A Kiss on the Screen Christopher Bernard [Total Pages: 14] Bernard Page 1     Download story in rtf format      "I LUV U"      Carmen flinched as if touched by a hot brand, then stared hard at the screen. What had the subject been?      "hope eternal"      She was such a fool! Was that why she'd clicked on it, because she still needed to believe in that?      Just this week she'd made associate attorney: she believed in smarts, sweat, energy, intimidation~and luck. What did hope have to do with it?      The message had a typically opaque sender: TJX037X2@msn.com.      Spam. Scam. Or internet stalker. And an IM illiterate to boot! Just what I need tonight.      Whatever. Someone who had sent, expressly to Carmen Vilar, to taunt her, wound her, those short, mocking, meaningless words.      She stuck her tongue out at the screen.      Where had she left her email address? MySpace, YouTube, PayPal, RedFish, craigslist, BizRate, eBay, her blog, her firm, her acupuncturist ... where had she not left it?      She hit the Reply button, and an empty email box appeared.      "Who are you? How do you know me? How did you find me?" she typed quickly, with brief pauses after each question, to think again about those three little words, now hidden under the box on her screen. She almost typed, "Where are you?"      Might be just a little too close for comfort, this guy: better not know too much too soon.