Ryan
My virtual stalkerskills weren’t up to par. I spent all day on Saturday sifting through the obscure depths of the internet to find anything on Raven. During our long texting session last night, I started a spreadsheet of all of the things she told me and added everything I already knew that morning. The cells were filling up with all the information I was finding online.
Talking to Raven and learning things about her had been a dream. I usually hated small talk, but when it came to her, I wanted to know everything. Even obscure things I had never cared about before like if she was early to rise or late to bed. No surprise, she was an early bird.
I cracked my neck after hours in front of the computer and set about making myself a meager dinner. Not in the mood to cook anything extravagant, I threw some fries in the air fryer and a burger in a pan. While I was cutting vegetables for toppings, frustration seeped back into my mind.
There was nothing about Raven from before college. At first I assumed it was because she was a minor during that time, but even my mediocre sleuthing skills could find high schoolrecords. Though apparently not Raven’s. I found a ton of stuff from her time in college at the local university and her career, though. She was a top performer in her class and a top advisor at the firm she worked at before starting her own. Various awards and accolades were recognized by a slew of professional associations.
I knew my girl was a badass, but I had no idea the extent of her badassery.
My thoughts snagged when I was scrolling through her college records. Raven wasn’t a native to the city. She moved from a different state to go to college here. I tried searching other state databases with no luck. There were no Raven Lovelaces in any public school records across the country. Which could have meant she went to private school. Those records were harder to get a hand on.
I couldn’t find any relatives, either. If she had gone to private school, surely her family would have had a hefty amount of money lying around. That usually meant that I would’ve been able to find her parents easily. After all, my own parents were plastered all over the internet with their various charities and fake bullshit.
As I sat down at the round two-top table situated between the kitchen and sofa for dinner, I pushed the annoyance down, focusing instead on the spark of excitement at the last discovery I made. I’d copied all of the information about Raven’s company from her website into the spreadsheet when I saw a job listing for her firm. It was an entry level position for a receptionist. An idea immediately formed in my mind, but in order to execute, I needed to come to terms with Raven seeing me in person. I would have a little more fun with her first, though. Possible rejection after she saw what I looked like could wait.
After eating, I padded to the bedroom in search of a blackbutton-down shirt. I hadn’t done laundry for a week, but luckily there was one hanging in the closet. I went over to my dresser and picked over my assorted silver rings. I’d bought them on a whim in college and thankfully had kept them. I was going out on a limb, but being a voice actor for over a year and especially after the last eight months, I had a pretty good handle on what women liked.
I was banking on Raven preferring her stylistic choices in her men, as well. All business, but still dark with an edge. I threw on a chain for good measure and went down the hall to the studio. Slipping into the dark room, I flipped on a lamp in the corner. Just enough light to make out what the photo depicted.
Taking thirst trap photos wasn’t my forte since all my accounts were faceless and I hadn’t texted a woman in that way in over a year. But after a few tries, I was happy with the result and texted the photo to Raven. She opened it a dozen minutes later but didn’t respond. I couldn’t help but feel a hint of annoyance with her since I hadn’t texted her all day on purpose so she would be eager to talk tonight. I would make sure she knew to respond quickly to me later. I was an impatient fuck and didn’t like waiting, especially when I was waiting for her reaction to a sexy photo.
Sliding back into athletic shorts and not bothering with a shirt, I entertained going to bed to set myself up to get a jump on recording the next project tomorrow. I could’ve started Monday, but it wouldn’t have hurt to get some time in since the next week might require errands. About to shut my computer down, I glanced at my phone as a ding filled the room.
A notification from Raven was displayed on the screen.
“That wasn’t very nice. I was at my parents’ house.”
So she had parents and they probably lived in the city orclose by. I tucked that away for later. “Who said I was nice? I think you might like me less if I was nice.” I sent the message and then quickly typed another. “I hope the photo was all right with you. I assumed it would be since you gave the green light for flirting.” I added a smirk emoji and pressed send.
A text from her came just as I sent the second one. “Fine, you’re right.” Then another came through. “Yes, it was alright. It’s not like it was an unsolicited dick pic. I think you’re nicer than you make yourself out to be. Respectable, even.”
“You deserve nothing but the utmost respect,” I typed back.
“You’ve only had one texting conversation with me. For all you know, I could be a monster.”
“If you’re a monster then eat me alive, baby.”
The message was seen, but no typing happened. I tamped down my eagerness.Chill bro, chill.She didn’t have to respond immediately.
After five minutes, I grew anxious that maybe I had gone too far with the last comment. Maybe the endearment was too much too soon, but then the typing dots appeared.
“I have to admit, that line got me.”
I grinned as my unease ebbed away and my playfulness returned. “I’ve had you this whole time.”
“Wow, you’re cranked up to eleven today.”
“I’m always turned to eleven when it comes to you.”
The conversation turned from flirty to casual when I asked her about her day. We texted about mundane things, but the conversation was enjoyable. I loved talking to her. After two hours I got antsy and had to move things along. I craved to give her release live instead of from a recording. Moving from my desk to the bedroom, I settled between the sheets and got comfortable.
“You said you were out. I’m assuming you’re home now?” I typed.
“Yes, I’ve been home this whole time. I figured you could wait a bit for a text back.”
Heat flared in my chest. “We need to work on that. I don’t like to wait.”
