Page 28 of Swiped
Nat scoffed in appreciation. They both took sips of their cocktails.
He ran a hand through his curls and faced her. “Basically, the whole premise is flawed. In your head, you’ll always be dating the person you first imagined when you read their profile.”
“So? What’s the difference?”
“Just wait until you get to a second date with a promising guy. You walk in to meet him, all excited. You totally feel like you know him.” He sighed and smiled, and his dimples winked at her in his olive cheeks. “Then before the first round of drinks even comes, surprise! You can’t stand each other!” His smile dropped. “You’re horribly mismatched.”
Nat frowned. “‘Mismatched’ seems like a strong word. No algorithm is going to be perfect.”
Rami leaned in toward her. He still smelled like sandalwood and, weirdly, also gummy bears. “Oh, but you were feeling so good about him that you agreed to a full-on dinner, and now you have to suffer through the next two hours making conversation about whatever it was you did have in common, like some 80steen movie.” His face scrunched up in a mock grin. “Isn’t that quirky?”
Nat shook her head as her algorithm swirled in her mind. “Liking the same movies is a factor of compatibility.”
He scoffed through his drink. “Please. Most people’s pop culture taste just shows that you both live in America in the year 2025. It means nothing romantically.”
Nat drank her martini and considered this. She looked at Rami, his shoulders sagging from some clear weight as he eyed the intricate flora and fauna in the mural. His guard was down. He wasn’t trying to intimidate her or insult her. He was telling her about his experience with her app. She leaned her elbow closer to him. “So how often did BeTwo match you with people that you didn’t like?”
He looked at her with bright eyes. He opened his mouth to speak, and Nat noticed his full lips were tinged a faint blue color that somewhere in her mind she wanted to lick off — when Sara burst through the door.
“Sorry, late bus!” she wheezed, out of breath. She eyed Nat and Rami for a beat. “Ready to go?”
“Yes, definitely!” Nat downed the last of her martini as she watched Rami straighten his posture away from where he’d been leaning toward her. “I was thinking about the place with The Smiths cover band?”
Sara crossed her arms, mean-mugging Rami, as she said, “Faux-rissey. Yeah, I already got us on the list, so get ready for some feels.”
“Amazing!” Nat hopped down and reached for her purse. Rami held out his hand.
“It’s on me.”
She froze. “Really?”
He fixed her with a sad smile, but his puppy dog brown eyes danced with mischief. “It’s the least I can do now that you’re in the BeTwo trenches of despair.”
“You make it kind of hard to thank you.”
He shrugged with a satisfied glow. “Well, you’re welcome.”
Nat took Sara’s arm. She pulled her scarf tighter around her neck, but something felt off. She made sure she had her phone in her purse. Then she turned back to Rami. “Take it easy,” she said.
He raised his glass to her with a tiny smile. “You too.”
Warmth rushed up through her, and she smiled. It was the best she’d felt all night. Then she pushed open the red pleather doors and left.
* * *
Sara and Nat clutched their jackets closed as they walked down the sidewalk. The fog blurred the streetlights into fuzzy halos around them, and the tops of the pastel Victorians that lined the street disappeared into gray mist.
Sara let out a whoop and smacked Nat on the shoulder. “Holy hell, that was the weather app guy who’s out to destroy you?”
“Yeah, so?”
“So? He’s totally cute!”
Nat thumbed her phone on. “He’s a pill,” she said.
“Yeah, he is. Yum.”
“No, like a bad pill. Not a fun pill.” Nat sniffled away the last of her earlier tears.
