I could think up something witty, but decide being direct will get me better results.
Toxic:Well, what do you say? Care to settle this in person?
I watch with bated breath as a text bubble appears, disappears, and reappears again.
Come on, hit send…
As I’m about to give up hope, a text appears.
Trista Kinney:You mean like…meet up?
Toxic:That’s exactly what I mean.
Trista Kinney:And do???
Toxic:Oil your joints, tighten your bolts, switch out your bulbs, and every dirty thing you could possibly think up.
Trista Kinney:Bold of you to assume I think you’re hot.
Toxic:You’re the one who messaged me.
Trista Kinney:Only to tell you how BB was gaslighting you.
I’m not buying what she’s putting out. Hundreds of women have contacted me over the years, most of them asking personal questions and if we could meet up.
Having a fan argue pop culture with me is a first, and what makes the whole situation even more bizarre is that I’m not even sure she’s a fan.
The more I think about our interactions, the more uncomfortable I feel.
Toxic:I need to know why you’re messaging me, or I’m going to block you.
Trista Kinney:You’re not buying that I just want to spread the good gospel of K-2SO?
Toxic:nope
After several minutes, I start to put my phone away, but a ping alerts me to her reply.
Trista Kinney:There are things going on in my life that feel too big for me to handle, and I was looking for an escape.
It doesn’t feel like a lie, but I don’t think it’s the truth. Or at least not all of it.
Toxic:What’s going on?
Trista Kinney:I can’t tell you.
Toxic:Then why message me, of all people?
Trista Kinney:I don’t have anyone in real life to talk to. I have no friends, my relationship with my family is…strained, and I haven’t had a boyfriend in years.
Toxic:Why is that?
Trista Kinney:Because I’m toxic, like you.
I don’t even know this woman, yet my heart aches for her because I know what loneliness does to a person.
Being on the road, I’ve had to watch my family from afar, missing out on more than I care to admit. At first, it didn’t weigh on me that heavily. I was having fun, enjoying myself.
Then my sister had her first baby, and life seemed to go on without me in a way it hadn’t before.
