Lockdown had really taken it out of her. Her desire to be out experiencing life had dwindled as she became accustomed to being stuck indoors, as well as becoming very well acquainted with her introverted side. Even so, she had continued chatting with guys on dating apps to keep her options open for whenever lockdown was lifted.
She had been chatting with a tall, dark haired 30-year-old mechanic with tattoos since just after Christmas. He was hot and nice and tall and funny; exactly what she was looking for. Up until that point, she hadn’t really invested anything into any of the conversations or interactions she’d had with guys. But she found herself really hoping that she would be able to meet up with this one.
They didn’t talk too often at first. He would message her sporadically but when he did, he was always interested in whatever she had to say. Which, let’s face it, was often just the same old thing because, in lockdown, life is just one consecutive Monday. Don’t misunderstand, they definitely had some sexy chats, as well. But overall their interactions had been fairly G rated. The most explicit pics she ever sent him were cleavage shots in her sports bra after a workout because he had told her that he’s a big “boob man”. It didn’t get any racier than that, which is what made her realize that she was actually kind of in to him.
A week or so before society opened up again, she and he had been messaging and she asked if he wanted to meet up when lockdown was over. He said yes, except he was still skeptical of meeting people because of Covid. That only made her want to meet him more, but she agreed to wait. Eventually though, after lockdown had been lifted for about a week, she asked him if he wanted to meet even just for a walk or to grab a coffee? His reply was, “Ooooh”. She waited an hour before replying, giving him a chance to add an actual real response to her question, which he never did.
She had lost patience at this point. Even before this, their conversations had started dwindling because you can only make so much small talk with a person before finally meeting them. So she then replied, “Based on the lack of a real response, I guess I have my answer. No worries, never mind.” To which he replied instantly, instead of half an hour later as he typically would. “No! Sorry! I read that as I was doing the dishes and forgot to respond” he said. A likely story, but then he continued, “Yes! Let’s do something. Coffee and a walk?”
She told him to message her later that week to discuss the details. But alas, who could have predicted? – He never texted her. She didn’t really expect him to, though. She had come to terms with the fact that this guy was basically just using her for cleavage pics in a time when it wasn’t necessarily safe to be out seeing cleavage in real life. But she didn’t want that. She wanted to meet someone. Go out for a drink or a walk or whatever – just something!
In addition to her sporadic conversations with Mr. Mechanic, she had continued to chat with other guys as well. The guy she had been chatting with back in December, the one she played 20 Questions with and who seemed jealous of her chatting with other guys (Chapter Thirty Six, for reference) had ended up messaging her in early February, shortly before lockdown was to be lifted. As annoying as that fragile masculinity moment had been, he was actually really sweet and charming, and he ended up asking her out whenever lockdown was over. She agreed, but then he went cold again after they made that tentative plan. It wasn’t until after lockdown was over that she heard from him again. It was a Saturday, and they flirted with each other all afternoon. It was her second weekend of freedom yet she had no plans, so she had asked him if he wanted to get together that night. Unfortunately, he was too hungover from partying the night before, so they made plans for the following weekend instead.
She had, thus, resigned herself to staying in that night. However, it wouldn’t be just a quiet evening at home like she had expected. Her parents were having friends over for dinner and drinks and they invited her to join them. Having nothing else planned, she agreed. This was no ordinary old folks get together, though. One of her parent’s friends grew weed in his backyard and came flush with edibles to share with the group. Pot brownies and weed gummies galore. She had one of each and a glass of wine, and before she knew it she was tipsy and buzzed and feelin’ all kinds of alright. She enjoyed the delicious dinner her parents made, and she laughed with them and their friends, genuinely enjoying her evening.
It was almost 8 o’clock. They had eaten, they had tidied up the kitchen, and she was thinking about heading up to bed as her parents pulled out some kind of marble board game. It was then that she realized the dishes still needed to be done. She made a plan in her head to finish those up then head upstairs. As she stood up and walked towards the kitchen, she checked her phone and saw a Tinder notification. She checked it and saw that it was a guy she hadn’t really chatted with for several weeks.
He was 40, divorced, two kids, and owned a house out in the country. He looked like your typical cis-gender white guy. Like he played hockey in high school and now wears a collared shirt and tie and works behind a desk all day. Basic Bitch aesthetic aside, he was still super hot. She remembered he had always been so polite and friendly during their conversations. And while they may have touched on the subject of sex, he never overtly went too far with it. She was happy to see his message.
He asked her what she was up to that night and if she wanted to get together. At that point she was more than tipsy, and was extra stoned so, though her immediate answer was “YES!”, she took some time to think about it before she replied. As she finished the dishes she decided that yes, she did want to go.
He sent her his own address in case she wanted to let someone know where she’d be, and he reassured her that if at any point she wanted to leave, he would bring her home. She felt comfortable and at ease, but now all of a sudden she had to figure out how she was going to leave her parents party to go hang out with some random guy from the internet. She told her parents that she was invited over to a friend’s place at the last minute, and that she would be taking an Uber. Her parents thought nothing of it and wished her a fun evening. She ran upstairs to freshen up before he arrived to pick her up. She was tingling with anticipation of what the night now had in store for her…