Date: Tue, 25 Jun 2002 17:44:16
Subject: Cease and Desist
From: reginespersonal@hotmail.com
To: susannenbreone@aol.com

Susanne,

Thanks for the poetry lessons.

We had a thing, that’s all.

I have no desire for a further relationship with you.

Please be dignified, and stop, get on with your life.

During the time that you’ve been apparently despondent with the cessation of our brief romance, I’ve had two other lovers.

Each of them has made as much or more of a positive impression on me than you have.

Truth be told, I have already more or less forgotten them

Just as I forgot any feelings for you, weeks ago.

I have no time for unnecessary entanglements.

Your choice to send me these increasingly bizarre fragments makes me worry that you may do harm to yourself or others. I’ve seen too many people flip out in the workplace setting to not take the implications of your increasingly despondent tone seriously.

I hesitate to take legal action — that would be embarrassing for both of us. I don’t want this to get ugly.

They have hotlines for this sort of thing, Susanne. If you’re ever really feeling low, just pick up the phone. Call someone. Just don’t call me.

But stop now.

Take a deep breath.

And then never, ever, write to me again.

Get on with your life (already).

Regine