Zach: I’d call you, but I don’t think you’d pick up.
Naturally, I don’t reply, but I see bubbles appearing.He’s typing something.
Zach: Dali.Friday night?7pm?
I quickly look up the restaurant.It’s a new fancy place.Of course it would be.I’ve never been and I only know of it because they did a big launch on opening and invited lots of celebrities.Trust Zach to want to go there.
Maya: Sounds good
Zach: Pick you up at 6.30pm?
I shiver in shock.Absolutely not.
Maya: I’ll meet you there
He’s always so quick to offer and help, but there’s no way I’m having him pick me up.He needs to realize that we are not continuing from where we left off.He’s typing something again, so I wait patiently.I’m still waiting a few minutes later, wondering what he’s writing that’s taking so long, when his text lands.
Zach: Great
I frown, and find myself wondering what he typed out and then deleted.
Dinner with him is not a good idea, but if I do this, then it’s done and we can get on with our lives again.He says he wants to catch up, but there’s an undercurrent of something between us and my mind drifts to him more often than is good for me.I find myself thinking of him, when I should do my utmost to forget him.
Nothing good will come of this, ever, but after this he’ll have to leave me be.
I walk into my apartment, set my bag by the door and slide off my shoes.Then I scream at the sight of Fleur, wearing green mulch on her face.She’s wearing a silk robe, her hair tied up in a towel, all I see are big eyes peering at me from a green Wicked-Witch-of-the West face.
“I borrowed two avocados.I’ll get you some tomorrow,” she says.“I’m going on a date.”
I frown, because the two are so not related.“Another one?”
“I’m a woman with a mission.”She folds her arms, looking smug.
“Why homemade?Why don’t you just buy a good mask?”
“Would have, but this is urgent self-care after emotional trauma.”
“More emotional trauma?”Her stories often make me laugh out loud, but they also worry me.There are a lot of psychos out there.
She nods.“I went on another date, using Dave’s dating app.It’s not going well.”
I’m starting to get annoyed by Dave.I’ve never met him but he uses the coworking space all the time.Apparently, he’s working on a dating app, and Fleur, bless her big, warm, helpful heart, is testing it for him, much to my shock.He’s slowly building up a database of subscribers and she’s on it, and going on dates with men suggested by the app.I’m not surprised that most of them have been horrendous.I don’t even want to think about the sample size of people he has currently subscribed to it.
“Do you need to keep testing his for him?I’m scared one day I’ll come back and ...”I don’t want to finish.At thirty-three years of age, Fleur has an ever-expanding list of dating disasters.She could write a book about the men she’s met.Men who lie about their height, and weight.Men who look nothing like their profile pics.Men who bring their mothers.Men who pick their noses and eat them.Men who only talk about crypto and blockchain, as if it’s a personality trait.
If her bad dates were a Netflix series, she’d have six seasons ready to roll.
“Dave’s a sweet guy!He’shelpingme, not the other way around.”
I disagree.Fleur has a heart of gold and she can’t see when people are taking advantage of her.I’m tempted to go to the coworking space and have a word with him.
“Who are you seeing tonight?”I ask, and wonder if, going forward, I should demand she send me a photo of the guy she’s meeting, his name and address, car registration number and the location where they’re meeting.
Just in case.
“A guy who is emotionally unavailable, but spiritually perfect,” she replies.
I gasp, shocked.“He said that?”
