Page 12 of Malliko
Turning in my chair, I expected to see Darren with a high school student, but the man next to him was my age or older.
“Hello.” My smile was a little stiff because of the confusion I felt. Looking to Darren, I corrected him, “It’s actually five years that I’ve been here.”
“Right… yes, time flies.” Darren brushed a hand across his pitch-black hair, which we all knew was a wig. Stepping inside my small office, he asked, “Did you read my email?”
“Some of it,” I lied.
“Kenny said that you volunteer to mentor Malliko.”
“Ehm… yes.” Looking back at the tall man, I found it hard to maintain eye contact with him. He was incredibly fit and attractive, and it made all my insecurities flare up.
“Malliko is doing his PhD in anthropology and writing a dissertation on human dating habits.” Turning to Malliko, Darren asked, “Did I get that right?”
“Close enough,” the tall man answered with a friendly smile.
“Right, so Clara will take you through what she knows on the subject and what trends we see. Things are changing for sure.” Placing a hand on Malliko’s shoulder, Darren told him, “If you need anything, tell Clara and she’ll help you.”
“Thank you.” Malliko lifted his hand to his forehead but then lowered it quickly in a strange movement that gave me the impression that he might be a bit socially awkward. It instantly made him more relatable, which helped me relax a little. He might be more than a little handsome, but he had quirks and insecurities just like me.
I got up from my chair and extended my hand to greet him formally. While shaking my hand, he looked deep into my eyes in a prolonged stare that made me sure that he definitely lacked a bit of a filter and situational awareness.
“Let me just grab a chair for you.” I moved around him to clear the chair in the corner of the pile of reports on it. “Here you go.” I moved the chair closer to mine. “Take a seat and tell me what I can do to help you.”
His large frame made the chair appear small.
“I’m interested in three questions primarily. How has technology changed the dating habits of humans? How isthe raised awareness of the collective affecting the balance between the genders? And does human sexuality change when procreation is no longer the goal?”
It was my turn to stare at him. “Excuse me. What do you mean by the raised awareness of the community?”
“Collective,” he corrected me.
“I’m not sure what that means.”
Leaning back a little, he looked out the window in my office as if thinking hard to find a way to explain it to me. “Humans… I mean, we humans have come a long way in how we treat each other. I’m talking about equality between the genders and a general softening of values. People are more aware in general, don’t you agree?”
It was hard not to laugh, but I kept my face straight and angled my head. “Let me put it this way. I think we have a long way to go. I’m not feeling the equality and I’m definitely not feeling softer values from anyone around me. The world is still a pretty brutal place where everything you care about can be ripped from you by people who take advantage of your naïveté.”
He looked a bit surprised. “But the level of education is better now than it was a hundred years ago. Women and girls have access to the same opportunities as men and boys in large parts of the world. That is a relatively new development and a welcome one, wouldn’t you say?”
I pushed my tongue against my cheek and bit back my own bitterness. “Fine. I understand what you mean and it’s too early in the morning to get into a big discussion on the subject. Let’s begin with talking about your first question. Has technology changed the dating habits of humanity? I would say yes without hesitation. Obviously, there are still people who meet up randomly or through friends, but Go2Match and other platforms like it shows that people are enjoying the advantages of dating online. On dating apps, you have a large pool ofpotential matches available, and you can sort through them from the comfort of your own home without having to dress up or go out. Once you find someone that you vibe with online, you can meet in real life and see if there’s chemistry between you.”
Malliko stopped me. “What do you mean when you say chemistry and vibe?”
“Ehm, you know… well…” I thought about it. “I guess to vibe with someone means that the conversation flows, and you share a sense of humor or have something in common. It’s a little difficult to explain and chemistry is sort of the same. Either you feel drawn to the person, or you don’t. You can have the best conversations online and talk on the phone for hours, but it’s only when you meet in real life that you can know for sure if there’s sexual chemistry between you.”
“And is there?” Malliko asked.
I narrowed my eyes in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“When you meet the people, have you felt attracted to them?”
My laughter was a bit uncertain. “I’m not talking aboutme, but people in general. I don’t date.”
“Why not? Are you mated?”
Thinking he used that word to be funny, I gave a polite smile before swiveling on my chair and turning my attention to my computer. “Not mated and not married. I don’t date because I see what kind of crazy people are out there. When you follow my work for a while, you’ll see what I mean.”
I felt Malliko still looking at me. “But are you alone?”
