Kyle was bored. It was 9pm, on a work night, in a small rural city that closed up shop 30 minutes ago. This is how he found his evenings. Pretty much alone, watching TV or porn or catching up on social media. Bored.
He thought life was going to get interesting after graduation. He had taken a job across the country, and ended up in a sleepy little New England town. He loved his job, loved his new apartment - but he missed his friends. He found it very hard to make new friends - especially now that the weather was colder. He spent a lot of time at work, and there just wasn't a lot of night spots in the community. So he had turned to a few online dating platforms. He wasn't expecting much, there just weren't many people in the area near his age.
So he was surprised when his email refreshed and he had a connect request.
It was late, but he figured he'd go login and find out what was sent. A few seconds later and he was in. She seemed nice. Funny profile, nice pictures, close by. She had a nice smile, dark hair and blue eyes. She had a sense of humor, and listed her age as 26. She did say she was very forward and very direct. He didn't think that was a problem.
He opened her message and it was fairly direct. It started off by welcoming him to the region and saying that she liked his profile and would love to meet. He was pretty sure that this was rare in the online dating world. And he was concerned she might be a bot. He had his hopes up but he was guarded. So he sent a reply back, asking if she'd be interested in coffee. He proposed a time and a nice place he knew that was near his work for a few days later on Saturday.
He figured he'd check again in the AM and so he went to go take a shower before bed. He stripped out of his clothes and grabbed his towel - then his computer pinged again. He walked over - a new message. "Prove you're real! What are you doing right now?"
He frowned. Should he go risky or should he keep it light. He decided on light. "I'm just getting ready for bed!" He replied, then added "Prove you're real!" He hit send.
He sat back down and waited. "A bit early for bed isn't it? Is it proof enough that I am responding like a real person?" He grinned.
"Yes, that's fine." He started to text. "And yeah, it's a bit early. I was going to take a shower first though." He sent it then started to get up.
Ping! "A shower? Who showers at night?"
He sat back down. "Me! Makes my morning easier to get through."
Ping! "Well, maybe I could convince you to stay up a little bit longer? Put the shower on hold!"
This seemed to be going well. So he decided to play along. "Okay! Shower is officially on hold. What are you doing?"
"Drinking some wine while lounging. I just got home a little bit ago and wanted to unwind!" He recalled from her profile that she worked at a tire store.
"Up late slinging tires?" He asked, to show that he actually read her profile and didn't focus on the pictures alone - even though their was nothing really risque. Mostly face shots.
"Kind of! I had to review inventory and place some orders. Newbies like you are now starting to realize winter tires really are necessary in the WHITE Mountains. All the natives got theirs on a few weeks ago." He laughed.
"Yeah I still have all seasons. Not good enough?" He figured he knew the answer already, but he actually was enjoying this.
He could almost hear the disappointment, even though he hadn't heard her voice at all. "No. What do you drive?"
He hesitated. He hoped she wouldn't judge to much. "2002 Toyota Corolla."
There was a long pause. "After we meet up for coffee you're coming with me to my store."
He grinned, "Wow! Two dates in one day! We're moving quick!"
They continued to talk for the rest of the night, casually chatting and getting to know each other. He finally went to bed around 1am, having not taken his shower. It was great. It felt natural and fun. He even got her name: Susan. The next day they picked up right where they left off. He came home but she didn't log online till a few hours later. "Another rough day at work?" He began.
"Just busy! I'll be crazy busy for a few more weeks, then it will slow down for a while. How are you? Did you ever take a shower last night? I felt bad keeping you up so late."
"Nope, never did. Got all ready but enjoyed talking to you!" He responded back.
"Got ready? Wait! Did you actually get naked and then just chat with me with just your towel?"
He blushed a bit, but decided to take a risk. "Well, no towel."
"OMG! LOL! That is hot! I wish I had seen that!" He breathed out a sigh of relief. She wasn't creeped out. A new message quickly followed. "Wait you should totally take a shower. You'll get your clothes all dirty."
He laughed, "Okay! I'll go take a shower!" He quickly got up and did just that. He came back to a few messages.
The first one was just a simple thumbs up. This was followed by a "I wonder how long you'll take?" Then this was followed by "Come back to your computer before anything else!" and that was followed with "Like getting dressed."
He laughed and sat down, "I"m back! Came straight to my computer!"