Chapter 3
“This has gotjail time written all over it,” Matt grumbled as he added the hand-drawn picture of a cobra to the profile he created for himself.
His own rules stated photos only if a user opted for one. So he was already breaking one, but he doubted she’d know that. Plus, he’d been nicknamed “The Cobra” for his ability to strike and make matches. So he wasn’t really doing anything to misrepresent himself. There was no way he was putting his face as an avatar. There were so many questionable things about what he was doing the last thing he needed was for Virginia to know who he truly was. She’d likely run screaming, demand a refund, and alert the media Matthew Cobral uses his site for personal gain.
Matt sighed exaggeratedly as he looked at Gallie. It had been almost a week since he’d come across Virginia’s picture and biography. Every single day she’d been on his mind. He’d never really thought of himself as a shallow person, but apparently, he was. Virginia’s violet eyes haunted him every moment of his day. They were like a siren’s tempting song leading him to the rocks.
Sleep was no better, in fact, it was worse. He’d had some of the most erotic dreams of his life surrounding the beautiful Virginia L. Quark. Her mouth was made for pleasure, and in his dreams she’d certainly lived up to it. His fantasy love sessions had taken them inside the shower, a public display outside the Coca-Cola factory, a dark and closed Turner Field. Not to mention enough positions to make him exhausted just thinking about the gambit his fantasies had been running.
Which was half of what lead him to create a profile to interact with her and see if she was half as perfect for him as she seemed on paper. The other half was his inability to match her. The matching process was seventy-five percent based on sexual exploits and twenty-five percent external factors such as family life, career, and hobbies.
Not one of his thirty-two available to match men seemed right for her. He could just sense she was a credible, intelligent lawyer. All the men left were doctors and teachers, people who would likely be under scrutiny if it were ever known they met a significant other through Cyber Room. And there was the rub, both careers were perfectly suitable for someone with a love of learning, and yet, every one of them somehow created the needed sixty-eight percent incompatibility rate that his algorithm deemed as not match worthy.
So here he was, for the very first time, about to inject himself into his cyber world of lust and love. He’d scanned his company conduct code multiple times looking for anything that would indicate what he was doing was actually illegal, and aside from the personal gain he’d get, nothing seemed unlawful.
“You’re still going to wind up in jail. There is a lawyer out there somewhere, fuck maybe even the one you’re chasing, that will find a way.”
His plan was simple. He was going to engage Virginia in one chat experience. He would find out both her sexual desires and her everyday life and desires to determine if they were a match. If he did, he’d casually bump into her at the courthouse and strike up a way to ask her out. It ranked a little high on the stalker meter, but in the real world, men and women found ways to do the same thing if they liked someone or spotted someone attractive. He was just using a different route. She’d never find out he was the guy behind the computer at any point in time and no one would know his dirty little secret. Sure, his profession would come out, but he didn’t have to indulge anything else. He knew from stories couples had less than altruistic first meets plenty, but he still felt a little ashamed he didn’t just bump into her at the courthouse without a Cyber Room session.
Usually, Matthew would be the first one to suggest that determining a sexual match that could lead to a love match would take no less than six sessions. This wasn’t normal though. There was a huge chance it was nothing more than a lusty obsession. She could be brainless or shallow, and that would change things.
“Yes because there are tons of ditzy lawyers in the world.”
Matthew scanned over his profile and made sure everything was in order. He checked each detail to ensure they were accurate, but didn’t give him away. Nothing about this was about making him look good. He’d contemplated falsifying a profile entirely. That really would have been illegal though since he stood behind his claim that one hundred percent of the people behind the screen are vetted and who they say they are.
His finger hovered over the mouse pad. “Once you click save you can’t back out.” Which was a lie. Simply having a profile on Cyber Room meant nothing because he made sure the database was locked and profiles could only be viewed once chat invitations were accepted. “Here we go, Gallie.”
The cat opened one eye and gave him a look as if telling him to just do it.
The screen flashed and when it reloaded his profile, minus the edit fields, was in front of him. Step one initiated. Now he merely needed to send the form letter with a link to his profile to Virginia letting her know she had a potential sexual match and how to communicate with him.
Matthew hit send and an immediate feeling of terror creeped up his spine. There were so many ways this could backfire on him. “There are also plenty of ways this can go right.”
“I know we expected to lose, I’d even felt we had the wrong suspect. So why does it feel like such a failure that Gerald’s mother’s killer is still out there when a seemingly innocent man went free?” Virginia paced the small space in her office.
Mr. Gerald’s case was officially closed. He’d been found guilty of first-degree murder and armed robbery charges. They’d made an attempt at finding another suspect, but the case simply hadn’t brought one about, only brought enough doubt to free the convicted man. There was nothing left they could do.
“Honey, we lose more than win. Just keep that in mind and remember,” Mary leaned forward and looked around, “sometimes losing is the right thing to do.”
“I know. Trust me, a huge part of me wanted to see him behind bars because of all the assault charges from his past, but like I said, even I didn’t think he’d done it after all was said and done.” She dropped onto the chair behind her desk with a sigh. “I’m a walking contradiction aren’t I?”
Mary laughed. “That’s essentially the name of the game. I’d like to personally think we don’t really like throwing anyone in jail. Just that we like doing our job and helping the victim’s find their way to peace.”
She nodded. It didn’t help to hear that really, but Mary was trying to be polite. Her phone vibrated on the desk before she could say anything else. Grabbing it, she stared at the email notification showing across the top of the lock screen.
Cyber Room—match found.
Virginia chewed on her lower lip to suppress her smile. She’d sent her information in full the day she got it, but a match hadn’t come. After three days, Virginia began to wonder if she was too prudish to find a match on a sex site. Still, she’d been on pins and needles holding out hope the site would be a way for her to meet someone. Sure cybersex wasn’t the same thing as the actual act, but if the process didn’t lend itself to forming offline couples, it wouldn’t be the media sensation that it is. So, with every day that passed without hearing something, she’d grew less and less hopeful. Twice she’d almost canceled the monthly subscription but stopped because she really wanted to see how finding a sexual match could lead to anything more.
And sex, you really need to get laid and move on before you waste the life you have.
“You look like someone who was just told they won a million dollars,” Mary remarked from across the room. “Who or what just contacted you?”
Virginia felt herself turn bright and passed the phone across the desk. “There’s a match.” She tried to tone down the excitement in her voice but couldn’t.
“Fantastic! What do you do next?” Mary asked as she passed the phone back.
“No idea. I guess I open it and find out.” She tapped the notification and scanned the email until she saw the line she was looking for. “Apparently, all I do to indicate interest is accept a chat invitation scheduled for tomorrow at six pm.”