on fire. He thinks to himself, “The last thing I want is to be caught inside this godforsaken elevator and have the doors close on me. The trip down could take hours! If that did happen I’d just get off at the next floor and take the stairs up, but I’m here now and everything is okay. Now I’m rambling.” Jake leans against the wall and take a couple of deep breaths.

“Breathe. Just breathe.”

Thank god Gail didn’t decide to wait for him by the elevator.

“Okay, this is it. It’s now or never.”

By now Gail is frantically pacing the floor wondering where he could be. She’s so nervous she can barely stand straight. What if he decided to back out? No. She wouldn’t torture herself like that. He’ll be here. He’ll be here. A few seconds later the doorbell rings.

She half-runs to the door and fights the temptation to sneak a peak through the peephole.

“Yes?”

“It’s me.”

“What took you so long? For a minute I thought you--”

“Changed my mind? Not a chance.”

Gail smiles and lifts her hand to touch the door. He’s right there! On the other side Jake’s hand is almost in the exact same place. Then for a moment no one speaks. The turn of the lock breaks the silence when he says, “Don’t! Don’t open the door yet.”

Surprised Gail asks, “Why? What do you mean?”

“Well” he begins, “I have an idea.”

She asks impatiently, “What is it Jake?”

“Now don’t think I’ve gone crazy but when you open the door I want our eyes to be closed.”

“You want our eyes to be closed? That’s is crazy.” All Gail wanted to do is swing the door open and get this over with.

He is a little surprised by his impulsiveness but had to go with it. It is a perfect idea.

“Look Gail I know what you must be thinking but trust me. The reason I want our eyes closed is because...” his voice trails off for a moment.

“Because what?” she demands anxiously.

“Because I want us to kiss.”

“You want us to kiss?” Did she hear him right? “Look um, I don’t know, I um--.”

He interrupts her and in the sincere voice she’s started to fall in love with says, “Listen, we’ve been talking a long time and who knows what will happen once this door opens.” Getting caught up in the emotion of it all his tone changes. “But damn it, I don’t want to lose this feeling. I hate to admit it but what we feel can very easily end once we are finally face to face.”

“Yes, I know that can happen,” she says sorrowfully. “It’s all I’ve thought about. But what if we do kiss and then open our eyes to disappointment? How do we handle that?”

“I don’t know Gail, I haven’t thought that far in advance. I just know I want to kiss you. If nothing else is to happen between us I want us to at least have this one special moment. One kiss.” He swallows hard and says, “Can you understand that?”

Yes of course she understood but can she go through with this? Can she actually kiss him under these unusual circumstances? On the other hand it sounded so romantic, how can she not be a part of it. Like Jake said, if nothing else happens between them then at least they’ll have this kiss.

Gail takes a deep breath and says, “Okay. I’ll do it.”

“Great,” he exclaims. “And just think, this will be one heck of a story to tell our kids someday.” They both laughed.

“Are you ready Gail?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

Gail slowly opens the door with her eyes closed, as promised. She resists the overwhelming temptation to open them. Jake does the same and reaches out until he touches her hand.

Gail says, “I can’t believe we’re actually doing this.”

Jake pulls her close to him and holds her tight. He can smell the sweet fragrance of her perfume. They are so close now. This is when fantasy ends and reality begins. Like a blind man, Jake brings his hand to her face, finds her lips and they kiss. It starts off sweet and innocent then grows as their passion grows. All of their emotions and desires are sealed with this kiss.

As much as Gail would like to continue kissing him she has to stop. She pulls away and opens her eyes and Jake does the same. Her body is trembling. He gives her a warm and knowing smile. She’s more beautiful than he ever imagined. Gail manages a reassuring smile and her eyes well up with tears. His eyes are far from dry. She looks deep into his eyes and swears she can see his soul. He’s hopelessly falling in love with her.

Taking her hand he says, “I love you.”

Gail falls into his arms needing to feel his touch now more than ever and whispers, “I love you too.”

They hold each other as love envelops them. With mind and soul now one, their search has ended. Their lives just beginning.