Cathy opposite me gave me a disapproving frown as she cleared her throat. Busy cow.
‘Just thinking of how best to colour-code this spreadsheet,’ I lied with a bright smile.
Cathy snorted. ‘Sure.’
Paddy
Is this the time to tell you that I’ve got really into creative tie-dyeing?
‘No phones at the –’
‘Just turning it off, Karun,’ I said hurriedly, throwing it into my desk drawer as he loomed over me. ‘What do you think, Cathy, maroon or scarlet for negative numbers?’
Cathy’s sniff echoed across the desk as Karun made a pompous speech about taking my job seriously before wandering off to print something no one would look at. Only when I was certain he’d gone – pushing down the prickles of worry that I would definitely be put on warning if I was spotted – did I pull out my phone and look at Paddy’s last message again.
Paddy
Is this the time to tell you that I’ve got really into creative tie-dyeing?
I couldn’t for the life of me figure this guy out. He texted at all times of the day. He was funny, seemed normal, and hadn’t asked for any nudes – yet. He started hobbies like he had all the time in the world – but he didn’t really seem like he was down on his luck. I was tempted to ask what kind of job he had, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to open that can of worms. Our conversations so far had been pretty superficial, and that suited me fine.
Jessy
How did we go from you angling to come over to tie-dyeing?
Paddy
…
Still typing?
Paddy
Look, I feel like I should be honest with you. You’re gorgeous and you seem cool, but I’m not really looking for a relationship right now
Huh.
And the proverbial balloon burst. Guess he wasn’t all that different to every other guy on here. As I looked at his message, a stray thought popped into my head.
Laura hadn’t intended Butterflies for hook-ups, but honestly, if he could scratch that itch …
He’d seemed nice enough. And he didn’t want anything serious.
I messaged back quickly, before I could change my mind.
Jessy
So you’re just looking for a hook-up? I could get down with that
I deserved it, I told myself. A meaningless one-night stand with a guy that I wasn’t repulsed by. No big deal.
Friday
My phone vibrated against my chest. I’d fallen asleep last night while scrolling the timeline.
Through sleep still gathered in my eyes, I blinked blearily at my phone. The little Butterflies icon sat there, informing me of a chat notification. My heart skipped as I swiped through the app and opened my list of chats.
And groaned … I had neglected eight chats. I’d accepted every match the app had offered me – Laura’s guilt trip was working perfectly – but I’d been so distracted by Paddy that I’d already lost two matches for not responding quickly enough.
