Rate a Date by Monica Murphy Page 0,20
try something a little different.
Video chatting. FaceTime. Whatever you want to call it, I want to actually see her. Hear her voice. Watch her laugh, examine her facial expressions, try to figure her out. With the move happening next week, I’m feeling a little melancholy.
I’m hoping seeing Eleanor will cheer me up.
She texts me around nine o’clock, her usual time to jump online. We didn’t chat last night, and it was a Friday, so I had a feeling she might’ve had a date. Not that I’m jealous or anything, but I’m definitely curious.
Eleanor: Hey! Are you around?
Me: Sure am. How are you? I missed chatting with you last night.
Look at me, cutting right to the chase and letting her know how I feel. Pretty sure I’m turning into an adult.
Eleanor: Oh. Yeah. I had plans last night.
Me: A date?
She goes silent for at least a minute, and I wonder if she’s trying to come up with the right thing to say.
Eleanor: A blind double date actually. My friend is on Rate a Date too, and she set me up on a date with this guy who’s friends with the man she’s been talking to.
Jealousy streaks through me, hot and quick. I tamp the feeling back.
Me: How did it go?
Eleanor: It was…oh God, it was so awful. But not necessarily for me. More for my friend.
Jealousy is now raining down upon me, making me tense. Am I wasting my time here? Is she about to tell me she’s not interested after all? That she’s met the love of her life and while yeah, it’s been great, I live too far and we’re done?
Shit, my imagination is getting the best of me. I decide to ask her what I need to know.
Me: Are you friend zoning me?
Eleanor: Wait, what? NO! There’s so much I need to tell you about this date and how much of a disaster it was, but I’d be typing all night. There’s too much to say.
Ah, this is almost too easy for me to make my suggestion.
Me: We should FaceTime then.
She goes quiet again. I might’ve sent her into a panic. I’ve noticed it’s pretty easy to do that.
Eleanor: Right now?
Me: No, two weeks from now.
More silence.
Me: Yes of course right now. You got an iPhone?
Eleanor: Yes.
Me: Give me your number.
Within a minute of her sending her number to me, I’m calling her via FaceTime. It rings so many times, I’m afraid she’s not going to answer but at the last minute, there she is.
In the flesh, via my phone screen.
I can’t help but smile.
“Hey.”
“Hey.” She waves. Laughs. Her cheeks turn pink. Her blonde hair is piled on top of her head in this cute sloppy bun, and she’s wearing giant silver hoops that are very, very thin. The white V-neck T-shirt she’s wearing is oversized, meaning it keeps slipping off her shoulder, offering me a glimpse of her pale pink bra strap.
Oh, and her generous cleavage is flashing me from the deep V of her neckline too.
My dick twitches and I mentally tell it to calm down. I’m horny as fuck because I haven’t had sex with a woman in weeks. Maybe a month? Aaah, maybe longer.
“So tell me what happened,” I say, and when she frowns, I continue, “With your date last night.”
She sighs. “Okay. This is going to take a while, so excuse me if I ramble.”
“Go for it.” I like her voice. It’s sweet and light and cute.
“My friend met a guy on the app and she really liked him. He has a friend he wanted to set me up with, so Kelsey—that’s my friend—asked if I wanted to go on a double date with them. I was kind of reluctant because I don’t know this guy, right? Plus, I’ve been talking to you.”
“Right.” I like that she thought of me. It means she might do that. A lot.
Kind of like I think about her. A lot.
“Anyway, turns out the guy she was talking to was a bit of a jerk. I think he was drinking too much that night and was trying to show off. And the man they set me up with, he just got out of a long-term relationship. He was engaged to her, and I’m pretty sure it was a messy ending. Kelsey got mad at her date after he insulted me and we walked out together,” Eleanor explains.
“Sounds complicated.” I’m not even sure exactly what happened, but I’m glad it was a flop.
“Here’s the thing. Theodore, the guy they