Page 1 of Sweet Rivals

Chapter One

When the notification chimed, my heart fluttered pathetically. This was what it had come to, getting excited that some nameless, faceless man was sending me a message. Ugh, how sad could I be? I asked even as the dopey smile spread across my face. Despite the protests of my practical mind, I hurried over to the computer, removing Mouse from his spot with an angry little meow, before folding myself into the chair.

PotatoBake888: How late did you stay up last night?

TheBakingChick: I’m not telling.

I wrote with a smile, biting my lip as I waited for his reply.

PotatoBake888: One?

TheBakingChick: Nope

PotatoBake888: Two?!?!?

TheBakingChick: Don’t judge me.

PotatoBake888: Why do you do this to yourself?

TheBakingChick: Do this to myself? This was all you. You made me watch it.

I wore my fuzzy cat slippers and oversized t-shirt that acted as a nightshirt. I would have to get in the shower soon and head to work, but for the next five minutes—and the last five months—my life revolved around the messaging app built into Ed-U, the online learning platform for the bakery management class I was taking. I had gotten my BA in restaurant management, but signed up for the bakery specific class so I could feel like I was making progress toward bakery ownership. If I ignored my singular ambition for too long. I felt antsy and unsatisfied, which seemed to be happening all too often lately.

PotatoBake888: Nice to know I have that kind of power over you. And what time did you finish it?

TheBakingChick: Why are you so nosey?

PotatoBake888: I’m just a concerned citizen.

TheBakingChick: I finished it at one

PotatoBake888: LOL! Did you sleep with the lights on?

TheBakingChick: No. I didn’t need to. The streetlight outside my window is as bright as day. All I have to do is open the curtains.

PotatoBake888: Do you even like scary movies?

TheBakingChick: Of course!

I had a love-hate relationship with scary movies since meeting PotatoBake888. Before meeting him, I always saw the trailers and thought they might have interesting plots but never had the guts to watch them all by myself. Until PotatoBake888 convinced me to watch one, mostly through relentless teasing.

The gore and jump scares had a serious impact on my quality of sleep. But I got back at him by making him watch all of the Lord of the Rings movies. He had somehow made it to thirty without ever having seen them. I let him know just how embarrassed I was for him at that oversight.

Talking to PotatoBake888 online felt safer than any of the “real” dating I had done in recent memory. There were clearly defined boundaries built in to chatting through our class’s platform that prevented me from getting too close therefore avoiding the inevitable heartbreak that ended my romantic endeavors.

I might sound like a cynical old hag, but in my experience, there were no happily ever afters in real life. Maybe I was too young to make that determination, but I was sick of trying to a man that stayed. So unless this guy offered me the magical promise of a long-term relationship, I could enjoy the illusion of flirting without any of the baggage that went along with a relationship.

Eventually, I wouldn’t have a choice but to try the whole dating thing again. For now, I planned on putting it off as long as possible. I was determined to be a fully formed person, chasing my own dreams and passions rather than performing for some guy. And that was the nice thing about PotatoBake888: no performance necessary.

Aside from watching The Ring from behind my hands so I could tell him that I did it, but that doesn’t count.

Every so often, I caught myself overthinking my responses to him, before checking myself and instead sending the first thing that popped into my head. I didn’t owe this stranger anything. And somehow, to no one’s surprise at all, it felt like the realest, most genuine part of my life.

PotatoBake888: How’s the Food Fest prep coming?

More points to him that he, unlike almost every guy I had ever long-distance dated, could not only carry a conversation, but actually remembered facts about me and asked questions. Other guys seemed pathologically incapable of texting more than single word answers and asking follow-up questions was absolutely outside of their repertoire.

TheBakingChick: The same

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