“Jane, are you on that app again?” Rhoda asked Jane as they went for their lunch break.
“I matched another interesting guy,” Jane said with a cheeky smile on her face.
“I don’t understand how you ever find these people because I never seem to find cool people,” complained Rhoda.
“Well, you’ve got to know what to look for before you swipe right,” Jane said with a smirk.
Jane hardly noticed anything else all afternoon as she was engaged in an exciting conversation with the guy from the dating app. She had come from a long-term relationship, and she wanted to get back there or at least discover if she was ready to test the waters again. When she matched with Tom, she had meagre expectations. “Nothing good ever comes from dating apps,” that’s what everyone says.
The conversation with Tom flowed with so much ease. They had so much in common, and it came as no surprise when they decided to meet physically. They agreed that they would meet up at a restaurant in town after work, and then they would determine what next from there.
Jane was looking forward to the date. It would be her first date with someone she had met online. She wasn’t sure of the outcome she wanted, but she was curious to try something new and meet someone new. Tom’s interesting personality was a bonus. She clocked out of work at 5 o’clock on the dot. However, with the traffic in the city, she got to town some minutes past six.
As she made her way to the restaurant, Jane got a new fear. She’d heard of so many cases of people being catfished online; would she also experience it?
“I’m here,” she told Tom as she got to the restaurant’s entrance.
“So am I, “said Tom with a chuckle.
Before Jane could respond, she felt a tap on her shoulder.
“Oh phew! Same as your picture,” she blurted out.
They both laughed and proceeded inside. The conversation was as easy in person as it was on text. A stranger would have thought that they had known each other for ages. They talked about everything and had many things in common. It came as no surprise when they decided to take this conversation to Tom’s place.
After they had finished dining, Tom had to use the restroom. Jane decided to walk outside to buy something before Tom was done. Before entering the shop across the street, she got a phone call. She was so engrossed in the conversation that she couldn’t see the two thieves approach her. In a split second, her phone and bag were gone.
She froze and couldn’t scream. In any case, the street was crowded. The thieves seemed to have blended in with the rest of the people. A shaken Jane crossed back to the other side of the road with the restaurant. Tom had just come out, and he could sense something was wrong.
“Why do you have that look? What happened?” Tom asked.
“They have stolen my bag and phone,” she said in disbelief.
After comforting her, they decided to proceed with the earlier plan. In any case, she wasn’t going to retrieve her stolen items. She was going in for a night shift the following day, so she would have plenty of time to sort it out.
So they got into Tom’s car and headed back to his place. Jane was having the time of her life. She couldn’t believe her luck. Her first attempt at dating app had led her to this wonderful gentleman. They played games, watched some TV, had a few glasses of wine, then headed to bed. She would have to leave early to go sort out the mess. So Tom set his alarm for 6:45 a.m. It was his day off, so he didn’t need to be up that early.
Morning came, and Jane got up, freshened up, and she was ready to leave.
“Tom, please wake up,” Jane whispered as though she felt guilty of waking him up. However, she couldn’t leave without his help since her phone and wallet had been stolen.
“Mmh,” Tom said, half asleep.
“I need to leave and you remember I lost my things?”
“Oh, yeah. You said 100 bob will get you to your place?”
Before Jane could respond, Tom opened his side drawer and took out a 50 shillings note as he counted the coins to top up the remainder.
“Here you go, thanks for coming. You’ll find a mat easily at the stage,” Tom said.
Jane could feel tears swelling up in her eyes. She left as fast as she could because she wasn’t going to cry in front of him. It was the way he counted the coins like he was paying her for a service. It made her feel so dirty. She had no money to get home, so she had to accept the coins. Tom had been quite the gentleman, so she had expected that he would drop her home or call her an Uber at the very least. As she headed home to sort out her other mess, she vowed never to use dating apps again. Rhoda had been right after all.
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