Having found what she was looking for, she thrust the phone at Henry and Luna’s faces.
And –
Okay,Henry thought, frowning.I guess that does look kind of a lot like me.
His hellhound made a dismissive sound.You look even worse in photos than you do in general. You’re lucky our mate met you in person in the first instance.
It wasn’t the first time Henry had wondered if it would technically count as a crime if he got into a fistfight with hishellhound, and he knew it wouldn’t be the last. Not that he was sure how he would go about such a thing, anyway.
In any case, the pertinent point here was that itwasa photo of him. Slightly blurry and poorly framed, like it had been taken surreptitiously, but definitely him.
He squinted at the photo. When had it been taken?
In the end, the answer was obvious: while he was at work, standing outside a nightclub door. The person who took the photo must have been waiting in line to get in.
He shook his head. He really should have picked up that there was someone there with ill intent. Or weird intent, anyway.
“Ma’am,” he said, gently pushing the phone away from his face, “I didn’t take this photo, and I haven’t been putting it up on dating sites. I’m happy with my m— with, uh, Luna, here.” He winced a little, but continued on. “And if Iwasgoing to put a photo up on a dating site, I’d want it to be a bit better than this.”
Sally-Anne did not look particularly mollified, though Henry thought he could see just the slightest hint of doubt in her expression. “Well, youwouldsay that.”
“Seriously,” he said. “Like I said, I’m not a wizard, so why would I be on a witches and wizards dating site? But even if Iwas, I don’t have a computer. I only got a cellphone a couple of years back, and that was because my work made me get one so I could access their timesheet system. Look.”
He pulled out his phone and flipped it open to the camera roll, turning it around so she could see it. There were precisely three photos: a picture of his work ID number so that he wouldn’t forget it, a picture of the brand of cheese that his hellhound particularly liked – not that he’d really needed a reminder about that, as his hellhound definitely had it memorized – and a picture of an interesting rock he saw one time.
Sally-Anne’s face twisted into an expression that he couldn’t quite read.
That’s the expression of ‘I can’t believe that someone this boring exists,’ his hellhound sneered.
“Henry’s telling the truth,” said Luna gently, reaching out to rest her hand on Sally-Anne’s forearm. “I know it must be hard, getting ghosted after you’ve put yourself out there. But Henry didn’t do this. He would never mess anyone around like that – he’s the most honest person I know. The only thing I can think of is that someone used his photo for their profile. But it definitely wasn’tHenryyou were talking to.”
Sally-Anne slumped back in her chair, looking defeated. “Then… then, I don’t know what to think anymore,” she murmured. “Why would anyonedothat?”
Henryalmostopened his mouth to tell her that she, herself, had in fact done almost exactly the same thing in using Luna’s photo for herowndating profile… but the utterly bereft, miserable expression on Sally-Anne’s face made him keep it closed.
Despite everything, it was almost impossible not to feel a little sorry for her – even if he definitely wanted this curse taken off him, and right now. Though he was still more than a little incensed she’d stolen Luna’s pictures to pass off as her own.
Still, give her a moment,he told himself.Shedoeslook pretty upset.
“But I guess I can believe that someone else might use a fake photo, too,” Sally-Anne said after a moment, looking up at them sheepishly, as if she’d just remembered what she’d done. “Maybe they’re just as much of a loser as I am. And maybe just as ugly, too.”
“What?” Luna said, sounding startled. “You’re not ugly at all. And if getting ghosted by some idiot on a dating app makes youa loser, that makes about half the people in the world losers, too. But maybe next time, you should really just… try to be yourself.”
“Iama loser,” Sally-Anne said miserably. “Not only did I have to steal someone else’s photo just to get anyone to pay attention to me, but then it turns out that not only was he not who he said he was, but he wouldn’t even meet me. Even when I’m pretending to be someone pretty and successful, my loser vibes just come through.”
“Well, putting aside that you’re not a loser, maybe that’s on him,” Luna said reasonably. “You deserve better than that.”
“Don’t try to make me feel better,” Sally-Anne sniffled. “I mean, look at me. Who would date me?”
Henry looked at her: at her splotchy red face, her running nose, her slumped shoulders and wretched expression.
He also saw a person who was clearly staggering under the weight of crippling self-esteem issues. Now that she was no longer snarling like a caged beast, there was nothing about her that screamed ‘un-datable’ except for a distinct lack of self-confidence.
He pulled a packet of Kleenex out of his pocket and held it out to her; she took one of them out with a sniffled ‘thanks’.
“Plenty of people would date you, I’m sure,” Luna said warmly. “After all, you’re pretty –” Sally-Anne snorted “– you’re a successful business owner, and you work in an interesting field. The right person will come along eventually, but maybe right now is not the time. You’ve got to make sure that youfeellike someone who is worthy of love before you go out looking for it.”
“Maybe you’re right,” Sally-Anne muttered, wiping her nose. She didn’t sound convinced, but, Henry thought, it was a start.
