Page 48 of April

“Ash, you don’t–” Linden chuckled and took Asher’s phone. “You’re so cute. You don’t do that on apps like this.”

“Maybe she got sick or something and just fell asleep.”

“Well, her loss either way. Here.” Linden handed her back the phone.

“Left the restaurant after an hour. If you changed your mind about meeting up, you could’ve just told me,” Asher read out loud the message that Linden had typed.

“That’s better than what she deserves. I would’ve just blocked her,” Linden added.

“Should I do that?”

“Do you want to know what happened?”

“She hasn’t replied so far, so I doubt this message will make her reach back out.”

“Then, yeah, block her ass.”

Asher laughed again and then hit the block button. A pop-up message asked her if she was sure that she wanted to block this user. She selected yes. Another message asked if she wanted to report abusive or aggressive behavior. She selected no and locked her phone.

“So, any more prospects?” Linden asked.

Asher tucked her phone into her purse, sighed, and said, “Not really. A few women have messaged me. I’m honestly surprised by how many message requests I’ve gotten in just a couple of days.”

“Why?”

“I didn’t think I’d get any.”

“I repeat: why?” Linden looked over at her. “Ash, you are gorgeous and successful. Of course, women across all colors of the rainbow would want to message you.”

“I’m almost thirty-eight years old, single, and awkward on dates with women because I’ve never done this before. Well,woman. I’ve only had one date. But I’m sure my messages are awkward, too. This one woman messaged me while I was sitting at the table, asking me if I would be interested in chatting. It was this nice opening message that gave me a little info about her. I replied with, ‘Sure,’ and that was it – I said, ‘Sure,’ and hit send. I haven’t sent her anything else.”

Linden laughed and said, “Oh, Ash… How long ago was this?”

“Maybe twenty minutes.”

“Phone, please?”

“Why?”

“I’m going to reply for you.”

“No, it’s better this way. I think I’m done.”

“Done with her?”

“Done with it all.”

“What isit all?”

“The app; trying to find women this way. Clearly, I’m not meant for it.”

“It’s beentwodays. You’re throwing in the towel already? You’re not a quitter.”

They stopped at the streetlight to wait for the signal to change.

“I don’t know. I think so. Maybe I’ll change my mind tomorrow, but I don’t think this is how I’m going to meet my soulmate, Linden.”

“I was unaware that you were looking for your soulmate, Ash. I thought you wanted to date and see how things went.”

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