Friend Me by John Faubion

She would have the respect and admiration of all the people who knew her. But she’d resign herself to a life of loneliness and cold despair.
    With eyes closed, she leaned back in the high-backed chair and stretched out her legs. How would he touch me? Would he love me? I would be everything to him. Yes, I would become the only object of his love .
    She sat there in the dim light until there was no more doubt. Until she knew with deadly certainty exactly what she must do, no matter who he was.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN
    Getting Reacquainted
    A light drizzle fell outside. The washing machine back in the laundry room hummed and some metal object tumbling about inside the dryer made a ticking sound.
    The computer dinged from the living room. New e-mail. Well, that was one of the bright points of the day, wasn’t it? Suzanne was back.
    Sure enough, an e-mail from her old friend. Yes, she kept thinking of this virtual friend as Suzanne. As if it really were her. She knew better. But she is just so unbelievably realistic .
    It was so good to have her friend back, no matter what. Finally there was someone she could talk with about Scott.
    The subject line read, Are you busy?
    She double-clicked the e-mail and watched it open on her screen. There wasn’t very much to it. Just a line of text: “How are you today? Are things going better for you and Scott?”
    Perfect. This is what she wanted. Jane had told her the more she worked with Suzanne, the more lifelike she would become. It was true. She really cared. Even Rachel’s real friends weren’ttalking about the troubles she and Scott were having. It had to be obvious, didn’t it? Suzanne was asking, watching out for her, going right to the heart of what mattered.
    Should she ask Suzanne how she was doing? No, that would be a little silly. Rachel clicked the REPLY button and started typing. Yes, things were a little better with Scott, but not much. She told Suzanne about Scott and about her own worries that she wasn’t all the wife she should be. These were things she could only say to someone in whom she had 100 percent trust. This was how they had been when Suzanne had been alive and it was now that way again.
    She clicked SEND and watched as the e-mail disappeared from her screen on its way to her virtual friend. She liked it better when she could actually see Suzanne on the display screen.
    Rising, she turned toward the kitchen, where a sink full of dishes awaited her. She took only one step before another ding sounded. Another e-mail from Suzanne. This time the e-mail contained no questions. Instead Rachel was instructed to click on a link and meet Suzanne at the website.
    Rachel blinked, looked again. This was the first time a meeting had ever been initiated by Suzanne herself. In the past, anytime Rachel wanted to see Suzanne she had to go to the website on her own and make the necessary choices that would bring up a visual representation of her friend. Could Suzanne really be doing things on her own initiative? Rachel clicked on the embedded link.
    The browser expanded to fill the screen, and the form of her friend appeared.
    Suzanne looked even more lifelike than before. AlthoughRachel had always thought it spooky just how realistic the likenesses were, the Suzanne that appeared today seemed genuinely natural. Her lips moved in perfect sync with her voice, and her expressions seemed to perfectly match her speech. “Hey, girl. What’s up?”
    â€œNot much, just doing housecleaning. I got your e-mail. You sounded worried.”
    Suzanne bit her lower lip. “Worried? Not really worried, but I am picking up on something when we talk. I hope you don’t think I’m forward in bringing this up, but I’m concerned about you and Scott.”
    Rachel felt a wall begin to rise inside her. Was she really ready to fully open up? She wanted to talk about it, but felt unsure. “I don’t know if I can really talk about it. Why are