Charlotte was a perfect Southern girl. She said, "Yes Ma'am" and "No Sir," "Please" and "Thank you," and she had just the right amount of Southern drawl. She even had a Southern name, Charlotte Belle. She had moved to Atlanta for college and never returned home to her native North Carolina. Now at age 30, her family was pressuring her to move home, settle down, and start a family. But she was happy with where she was in life. She had a good job, good friends, a downtown apartment, and a cat. She didn't see any point in changing that.
What Charlotte's family didn't know was that she had just broken up for good with her on again, off again, boyfriend, Rob. They had a major fight and she told him she never wanted to see him again. She had never let Rob meet her family because the relationship was so unstable. She liked having a date for all of the social events that Atlanta had to offer a twenty something girl, but she didn't like the way he treated her. The sex wasn't even good enough to warrant keeping him around. Right now she had no interest in men whatsoever.
On Thursday night, Charlotte and her friends were at the neighborhood bar that they frequented. The topic of her dating life came up. Her friends offered to set her up. She politely refused with a sweet, "No thank you." Everyone was laughing and telling her that they had just the right man for her, suggesting name after name. After several refusals, Charlotte finally said in her Southern accent, "Ya'll know I have no interest in any man right now!" The group became silent as her best friend Margo spoke up, "What if it's not a man? What if it's a woman?"
Charlotte's jaw dropped and she gasped, and almost yelled "Oh, my word no!"
Everyone laughed as Margo winked saying, "You never know unless you try!"
That night as she lay in her cozy bed, cuddling with her cat, her mind kept returning to Margo's comment. "What if it's a woman" kept running through her mind.
No,
she told herself.
I like penis!
After Margo's comment, everyone seemed to forget about the dating topic. Everyone except Charlotte. She couldn't quit thinking about dating a woman. Every time she entertained the thought, she would push it out of her mind, repeating to herself,
I like penis. I LIKE PENIS!
A few weeks went by and Margo and Charlotte met for lunch. Charlotte could tell that Margo was distracted. Margo finally blurted out, "I think you should start dating again! Get out there and find a good relationship." She purposely didn't say 'find a good man'. Charlotte nodded in silence. Margo continued, "I'll help you set up a dating profile. You aren't the only single person in Atlanta. There are plenty of fish in this sea!" Charlotte reluctantly agreed, so the two girls planned for Saturday afternoon to sit down with some wine and create a profile. They would take pictures and make a day of it.
When Saturday came, Charlotte became nervous. What if Margo suggested that she date a woman? What would she say? Should she try dating a woman? She kept repeating to herself,
I like penis!
Margo arrived at Charlotte's apartment with a bottle of wine, and they grabbed two glasses. They plopped down on the couch with the laptop between them. Margo grabbed the computer and said, "I've been researching the best dating sites, so let's get started," as she typed in the URL. Charlotte felt butterflies in her stomach. She couldn't believe she had agreed to get back out there, especially online.
The website started with the basics:
Name: Charlotte Belle
Age: 30
Sex: Female
City: Atlanta, GA
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 132
Eye color: Blue
Hair color: Blonde
Ethnicity: White
Then came the stressful question: "Interested in?" Margo looked at Charlotte, questioning her choice. Without thinking, Charlotte exclaimed, "I like penis!"
Margo busted out laughing. "Ok! Ok! Man it is!"
The two women continued answering questions and when it came time to add pictures, they took some candid photos around the apartment. Margo had the idea to go to the park for some outdoor shots, so off they went. They started with serious pictures, but they got sillier as the day went on. In the park was a statue of a man kissing a woman on the cheek. Charlotte claimed the other cheek and leaned in to give her a kiss. To be silly, she reached up and grabbed the statue's boob. Margo snapped the pose, keeping her thoughts to herself. When they were satisfied with the photos, they returned to Charlotte's apartment to finish the profile. Margo insisted on using the photo with the statue, among others, and Charlotte reluctantly agreed. At last they hit submit and the dating profile was live. "Now we wait," said Margo.
Charlotte felt the butterflies again. "Yes, now we wait," she repeated.
Over the next several days Charlotte kept an eye on her profile. She received several messages and she responded to them all because that was the polite thing to do. She scrolled through all of the profiles multiple times but no one caught her attention. "This is the best Atlanta has to offer?" she text to Margo, frustrated at her search results. Margo suggested they meet for drinks to fine tune her profile and soon they were sitting at a corner table at the bar, revisiting her information.
"What is wrong with me?" Charlotte asked. "Why is nothing I see on this site appealing to me?" Margo pursed her lips as if she was holding back. "Go ahead, say what you're thinking," pressed Charlotte.
Margo spoke slowly. "Maybe you aren't looking for the right things. You said you like penis." Charlotte blushed. "But is that really what you want?" Charlotte listened intently as Margo continued. "Have you ever really enjoyed a relationship with a man?"
Charlotte shook her head. "Well, no. I just thought it was because they weren't the right guys."
"Maybe...just maybe" emphasized Margo, "you should look outside the box. Just take a look at some women. No commitments, just looking."
"Maybe, "said Charlotte. "What would my momma say? This is not what we do! We marry men and have babies, not date women!"
"You have to make yourself happy and not worry about anyone else," replied Margo.
Charlotte agreed to think about it. "But I like penis," she whispered, almost trying to convince herself that it was true.
That night in the comfort of her own bed, Charlotte broke down and started looking through the 'women looking for women' section of the dating website. There were a lot of beautiful women, all ages, ethnicities, and builds. A few caught her attention, but Charlotte wasn't ready to reach out to anyone yet. She was just window shopping. All of a sudden a DM popped up...from a woman!
She must have seen me looking at her profile,
Charlotte thought, embarrassed that she hadn't hidden herself while browsing. She opened and read the simple message, "Hi, wanna chat? Bria." Being the polite Southern woman that she was, she had to reply.
What does one say to a woman, she wondered. She ended up writing, "Hi Bria. Your name is very pretty. Charlotte."
Bria immediately messaged back. "Hi Charlotte. Nice to meet you. I'm looking at your profile. You're beautiful. It says you're looking for men. Is that true?"
Wow,
thought Charlotte.