She gave him a genuine smile, appreciative of his kindness. “That’s okay. I think I’d rather just curl up with a book and rest.”
He nodded and then collected his things to leave.
She waved him goodbye from her door and watched him get in his car. The moment she closed her front door, her shoulders drooped, and she headed to her lounge room.
Curling up in her vintage wingback armchair, Skylar pulled her phone from her pocket and opened the dating app. The message from Oliver immediately came up, as she’d been staring at it constantly for the past three days.
She’d been struggling to gain the courage to finally answer his message.
It’s been nearly a week... is that too long to text back?
She stared at it, feeling awful that she’d left him hanging – and just awful in general.
Come on, Skylar. Mr Tentacles doesn’t care. You’re probably just one of the many witches who’ve exchanged sexual energy with him.It had been an impersonal contract, and nothing more.He just fed on you, that’s all. Like an incubus.
Expecting anything more was truly ridiculous and a pathetic excuse not to date. Her annoying voice of reason gave her a mental shake.
She groaned, gripped her phone tightly, then took a fortifying breath.
“Okay. I can do this.”
Unsent message: Hiya!
She immediately backspaced.No, that’s too excited.
S: Hey. I’m so sorry for not getting back to you sooner. I’m not usually like that, but I had some tough days at work, which made it really hard to reach out.
It technically wasn’t a lie, although her tough days were just because she’d been so airheaded. She’d burned herself twice and had dropped a few coffees.
It didn’t help that the ferret creature was still causing mayhem every once in a while.
O: Hey! I didn’t think I’d hear from you.
O: All good. I guess we all have weeks like that.
Not expecting him to respond right away, Skylar licked her lips nervously and hovered her thumb over her keyboard. What should she say next? She hoped he’d start the conversation, but even when many minutes passed, and he didn’t, she figured she had to do it since she’d flaked on him.
S: Yeah. I own my own business, and it can get chaotic sometimes. I had an employee take the day off.
Skylar was the employee, of course, but he didn’t need to know that.
S: You said you weren’t used to the dating app thing, and neither am I. You’re the first person I’ve spoken to.
She hit send and then immediately regretted it.Shit. Was that weird to say?Once more, she groaned and brought her knees up to hide her face.
O: Same. I actually kind of forgot about it until you responded. I’ve been avoiding getting on them, but my friend convinced me since I barely have time to meet anyone between work and my daughter.
S: Haha, same! My friend actually made my profile for me.
O: It’s weird, right? Is this what society is like now? Dating apps and texting? I’d rather just meet someone at a bar and get to know them in person.
With each text, her nerves lessened.
He really does seem nice, and he isn’t being a jerk even after I didn’t respond for ages.
They exchanged a few more texts, and he opened up about his work as a mechanic, and how he’d gotten onto the app because he and his ex split up two years ago. Apparently they were on amicable terms, and he was still friends with her, but it just didn’t work out.
They’d figured that being separated and friends worked better for their family dynamic for their daughter.
