Page 30 of Swiped
She thumbed open the message from Jo. No further response. The overheard call seeped into her thoughts like spilled ink.
She lay back down on her bed, opened her email, and found the contest contract from BuzzFill. She did a quick copy and paste and opened a text message to Rami. He seemed to hate her. Maybe she could get answers on her loathsomeness from him. She knew from experience that he certainly didn’t sugarcoat his words.
Nat:Hey, thanks again for the drink. I still wanna know if my app mismatched you a lot
She hesitated before pressing send. That was no way to address her enemy. She erased it and tried again.
Nat:It’s Nat. Here’s a question for all your BeTwo wisdom. What’s the best opening message to send a guy?
Three typing dots appeared right away. She sat up straighter. The room wobbled.
Rami:You’re asking me to help YOU? AKA The Enemy?
She scoffed.
Nat:Don’t you have all the answers?
Rami:Just be yourself!
Nat cackled.
Nat:That’s beautiful. You should sell T-shirts
Rami:IDK I just ask about something in their profile.
Smth like
Hey I love that band too! Did you ever see them live?
You like to cook! What’s your favorite dish to make?
Is that a llama in your profile pic?
Nat:Can the llama come on our date?
Rami:If I become emotionally attached to the llama, is that going to be a problem?
Nat:No prob-llama at all!
Nat laughed and stretched. Her phone buzzed again.
Rami:See? You’re a natural.
She watched the typing dots wiggle.
Rami:But I’m still gonna kick your ass . . .
In a totally figurative way
Llamaste
She stared at the phone for a beat, but couldn’t think of anything else to say. Besides, she had her information.
She opened BeTwo again and started writing her response to Nick.
Chapter 10
Later that week, she was on the office rooftop for lunch with Justin and Jo, meant to be enjoying another crisp and sunny San Francisco afternoon. Instead, she was absorbed in her phone, silent and reacting only to the pings of Nick’s incoming BeTwo messages. Her salad lay forgotten in the sun.
