The Man I Never Met Pt 03 1

I should cancel. But an hour before the date is a bitchy move. I can't. I have to get up.

My legs were weak. My stomach growling. Did I even bother to eat anything today?

This Mystery Man was destructive in every aspect of my life. My first true taste of a drug, and I couldn't seem to put it down.

No, fuck him.

I had wished for an actual date for months, staring at myself in the mirror one last time. It doesn't matter who bought it. Jason will love it. Not thinking, I pulled the panties back up and ran to find matching heels and a granola bar. Then, I dug through my mother's purses to find something cute and sophisticated. That didn't exist, but this one will do, a small clutch.

The Maps App told me I had 20 minutes. Just long enough to give myself a pep talk before I arrived at the restaurant.

Eva, you are smart, funny, and, at least today, cute. Don't be weird. If you don't know what to say, just smile and giggle. Lizzy's advice has saved her more than once.

Every few minutes, I received a notification that distracted me from my already discombobulated speech. For the first time, I hated the display on my car.

Mystery Man, Mystery Man, Mystery Man

You will not look at...

A much more personal notification started buzzing under my dress.

"No, no, no." I didn't change my underwear. Was I so distracted that I didn't notice the wet mess of cloth that now rode up every nook and cranny of me?

Luckily, a stop sign was up ahead. I pulled the panties back down, enough that I would at least make it to the restaurant in one piece. The date hadn't even started, and he was third-wheeling me nonstop.

I parked at what looked like a bar. Could this be right? He said it was the perfect place for me earlier. Also, how old is he? Did I ever ask?

Again, the panties started barking at me. This isn't going to work. Just be smart and always cross your legs. It would have been nice if the dress was longer.

When I slid them down, they got caught on my heel. Not thinking, I put my leg up in the air, and as it always happens, three knocks hit my driver's window. I immediately made eye contact with Jason, but his eyes were not on mine. He was looking at a girl with her legs wide open, panties coming off, and a full view of almost every secret I had.

My life was over. I threw my leg back down and pulled my dress over me, but the damage was done. I could not get out of the car, and I definitely would not look back up at him.

I wasn't breathing. Time was moving so slowly. Was I trying to kill myself? Maybe that was the only way out now.

There was another knock on the window. "Hey, sorry about that. Do you need some space for a minute?" Taking it upon himself to back up a few feet without a response from me.

This couldn't get any worse. Laying my head against the wheel and honking the horn.

"Fuck me!" I abruptly sat straight up and opened the car door. I stepped out, underwear still attached to my foot. Pulled so hard they tore and threw them back into the car. I had snapped. Nothing could be done. We would climb our way up from this rock bottom.

He didn't even know what to do, making an awkward hand gesture similar to a wave in my direction. "So... I shouldn't have surprised you like that. My bad. Great view though."

"Poorly timed wardrobe malfunctions, what can you do? I'm fine now, thanks." Somehow, I forced a smile out.

"It's all good, nothing I haven't seen before." He laughed it off. "You do look... stunning though in that dress." His eyes canvassed every inch of me. It made me feel better, and at least he's interested.

"Let's go in and get a drink. This will be a cute story between us by the end of the night, " he said, putting his arm out for me to grab and leading me inside.

We walked into a much nicer interior with a hidden-away speakeasy vibe. The tables had fun, private foldup walls around them. He had done better than the book's cover first indicated. One problem. I realized when we were waiting in line to be seated that they were checking ID's.

"Jason, you know I'm not 21, right?" I knew he was older than me, but I was not sure beyond that. "How old are you?"

"I'm 23." He chuckled. "And I know. You told me you just graduated."

Did I tell him that? When?

"Remember, I know the guys here. They'll let us in."

Do I remember? Did I black out at some point in the last 24 hours?

He approached the hostess, and they traded pleasantries. I didn't like the looks she gave him, but they were better than the looks she gave me as we walked by.

"How do you know her?" Curious if I just met an ex.

"I knew her in college. We hung out a few times." He took my hand, led me back to the furthest corner table, and sat me down. "What do you want me to get you? You seem like a fruity drink girl."

"Oh... um yeah. I'm not sure. That sounds good."

He winked at me with a smile and walked over to the bar. He knew her in college? As in, he's 23 and no longer in college. As if I wasn't intimidated enough going on this date already. Why was he even talking to me? That girl was gorgeous.

Before I could panic too much, Jason came back with the drinks. "I think you'll like this one." Another one of his perfect smiles plastered across his face.

"Hey, you forgot these." A man brings two shots to our table and walks away, closing the sliding wall behind him.

"You looked like you needed a little liquid courage. Been white as a ghost since the parking lot. Which, again, only made you seem cooler."

My eyes sunk to the tiny glass, something amber filling it. Maybe he was right. I needed to chill out.

"Bottoms up!" He picked up his shot and touched it to mine. His vanished in a blink. Mine, a slow and painful multiple sips, not burning but incinerating my throat on the way down.

He couldn't help but laugh. "Slow down, party animal." He slid my other drink towards me. "At least this one you are supposed to sip on."

My hundred-pound body surviving on a granola bar did not know what was about to hit it. Halfway through my drink, I had hit high levels of tipsy already.

The conversation flowed much better now. Jason was fun and flirty, and I loved looking at his face. I even had my shining moments, but I felt like I was fighting to keep up with him. Occasionally, he would bring something up that I knew we had never talked about.

"How do you know I dance?" At some point, I had to question his knowledge of my life.

"What do you mean? You told me on Burn Note. Sorry, I didn't know who you were when you messaged. That sucks that your mom is so overbearing, but it was fun to text and secretly message at the same time. Loved seeing that side of you." His eyes wandered down my dress, burning another hole between my legs.

He had not seen a person turn white until that very moment. I could not move, think, or comprehend anything around me. I felt sick. I don't have that app. I didn't have that conversation. How do I explain that? Oh, hey Jason, I'm glad you met my stalker. You're getting two for the price of one.

"Excuse me, I need to... use the restroom." He started to respond, but I was moving too fast to notice. I ran in the bathroom and barricaded myself in the last stall.

I was reading through all the texts the Mystery Man had sent. First, he told me how amazing I was, how incredible it was to hear my pleasure, and how much pleasure he received in return. Then I saw it. A link that took me to a bunch of screenshots. A conversation between the two men in my life. Of course, only one knew that.

They had talked so much in one night. He had said he wasn't in college and asked if it bothered me. He was kind, but I started making it dirty, or not me, but still.

The Mystery Man sent my picture to him! I was staring at myself under the covers, the sly tease that I had nothing on. The things they talked about. I had been sexting him last night.

My date is ruined. I'll say I'm sick and leave. At this point, my stomach was actually twisting. Not sure it was even a lie anymore, almost puking.

Me: What the fuck is wrong with you?!?! Pretending to be me. I liked him.

Mystery: And he likes things about you. I can tell he's not long-term for us anyway. He's quite fun to chat with, though.

Me: Well, you're chatting for nothing. I'm leaving.

Mystery: No, you aren't.

Me: Fuck you.

Mystery: (four more links lead to conversations between the fake me and men.)

There was constant mention of sexual acts, crazy ones, rough and dirty, just disgusting things. Receipts of them sending me money?! The picture of me under the blanket, of me in the dress, bought by a man for me. There were a few nudes of me. It was my face, not far from my body, but not mine.

Me: What did you do?

Trembling so hard it took four attempts to send.

Mystery: Just having fun. Like you should be.

Me: That wasn't me. You took money from those men. Sent them pictures insinuating things.

Mystery: Did you like reading them?

Me: No!!!!!!!!

Mystery: He's going to get worried about you. It's time to go back out and finish our date.

Me: I won't. I'm leaving and blocking you for good this time.

Before I could...

Mystery: I'd hate to give those men your address. Send your mom all these messages.

Me: Please just leave me alone!

Mystery: Finish the date and, as we promised, make him happy. I will check in with him afterward. If I am not pleased, you will have your first consequence.

Mystery: (A final link to a snippet of the convo with Jason. Talking about how hot it is to play in public. How I might look like a little princess, but I couldn't wait to taste him for dinner.)

Now I was going to puke. Jason came here thinking I was going to do that. Losing my panties probably seemed like part of the fucking game.

Me: You are so fucked up. I can't do that. I don't do that.

Mystery: Yes, you do and want to. He's good-looking, and his cock is perfect. You told him so. Now go learn, Eva. It's time you start growing up. I'm not as sweet when my doll doesn't perform for me.

I almost broke down into tears, but a couple of girls walked in. I found what was left of my composure and walked out.

I could see him sitting when I walked out, and a guy from behind the bar was talking to him. Another pair of shots at the table.

Maybe I get drunk, and it's easy, or he gets too drunk and forgets. My feet were moving, but I didn't want them to. I had never touched a "you know what" before. But here I was.

He noticed me and gave me a look of relief. "I almost sent someone in to check on you. Everything okay?"

"Yeah, sorry. There were a lot of girls in there, and my mom called to check in." Thinking of anything to fill the timeline.

He had another smile, but this one was a bit too curious for me. "Oh yeah, you mentioned she'd be gone the next few days. That's interesting."

I bet it was. Now that I was the town whore without doing a thing.

Sitting back down, he pushed the next shot at me. Was there ever going to be dinner attached to this date? "This is the last one, I swear." He slid around the booth part of the table, not a foot between us. I took a deep breath and shot it down in one attempt.

"Look at you." Which he did intensely.

"You're finally loosening up a bit. I told our waiter I'd come up when we wanted something else. That way, you and I can have some privacy. Really get to know each other."

But I knew exactly what he meant now. The bomb was set, tick, tick, tick.