Words with Friends

They spent the next hour trying to cram 13 years of family goings-on into it. Who got married, who'd had kids, who got divorced, who died. It seemed like they'd just gotten started when the same CO called out, "Ten minutes!"

Hallie and her mom were trying to find a way to say goodbye when someone new walked into the visitor's area. She only saw him out of the corner of her eye but she did a double take because the guy happened to be very good looking. She tried not to stare as she and her mom did their best to wrap things up until her eyes met his. When they did, he smiled and Hallie's mouth dropped open in total disbelief.

"What is it, sweetheart?" her mother asked. "You look like you just saw a ghost." She turned to look at the young man behind her then turned back to her daughter. "Do you know that man, Hallie?"

The man was now standing right behind her mother as he said, "Hello, Hallie."

Unable to speak she just stared. "It's me. Owen. Owen Dickson. You know, Words With Friends Owen. I was hoping maybe we could talk. I'm sorry, I didn't know you had a visitor."

"Oh, you do know him! Oh, how nice," her mother said. She turned around and smiled and said, "Hello, young man. I'm Hallie's mother. I'm Sally Fletcher. Won't you please sit down and join us? I don't think there's much time left so I'm going to let you two spend it together. Hallie? I love you so much, honey."

Hallie stood up and walked around the table to hug her mother. "I love you, too, Mom. I can't tell you how glad I am you came." They hugged one last time and said goodbye as she slowly shuffled out the door. Hallie went back around the table and sat across from Owen. He was even better looking in person than in his profile pic.

"Five minutes left for visitation. Please start saying your goodbyes now."

"Owen, I'm so sorry and...so embarrassed. I never meant to...."

"Not email me? As it turns out, I'm almost glad you didn't. I'm not some kind of crazy stalker or anything. I got so concerned I decided to try and find you just to make sure you were okay. Google is an amazing thing. It only took me a few minutes to find out who...I mean, where you are. Well, okay, I had to call Broward County first but.... I guess your location is a matter of public record." He smiled trying to assure her he didn't mean that like it sounded. "I assumed you'd decided not to talk to me again but in addition to wanting to make sure you were okay, I had to know what your dream is. Remember you promised to tell me?"

"I have no excuse for not telling you, Owen. It's just that, well I...."

"You never lied to me, Hallie, and you don't owe me anything. I was just so intrigued by the short conversations we had, I knew I wanted to meet you. Then when you suddenly stopped communicating and didn't respond to my emails or chat on WWF, I got worried that maybe something had happened to you and that made me even more determined to find out who you are. I...had to meet you. So as I said, I Googled your name. I admit I was more than a little surprised when I saw an old photo of you from a newspaper right after your um...arrest, but I recognized it immediately. Then when I learned you were just 19 and that you only drove the car...." He looked right at her and asked, "Hallie? Why did you stop communicating with me?"

"It wasn't intentional, Owen. It wasn't even my choice. They took our old iPads away without any warning. We're getting new ones—tomorrow—and I was going to write you, but well, now that you know the truth, I guess I won't have to bother," she said without looking up at him.

"Bother? Hallie, I want to get to know you so I hope you'll keep writing to me. But if you won't write to me, then I'll just have to come back here to see you in person next week. It's your choice, but either way, I'm planning on coming back here unless you tell me not to."

"One minute folks. One minute left."

"You want to see me again? Knowing...this...about me?"

"We've all made mistakes, Hallie. Yours was a long time ago and from what I can tell you got caught up in a very bad idea and you've more than paid for it. So unless you're a very different person than my gut tells me you are, then yes, I do want to see you again."

"But why, Owen? You have a daughter and your ex-wife would never allow me to...."

"Stephanie? Hallie, she's my niece. My brother and sister-in-law live here in Pensacola. I was just watching her for the weekend so they could have a little time alone together. I don't have children. I'd like to some day but..."

"Time's up, people. Visitation is now over. Inmates need to return to their rooms."

Everyone stood up. Hallie smiled, and said to Owen, "So...I have to go."

"I'll be back next week, Hallie. Same time, right here. Just don't shut me out, okay?" he said as the CO came and took her arm to lead her away.

"Okay. I won't." As she got to the door she turned and said, "I really am a different person now, Owen." He waved goodbye and smiled at her as she left the room.

Hallie didn't sleep at all that night. When reveille came at 6am, she was still wide awake in her bunk. She spent the rest of the day in a kind of fatigue-induced haze as she robotically picked up trash along the road. Her evening shower helped re-invigorate her and when she heard the other women buzzing about the new iPads being in, she felt a shot of adrenaline surge through her body that powered her through dinner and the wait in line to get her new and improved gadget.

She carried it back to her room like it was some sort of sacred artifact that had to be protected from harm at all costs. She sat on her bed, hit the 'on' button and swiped the screen to open it. None of her former icons were there, but thanks to Miriam she knew how to find them and download them onto the new screen. It took about ten minutes, but she had Hotmail and WWF up and running and hurriedly searched for anything from Owen.

When she opened Hotmail, she saw a '6' by her mailbox. All of them were from Owen. The last four were questions about what he might have said to offend her and just-in-case apologies. The last one nearly made her cry when she read it.

"Dear Hallie, I have no idea what I could have said that made you not want to keep in touch. I don't know why, but I feel like we have some kind of connection. They talk about women's intuition all the time and maybe yours is telling you to run, but whatever this thing is I'm feeling, it's telling me to keep trying.

So whatever it is I've done, I'm very sorry. I really would like to continue corresponding with you and I promise to take it as slow as you need and I hope to hear from you soon. Owen."

She felt a few tears fall before she realized she was violating her vow again. She quickly dried her eyes and typed out a long email telling Owen how wonderful it was to see him—and her mother. She told him about how she left home and why, about meeting Fast Freddie, the robbery, her arrest, and her transfer to Pensacola. She also told him she was down to just three more weeks before her first parole hearing and how she was both excited and worried about it. If released, she'd have to find a job, a place to live, and meet with her parole officer twice a week. Then she wrote, "If you're still reading, I've decided I'd rather tell you my dream in person. Well, if you're still coming next week, that is."

For the next six days they exchanged emails in which they shared stories about where they grew up, where they went to school, and many other personal details about their lives. As visitation day rolled around, Hallie found herself a nervous wreck as the day wore on picking up the never-ending mess of trash along the interstate. She laughed as she selected her 'best' orange jumpsuit after taking a shower that started off hot and intentionally ended up cold to help close her pores and maybe even calm down.

She still hadn't told the other girls about Owen. All they knew was that her mother had visited the week before and Miriam wanted to know if she was coming to visit again.

"Oh, no. She lives in Naples where I grew up and she had to get back home. I'm just hoping my dad doesn't leave her over this."

As they were chatting, the CO's voice boomed out, "Fletcher? Let's go. You've got a visitor."

"Uh-oh. Looks like yo' ol' man dun walked out on yo' momma, girl," Corrine said trying her best to be sympathetic. "I wish my momma'd come see my ass in her. She don' wan' nuthn' to do wid me." Hallie had never once seen Corrine cry, but she swore she saw her eyes glisten when she mentioned her mother. She saw Hallie looking at her and feigned being angry, "What da hell you starin' at, bitch? Go see yo' momma an' stop lookin' at me like dat. Go' on, now. Git!"

Hallie smoothed her shoulder-length blonde hair in the mirror as she walked by and noticed her palms were sweaty. "Jesus. I feel like I'm in junior high," she told herself. As the CO buzzed her in, she saw Owen sitting at the same table they'd sat at the week before.

She walked in and he stood up to greet her. "Hey there!" he said. He reached out his hands for hers and said, "Is this okay? They told me it was, but if you don't...."

She put her hands in his and told him, "It's very okay."

"They also told me it's okay to hug you, too." He raised his eyebrows indicating he needed her to tell him whether or not it was okay with her.

"I'd like that," she said as he let go of her hand and put them around her waist. Hallie reached up underneath his arms and hugged him back. A flood of emotions hit her as he squeezed her. She tried to drink it all in but it was over almost as soon as it started.

"Wow, that was really nice," she said without looking at him. "I haven't had a man hug me since well, you know...."

"I enjoyed it, too," he assured her.

They spent the first half hour together taking about the things they'd shared that week via email. Hallie confirmed that Owen had been in Pensacola for six months, divorced for just over a year, and that he'd been commissioned 13 years ago. In fact, just two days prior to the robbery and her subsequent event.

"So it would appear our lives have taken very different paths these last 13 years," she said trying to not get down on herself, something she'd become very good at.

"What matters is the paths they take from here on out," he told her. "You don't have much time left in here and once you're finally out, you can start over and be anything you want." He reached across the table and held out his hand. Hallie again put hers in his as he said, "So...tell me about your dream."

Hallie spent the rest of their time together trying to tell him how instead of letting anger and rage fuel her, she'd let the hope of her dream give her a reason to live. She explained that her dream met finding someone who could love her in spite of her past and accept her for her future potential.

"Does that dream include children?" he asked as he extended his other hand for hers.

"Oh, most definitely. But not until we've had some time together...alone. You know, to get to really know each other."

Owen smiled and said, "We?"

Hallie smiled back and said, "I meant whoever that guy might be. Someday."

"So that guy couldn't be me?" he said as he ran his thumbs over the back of her hands.

"Owen? You have no idea how vulnerable I am. I've learned to be strong—really strong—but this is an area where I'm not strong. So please don't play with my emotions because...."

He stood up and went around to the her side of the table and pulled a chair up very close. She turned sideways toward him and once again he took her hands. "I'm not playing, Hallie. I'm in no way comparing my situation to yours, but my ex-wife really hurt me. I'm not asking for sympathy. I'm just being honest. And to be honest, I share your dream. I want to find someone who'll love me the way you described wanting to be loved. I want her to trust me and I want to know I can trust her—always. So I would never play with your emotions or string you along." He reached out and touched her cheek and said, "The guard out front said we're allowed two kisses during each visit."

"She did?" Hallie said not knowing what else to say.

"Yes, she did. I'd like to save one for when I go, but...I'd like to use one of them right now." He leaned closer to her and said quietly, "Would that be okay with you?"

Hallie felt her stomach flip-flop as he looked into her eyes. This had to be a cruel dream of some kind because this beautiful man couldn't possibly be sitting here with her—in prison—and asking to kiss her. So she decided that even if it was just a dream, she would play along.

"It would be very okay with me," she said as he pressed his lips to hers. He'd been told the kisses were to be brief and no deep, open-mouthed kissing was allowed. He held his mouth to hers for several seconds before slowly pulling away.

As he did, he looked into her eyes and said, "That was pretty amazing."

Hallie looked down and said, "I've dreamed about that for 13 years. I don't really believe in God, but right now I'm praying I don't wake up and find out I'm just dreaming."

"You're not," he said as he brushed back her hair. "This isn't a dream, Hallie. I'm really here and I really want to be here. And I don't plan on going anywhere."

As the CO announced time was up, Owen took her hand and helped her stand. Hallie was actually relieved because her legs failed her when she tried to stand. Owen caught her and asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yes. I'm okay." She looked at him and said, "A little shaky but I'm very okay."

"So, may I have that second kiss now?" he asked as the CO moved toward them.

"Definitely," she said as she closed her eyes. This kiss was much like the first one until Hallie felt the tip of Owen's tongue on hers. She tried not to moan out loud, but she couldn't stop herself as hers briefly responded to his. "Mmmm," she said ever-so quietly. "Wow...."

"I'll be here next week again. I promise."

The CO took her elbow to lead her away. As she was leaving she told him, "I should know the exact date of my parole hearing this week."

"Let me know, okay?" he said as she disappeared from his view.

The following Monday, she was informed that her hearing was scheduled for 7 days hence. She anxiously waited for the hours to pass so she could email Owen and let him know.

"That's fantastic!" he wrote back almost immediately. "When will they let you out?"

"It's usually the next day," she told him. "But there's no guarantee I'll be released." As she hit 'send' the thought of that hit her like a ton of bricks. What if they didn't grant her parole? She had have to wait another month or maybe several more months for another hearing. But why would they have sent her to Pensacola if she wasn't going to be released? Hallie felt ill. Bile welled up in her throat at the thought of hearing the words, "Parole denied."

She kept her fears to herself and maintained a happy front for Owen's sake. That Wednesday he was there right on time for their weekly visit. "So...this is it?" he said after kissing her hello.

"Right. Last one," Hallie repeated nervously. While she'd heard nearly everyone brought here had been released on their first try, she knew of at least two women who'd been denied. One had been released a month later. The other woman had had to wait three more months before they let her go. To get this close and have to wait even one more day was unconscionable. Three months sounded like a life sentence.

Owen could tell something was bothering her and said, "I find that planning is the one thing that makes feel in control when things seem like they're out of control. Let's plan for your release starting from the moment they let you go, okay?"

Hallie wasn't sure how well that would work, but she knew she needed to try something to keep her mind off of the worst-case scenario. "Okay. Well, I won't be wearing this..." she said referring to her orange jumpsuit. "I don't have any, but we're allowed to wear makeup and they give us a white blouse and a pair of black pants and some black flats to wear if we're released so...."

"If? You will be released, Hallie. Don't let yourself believe anything else, okay? And listen. I'll bring you something to wear. What would you like? What size do you wear? What...."

"Owen, you don't need to do any of that. I'll be fine. I just want to get out. But thank you. That's very sweet."

"Okay, but I'd still like to know your size. Just in case."

She smiled and said, "Well, I know I'm not a size 2 anymore, but I think I can still fit in a 4. As far as shoes...." she held up her right foot and said, "I'm a size 6 1/2 unless my feet have managed to grow in here. But please don't do anything crazy. You have better things to spend your money on than a get-out-of-jail outfit for me. Promise?"

"I promise I won't spend too much," he said with a wink. "And for the record, it is my money," he said with a warm smile. "So since you are not the boss of me, I'll spend it anyway I see fit, okay?"

She smiled at his sense of humor then sighed and said, "Owen? Are you trying to make me fall in l..." She stopped in mid-sentence and put her hands over her mouth. "Oh, Owen. I am so sorry. I didn't mean that like...."

"Like...you meant it?" he teased politely. He waited for her to respond but she didn't. "I'm asking because I've been wondering if maybe you've been trying to make me, you know...fall in love with you."

Owen was looking into her eyes but she hadn't been able to look at his since she stopped talking. He saw her blink several times. He reached out and took her hand and said, "Hey! What did I do? Are you upset with me?"

"No," she said as tears fell.

"Then what is it? Why the tears?" he asked squeezing her hands.

He felt her tremble as more tears fell quickly one after another. "Hallie? What is it?"

"Is it working?" she managed to ask him as she forced herself to speak without letting her voice crack.

"Is what working? Hallie, what's going on?"

"My efforts to get you to...fall in love with me." She looked over at him without turning her head. "Are they working?"

He saw her blink away several tears as he pulled his chair as close to hers as he could. As soon as his made contact with hers, he heard the female CO on duty say, "Sir? Please leave at least one foot of separation between you and the inmate at all times."

Owen pushed his chair back and said, "So much for any possibility of being romantic."

Hallie managed to laugh and that made Owen smile. "What I was planning on saying before I was so rudely interrupted was—yes. Your efforts are working." He watched her face for a reaction before adding, "Like a charm, in fact."

"Seriously?" she said her voice rising. "You're not just saying that because you feel obligated or something, are you?" He saw the pain on her face in her need to know he wasn't kidding.

"Yes, seriously and no, I'm not kidding." He held her hands tight and said, "I'm falling in love with you, Hallie Fletcher-not-Berry."

She laughed a laugh of deep relief and managed to blow snot his way along with a few teardrops. "Oh, my God! Owen, I am so sorry!" She reached out to wipe off the mess and he just laughed.

"That was a small price to pay to see you so happy," he told her.

"Time's up, people! Visitation is over. Inmates must return to their rooms."

He helped her stand again and she said, "I feel the same way, Owen. So...so if they don't let me out...." She started to cry again.

He held her and said, "They will. But if they don't, then I'll wait. One month, six months. I don't care. I'll wait because you're worth waiting for."

"I am?" she said as she looked up into his eyes.

"You are," he reassured her with a gentle touch. He saw the CO walking their way and said, "Here comes Broomhilda and we still have a kiss left."