The Elevator Chronicles: What goes up must come down

Good Afternoon All,
An early posting today is due to my multi-tasking during a three hour conference call, which as everything in life appears to me, is too slowly paced. We've had some updates in regard to elevator man. As the plan indicated I sent back a thank you note for his response to my business questions and inquired as to how his weekend was. My strategy here was that he could simply reply that it was good and end the conversation or say something specific that would elicit a continued conversation. I got a few sentence response about a trip to NY and a how was your weekend response. As I responded back about my own conference more questions, and thus an invitation for more conversation ensued. After two emails back and forth delving into which musical instruments we played in elementary school, to him looking up the writer I referenced in my email the conversation via email kept up after I had gotten home from the office. Elevator man began to ask questions about my writing and inquired into the topic matter saying he was cool even if the topic was personal. Smileys were sprinkled into the conversation and it was nearing 9PM.

Now keep in mind other then the perhaps ten minute conversation beginning in the elevator and continuing into the parking lot, I've never seen this person in my life and he's asking about my personal writing, emailing way past standard business hours. At this point knowing that everything in my life is upside down I figured something has to be awry. While waiting to see if this email banter would pass the 9 PM hour I decided to do some detective work and start googling. Google is an amateur detectives best friend. Also a frog meeters best all. Simply type in a name and find out if they are who they say they are. Unfortunately you often find out more than you want to. Google lead me to whitepages.com where I found that elevator man lived a few towns away from our office with Mrs. Elevator Man. Obviously this had to be too good to be true, and so it was.


Why however did his last email sent at 9:30 that night say "Have a great night...had fun chatting with you, and I hope to hear more about your hidden talents! I know you have more too..." I thought back and tried to picture again whether perhaps I had missed the wedding band? Was he trying to hide it?

The plan was going forward to get him to confirm that he did in fact live in the town the exact same name with matching middle initial lived in with his Mrs. The following day that was accomplished. With five lengthy new paragraphs there was still no mention of a wife. My friend and co conspirator in this detective mission came up with three possible options.

1. He's married and doesn't want me to know because he's interested and is trying to get some action on the side.

2. He's married and doesn't care if I know because he's just emailing to be friendly, or because perhaps he's concerned that I have nothing better to do then email him.

3. He's separated or divorced and assumes that since we're 95% sure he wasn't wearing a ring that I assume he's single.

So which one is it? We just had to know. I struggled with trying to phrase questions in a way that would elicit some hints, a mention of the Mrs. When a new email came in last night about an addition he had built on his house, I thought for sure OK why would you build an addition if you weren't preparing for a a new family member? A few paragraphs down however, I was thrown a curve ball when he said something about falling prey to fast food when he often doesn't have anything ready for dinner. So why wouldn't the Mrs. help out with that since he seems to work late so often? A mystery in upon us, and I am determined to figure it out. I asked in my response last night if he ever figured out a plan for dinner- hoping that he'd respond today with I was happy to arrive home and find that my wife had just roasted a chicken.

Maybe this is a lot more then my friends and I are making it into, but think about this. If I had been a guy he probably wouldn't have continued the initial elevator conversation to the point where hands were shaken and names were exchanged. There would have been the requisite nodding of heads and then looking away and both parties would have exited the elevator and gone on their merry ways. Now granted I was the one who followed up this meeting with a legitimate business question, which he answered. However, if I was a guy would the first line of his email to me have been. "I'm glad you found me!"? If I was a guy would he have continued to email me four times that evening, and now daily for the past few days? I think not. I hope not. So what's the deal?

I won't be able to update until this evening because as tradition has dictated in this pattern the newest evasive email won't be sent until the very end of the work day. The last email of the day before he shuts down his computer and goes home to the Mrs. Or does he? This is the burning question.