Page 5 of We Met Like This
Ever since our terrible date three years earlier he and I had bumped into each other across multiple platforms over and over again. He must’ve deleted the apps as much as I did. Every time I’d downloaded them again, like a reset, his face was there waiting. Sometimes I swiped left on him, rolling my eyes as I remembered how he’d ignored the waitress and me, gave a boring monologue on font usage, and then proceeded to get me all worked up only to leave me to fend for myself that night. And sometimes I’d laugh and swipe right, and we’d exchange a few funny remarks and move on until our next reset. Today, I swiped right.
Immediately the wordMatchedfilled the screen. He must’ve thought it was a funny tradition at this point too.
He was still very cute—big brown eyes with long lashes, light brown wavy hair, a full smile. So many men didn’t smile with their teeth in photos, but he did.
So we match again, I typed in the chat.I like your new profile pic.
His response was fast:Norah! Hello.
Funny.
They’re the same feel, right?
I laughed out loud, then clamped my mouth shut and looked around. I was alone.I mean, they kind of are, I responded. I wasn’t going to let him win on the name-forgetting front byadmitting I’d been wrong. It had been three years, but I still had my pride.
His next message read:You have a new profile pic too. You got a dog?
No, it’s my friend’s dog. I need people to know that animals love me.
But do you love animals is the question.
I smiled, then typed:It depends on the animal. That specific dog in that specific picture… no.
Ha! Well, being adored is much better than adoring. And that dog adores you.
Truth.The potted plant on the corner of my desk looked sad, drooping leaves with brown edges. I picked up my water bottle and drizzled some water into the parched dirt.
How are you?was his next message.
You know… still here trying my luck with these impersonal torture devices.
He responded:Same. I thought you worked during the day. Did you change jobs?
No. I’m at work right this second, I replied.Working away. You still coding?
My phone buzzed with his response:I started my own business, actually, so I work from home now. But yes, lots of coding involved.
Do you make fonts?
Please don’t remind me of my oration on fonts. It’s a low point in my life.
But I can’t look at a menu without thinking about it. You need to know the consequences of your actions.This was actually a true statement. There’d been many times I had unwillinglyremembered our first date. It had been such an odd juxtaposition of incredibly boring followed by incredibly sensual that left me more irritated than anything.
A message appeared on my screen:Sleeping with your boss kept you doting and horny.
The message made me physically recoil before I realized it was Sloane responding to mygetting aheadtext. I spun my chair away from the front door so I was facing the back wall.
I thought that was from this guy I was messaging, I texted back.
She replied:And I take it he wouldn’t use doting and horny in the same sentence?
That is the main problem.
A message from Oliver buzzed through at the top of my screen:Which font would you like me to draft an apology letter in?
I laughed, then pressed the phone icon next to Sloane’s name before I confused message threads and responded to the wrong person.
She picked up after three rings. “Your fingers too tired to text?”
