After the Deluge
After the Deluge
After the Deluge
Eliza Cobb
That bar last night was sooo cool! :D
TJ Olsen
I knew ud love it. ;)
Eliza Cobb
Miss you.
TJ Olsens
I miss u too :(
TJ Olsen is typing…
Thunder rumbles in the distance, the calling card of the summer storm I’ve been waiting for all afternoon. The air is cool now for the first time in three days. I pour myself another glass of Jameson and listen to the electric hum of the ceiling fan. I don’t know why I do this to myself.
TJ Olsen
Want 2 c a movie tonight?
I bought some wine. :D
Eliza Cobb is typing…
It’s been six months since she left me. I wish she’d change her password. But I can’t just ask her, can I? This one’s all on me.
Eliza Cobb
Ooh, what’s the movie? :)
TJ Olsen is typing…
I drain my glass and pour myself another. The screen is getting blurry. Shit. What am I even doing?
TJ Olsen
Underworld awakening :)
its jus a cam rip, but it looks ok.
Im hoping we wont get to finish it… if u no what I mean. ;)
Eliza Cobb
Lol
Eliza Cobb is typing…
Eliza Cobb
Definately.
See you tonight.
TJ Olsen
C u 2nite!
She tells him all the things she used to say to me. Pretends – when he takes her to our favourite bar – that it’s new to her. That she’s never been before. Maybe that’s true for her now. Maybe it’s different with him. TJ flicks to mobile. I stare at the empty chat window. The cursor blinks…
Seen 2:55
Fuck.
I remember the first time we were there together. It wasn’t the first time we’d ever met, but it was the first time we’d ever had a real-life conversation. We’d arrived separately to hang out with our mutual friends from the Brisbane Gothic Forum for a couple of drinks before a concert. I don’t remember who was playing. Some kind of shitty euro synth-goth – Apoptygma Berserk or VNV Nation – whatever we were dancing to at Winter back in 2006. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. We never got to see the show.
I log out of Liza’s account and into my own. I scroll through our old messages, looking for, shit, I don’t know. A connection? Something to latch on to? One exchange between us grabs me. Right before the end…
Eliza Cobb 
We were so young when we got together.
Alex Marsden 
Yeah..
Eliza Cobb
I’d never been with anybody else. There was Louis, for a while, then we broke up and I found you. And you were so interested in me…
Alex Marsden
Louis was an asshole.
Eliza Cobb
But that’s what I mean…
Alex Marsden
?
Eliza Cobb
I was only with him because I didn’t think I’d find anybody else. Then I signed up for the forum, and met you online with all the others.
Alex Marsden
Your posts were pretty good. :-P
Eliza Cobb
You met me in the bar to tell me that. It made me feel special.
Alex Marsden
You made me feel special too. I couldn’t believe it when you asked me out.
Eliza Cobb
I’m sorry. I don’t know what I’m trying to say. I’ll see you back at home.
Alex Marsden
I love you.
Seen 5:06
I hear another rumble, louder this time. Finally, the rain begins to fall. I remember this conversation. It feels weird looking back on it now. I didn’t think a lot about at the time but looking back, I notice it’s the first time she told me she was having doubts. She didn’t tell me too much after that. I scroll forward a couple of months…
Eliza Cobb
I’m not coming back.
Alex Marsden
Why? I don’t understand.
Eliza Cobb
I need to be alone for a while.
Alex Marsden
Can’t we talk about it, at least?
Eliza Cobb
What would be the point?
I feel like you don’t know me anymore.
Alex Marsden
I don’t know what to say…
Eliza Cobb
It’s over, okay? I’m sorry.
This is fucking stupid.
I blink away tears, shaking the last dregs of whiskey from the bottle. I get a sip, but nothing more. I put it down. I push myself up from the table. The room spins. The rain pounds. I stare blankly at the door to my bedroom and stumble out into the hallway. I need some pot, some Valium, or at least another drink.
“Hey Alex,” my housemate says.
His face distorts and twists around itself. I’m having trouble standing. I thrust out a hand to steady myself against the wall and drag my head up to look him in the eyes.
“Hey Jay,” I reply.
I try to pretend I haven’t been crying and drinking.
“You feeling alright?” he asks.
He looks past me into my bedroom and sees the empty bottle of whiskey.
“You drunk the whole thing?” He smiles.
“It doesn’t matter anyway,” I shrug.
“Have you been on her Facebook again?” He claps me on the shoulder. “Dude, you have to let it go.”
“I know man, I know. It’s just –”
“I know, I know. It’s tempting,” Jay interrupts. “When me and Becca broke up I was inconsolable. I wanted to know if she was feeling bad, like I was. She blocked me, though, and I never got her password…”
“Yeah, because you slept with her sister.”
“Still, I mean. Shit,” Jay laughs. “It’s really not the same at all.”
“Have you got any pot?” I ask him.
Jay nods.
“Fisho’s on the way over now,” He says. “We’re watching Dinocroc Vs. Supergator. It’s supposed to be a bit like Jurassic Park, but with crocodiles and women in bikinis.”
“That sounds perfect,” I smile.
“Fisho!” Jay shouts, rushing past me to the door.
“Jay, my man!” Fisho replies.
I return to my bedroom, grab the phone, turn off the computer and head down the hall.
Fisho’s rolling a joint on the couch, while Jay is plugging his laptop into the television. My phone buzzes. I check it:
XEXGIRLFRIEND – DO NOT DIAL!
;
Have you been using my account?
Oh shit, oh shit. What do I say?
Shit, shit, shit…
Facebook told me I’d been logging in from
your computer.
Could I tell her that the browser autocompleted her account details, that I accidently logged her in? She never saved her password on my computer. Could I tell her that I hadn’t touched the computer in months and that she must have had it signed in when she left me? No. She’s lived with me for years. She knows I use it all the time. Shit, I’m completely fucked! What am I supposed to do?
“What are you doing on your phone, man?” Jay asks.
I look up.
“What?”
“You’re missing the start of the movie.”
Fisho hands me a joint. I smoke it.
“It’s nothing,” I say. I put the phone in my pocket.
It buzzes again, but this time it doesn’t stop. The scientists on the television scream.
I take it out of my pocket. It’s a call from a private number. I hang up, but they call me back again.
“Sorry guys, I’ve got to take this.”
I head down the hall to my room.
“Hello?”
What did you think you were doing? The voice on the other end of the phone cries. It’s Eliza.
I go into my room and shut the door.
“Liza, I’m sorry… it’s just…”
It’s been six months Alex. When are you going to start acting like an adult?
“Look, it’s been really hard, okay? I see you online, and then –“
Thunder booms, shaking the house and scaring me shitless. I open up the curtain and peak at the rain. It’s really coming down out there.
If you didn’t want to be friends you should have said so, Eliza says.
I close the curtain.
“It’s harder than I expected, you know? I haven’t had to do this before…”
Eliza was the first girlfriend I ever had. Back in Lismore, the girls would take one look at me with my pimply face and Slipknot shirt and look the other way. I didn’t have a lot of friends until I moved to Brisbane.
Well it’s really fucking violating, Eliza says. Leave me alone.
She hangs up. Shit, what do I do?
It’s not even just about Eliza. She’ll be making a post on Facebook about me right now. The crazy fucking ex who won’t leave her alone. We were together for five years. Everyone I know is on her Facebook.
I turn on my computer. She’s blocked me now, of course. I go back to the lounge.
“Hey, he’s back.” Jay says.
He holds me out another joint. I take it, and smoke it down to half in what feels like a breath.
“Settle down man,” Fisho says. “Save a little for the rest of us.”
I pass it on.
“Jay, man, Eliza,” I tell him.
“I thought you weren’t going to think about her?”
“Yeah, man but she –“
Fisho hands me the joint.
“On second thoughts, I think you’d better finish this.”
“Thanks.”
I do.
“Eliza found out about my stalking.”
“Fuck, man,“ Jay says. “What are you going to do?”
“What can I do? It’ll be all over Facebook by now!”
I sit on the couch.
I feel the pot euphoria tugging at the edges of my consciousness, but it feels inappropriate somehow. Like it’s not the way I should be feeling. Fisho offers me a freshly rolled joint, but I wave him away.
“Everyone does it, if it’s any consolation,” Jay replies. “You were together, for what, three years? Everyone will understand.”
“It was five, actually.”
“Fuck me,” Fisho breathes. “I can’t imagine being with the same chick for that long.”
“I can’t imagine you with a chick at all,” says Jay.
“Fuck you!” Fisho grins.
“So have another marijuana,” Jay says, and Fisho sniggers - “and try not to think about it.”
My head is spinning.
“Nah man, I need to lie down,” I tell them. “The drugs, the whiskey… it’s done my fucking head in.”
Jay nods.
I go back to my room and lie on the bed, and listen to the storm. Facebook makes a sound of alert. Fuck, what now? I check it:
Amy Edwards
Your ex has said some pretty messed up shit about you on Facebook. Says that you’ve been stalking her, or something?
My other housemate, Amy. She’s supposed to be at work. I send her a reply:
Alex Marsden
I’d love to say it wasn’t true. I’ve been a fucking mess lately.
Amy Edwards
D:
Dude, this is serious. She’s thinking of filing a restraining order.
Alex Marsden
Seriously? What the fuck? Just because I went on her Facebook?
Amy Edwards
She’s saying more than that. Check it out:
She sends me an image:
Eliza Cobb
11 mins . Brisbane .
My EX boyfriend, ALEX MARSDEN has been stalking me for MONTHS! He’s been reading my emails, leaving whiny messages on my mobile and HARRASING my BOYFRIEND Tay! If anyone sees him, be aware: he’s a CREEP and NOT to be trusted!
9 mins . Like .
Sally Sparkles Oh no bae!!! :( :( RU ok?
9 mins . Like .
Max Power I would never treat m’lady like that!
11 mins . Like .
Eliza Cobb TJ Olsen, Sally Sparkles, I’ll be okay. I’m filing a police report tomorrow.
13 mins . Like .
Ridiculous. I message Amy.
Alex Marsden
Wtf? I called her once, a month ago, asking her why she broke up with me. I was drunk. I left a voice mail. I’ve never said a word to TJ. All I did was go on to her Facebook!
Amy Edwards is typing…
I rap my fingers on the desk and watch the screen, anxiously awaiting her reply.
Amy Edwards
You didn’t hear? They’ve been pretty on edge the past couple of weeks. TJ’s been getting these weird calls…
Alex Marsden
TJ is a student teacher and a total dickhole. It’s probably one of his kids.
Amy Edwards is typing…
I get up for a second. Pace to stretch my legs, and check outside the window. It’s still raining. There’s another blast of thunder, and a Facebook notification. I sit back down.
Amy Edwards
She’s pretty convinced that it’s you. There’s over a hundred comments now. You’ve got to sort this out.
Alex Marsden
I know, I know. This is fucked.
I pick up my phone and call Eliza. She doesn’t answer, so I dial again. But I’m being fucking stupid. I end the call. Of course she wouldn’t want to speak to me again.
Only one thing left to do. I press the button for the Facebook homepage and start to write a post:
My ex-girlfriend Eliza Cobb is spreading malicious rumours about me over Facebook. I don’t believe in airing private grievances, but if anybody…
Yuck, that’s bad. Too formal.
My ex is….
No…
The stories that my ex is telling you are –
There’s a blast of thunder and a crack of electricity. My monitor goes dead.
No. I stare at the screen, my jaw goes slack.
“No!” I shout – almost in unison with Jay and Fisho down the hall. Jay appears at the door. His eyes are red.
“The power’s dead,” he says.
“Really, dude?” I laugh. “I know.”
Fisho appears behind him.
“Sorry man, we’re super stoned,” he sniggers.
“And you think I’m not?” I answer.
They stare at me for a second, looking like they didn’t expect me to reply. I sigh.
“You want me to go out and check the box, don’t you?” I ask.
“Yeah,” Jay says, “Then come back into the lounge room and get high with us. This movie is fucking hilarious.”
I look at my dead computer monitor, and think of all the people who are online and currently talking shit about me. I shrug.
“Alright, I guess I’ll check it out.”
Jay claps me on the shoulder.
“Bro, you’re a lifesaver.”
“Well, you know me,” I roll my eyes.
My life is fucking over.
I trudge outside and check the power box. The rain is pouring down in sheets. I see a flash of lightning. I hear a boom of thunder. I flick the switch –
Click! Click!
But it’s dead. I go back inside, meeting Jay and Fisho in the lounge.
“It wasn’t just the switch,” I tell them.
“The power’s really out then? Fuck,” Jay says.
“There’s nothing on the Energex website,” Fisho adds, playing with his phone.
“Maybe the lightning blew a fuse?” I say.
“Can that even fucking happen?” Jay replies.
“Oh, wait – there it is. Everton Park,” Fisho says. “Expected wait time… Four hours? What the fuck?”
My life is fucking over… Wait! I go down the hall and grab my phone.
“Wait, you’re running out again?” Jay says.
“This is really damn important,” I tell him. “My life is on the line.”
“What, like, literally, or?” Fisho asks.
“Fucking figuratively obviously,” I reply. “Anyway, I’ve got to go!”
Jay shrugs and lights up a bong.
“Suit yourself.”
I go back to my room and pick up my phone. I hit the button for internet and sign into my Facebook. I post:
My ex-girlfriend Eliza is…
My phone buzzes:
Ah, fuck. I’ll have to make this quick.
My ex-girlfriend Eliza is spreading rumours about me on Facebook. I can’t reply because she has me blocked. The stories she is telling about me are….
Not true?
…the stories she is telling about me are not true.
False! Try false.
…the stories she is telling about me are false.
Telling about me? That’s really vague...
There’s another crack of thunder outside. It makes me jump out of my skin.
…the stories she is telling you are false.
I should probably change the start a bit too. Let them know that I didn’t find out about this myself, because I didn’t look at her page. Otherwise they’ll think that I’m a stalker. More so, I mean. Anyway:
It has been brought to my attention…
Perfect!
It has been brought to my attention…
THAT my ex-girlfriend Eliza –
…that my ex-girlfriend Eliza is spreading…
Nasty rumours! Try that. It adds a little punch and isn’t too pretentious.
…nasty rumours…
No, lies!
…nasty lies about me on Facebook. I can’t reply because she has me blocked. The stories she is telling you…
BUT the stories she is telling you…
…but the stories she is telling you are false. If you want to know what really happened, message me and I’ll explain everything. I don’t want to air out our dirty laundry on Facebook, but she hasn’t left me any choice.
There. Now, read it again:
It has been brought to my attention that my ex-girlfriend Eliza is spreading nasty lies about me on Facebook. I can’t reply because she has me blocked, but the stories she is telling you are false. If you want to know what really happened, message me and I’ll explain everything. I don’t want to air out our dirty laundry on Facebook, but she hasn’t left me any choice.
Beautiful, now – the phone shuts down – shit fuck shit, what the fuck do I do? I see the keys to my car on the table. But I can’t drive like this. I look at the dead phone in my hand. At the blank screen on my computer. I think about the nightmare on Facebook...
“Fuck it.” I grab the keys.
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