Chapter 2- An Unexpected Prospect
Marcelle woke up the next morning in her bed all alone. She ran her hand across the vacant side of the bed and sighed. She was always alone, and to top it all, she felt so drained as if she hadn't slept or dreamed.
It wasn't like waking up yesterday afternoon after her nap with Charles. She had truly felt refreshed then. That was something she hadn't felt since--well--since before she got pregnant with Charles.
With a sigh, she turned over in bed, threw the covers off, and rolled out. Naked as the day she was born, Marcelle wore nothing to bed when she slept. She hated how clothing made her feel like she was being strangled in the night, but oh how she loved the feeling of silky lingerie as it caressed her skin any other time.
Walking into her private bathroom, she used the facilities and then took a shower. When she got out she dressed for work. Makeup first. Just a splash of rouge around the eyes, eyeliner, mascara, and lipgloss to make her lips look like candy. Then a pretty bra with matching thong panties. Socks. A simple company shirt. Tight high-rise boot-cut jeans. A belt, and lastly boots. Confident in her appearance, she left and went to the kitchen to make breakfast.
It wasn't until she made breakfast and called Charles to come eat that she finally picked up her phone and keyed around until she brought up her new dating app. As soon as it launched her phone exploded with notifications. She had five hundred messages. Over a thousand favorites, and a thousand hearts on her pictures. She went from pleasantly surprised to hyperventilating!
"Charles!" She shrieked.
----(!)----
I heard the panic in mom's voice as she called my name from the kitchen, so I finished tying my shoelaces, grabbed my pack, and trotted to the kitchen.
"What's up mom," I asked.
Her face was an expression of complete horror as she held out her hand with the phone to me.
"I--I can't do this!" She almost cried as I took her phone.
To be honest, I was floored at how much response mom got. I had just checked my profile and I had only twenty or so responses and all of them were bot accounts created by the company.
"Wow," I said, my tone reflecting my surprise. Then I grinned as I decided to tease mom a little, "Well, it looks like you are a sensation!"
"No joking, please," Marcelle chided, "I--can't handle this. Just--just delete my profile!"
"Look," I said as I sat down next to her and moved so she could see her screen, "Most of this you can just ignore. See here, this just means that your profile was looked at by this person. And you can ignore the likes on your photos. That only leaves you messages. Just, go through them carefully."
"But, Charles, ten thousand emails!" Mom complained.
"Well," I said, "Why not set it so you look at them from oldest to newest? Those would be the first ones that saw your profile and responded. Then, only read them until you find someone you're interested in and delete the rest. None of these guys have any strings on you. You go as fast or slow as you want. This is for your enjoyment and the betterment of your life. Remember that!"
With that, I handed her phone back to her. She nodded, her expression more stalwart, and then promptly put her phone down and made a plate of food for me to eat.
"This is awesome mom, thank you," I said gratefully while making yummy sounds.
Marcelle looked over her profile as I ate. I finished up and then said goodbye, "Love you, mom. I'll see you this afternoon."
"I love you too," She replied, and then I leaned in and placed a kiss on her cheek on the edge of her beautiful mouth. I tried really hard not to think about what we did just yesterday, but it was hard and it took everything in me not to accidentally kiss her full on the lips.
Then, I left.
----(!)----
There was still a little time before she needed to leave for work, so, tentatively, she tapped the first message. It was from a man named David, and read:
"Wow! Just wow!
I just saw your profile pics and you're a fucking hottie!
Wanna hook up? I could drill you so hard you'll scream!"
At the bottom, there was an accompanying pic of his erect dick!
"NOPE!" She gasped as she hit the delete icon.
The next five men she didn't even get past the message title. The next seven were much like the first braggadocious requests to hook up and how they could satisfy her. Every one of them sent pics of their dicks. Like that was all she was interested in. Sure a fine dick was a fine dick, but if that was all she wanted she already had HAL, Ed, and Marvin. Did none of these men understand that she was looking for a companion? Someone to talk to. Someone to hang out with. Someone to share her hopes, dreams, and life with.
She almost shut down the app but instead tried one more message. The title read, "Write me and Escape..."
Marcelle immediately laughed thinking of an old eighties song about a man and woman that cheated on each other with each other by submitting a 'Personal' in the newspaper. When they met they discovered they were both planning to cheat and leave the other, but instead of getting upset with each other, they realized that they were both bored with their lives. They learned something new about each other in their correspondence and used the opportunity to rediscover each other and their passion for one another.
"Strange," Marcelle mumbled as she tapped the sender's name, "He has my son's middle name. Maybe it's a sign."
For the next few minutes, she checked out his profile. She was disappointed that there were no pics, but what she read had her very interested. Finally, she returned to her email and deleted all of the other messages, and then wrote a reply to Everett:
"Hello Everett,
Promising start. I like your sense of humor. You're right though, I like taking it slow. It has been a long time since I have even considered dating, and well, what I've seen so far for choices in men hasn't been promising. So, congrats!
By the way, I am in good health, and in better humor now. Thank you.
So, tell me, what brings you to this site? And, what is your goal?
To answer my own questions: First, I'm a 30-year-old single mom. I've raised my son to be a fine young man and fear he may be leaving me soon. I've done my job to the best of my ability. Now, I guess, it's time I focus on myself. Second, I've realized I'm lonely. Not by myself 'lonely', after all, I have my son. No, I'm lonely for a companion to share my life with. A true partner. So, that is my goal; find a true companion.
So wow, that was intense. Also, maybe share something light-hearted and fun that you enjoy.
Until next time, Silvermane"
Once Marcelle finished her note, she looked at the time and cursed, "Shit!"
Jumping up from sitting at the dining table, she bolted for the door. She had to hurry, or she was going to be late for work!
----(!)----
I kept my head down once I got to school. I wasn't sure how things had played out after I left, but I was pretty sure everyone knew by now that I asked Madison out and was rejected. What I didn't expect was the complete lack of anything. No one said a thing.
I found my group of friends in the yard before the doors opened. Randy Berkshire. He stood a little shorter than me but he was broader across the shoulders and built heavier too. He wore his brown hair in a shoulder-length mullet. He was also always bragging about fucking whichever girl he was dating most recently. I tended to believe that he was full of shit.
Then there was Lana Deep, her name was actually Alaina Deep, but she preferred Lana. It kept her from punching guys' teeth down their throats when they decided to make a pun on her name. Everyone still remembers Bryan Stenson. In the seventh grade, she sent him home with two missing teeth and a broken nose because he called her 'I wanna't Deep'. No one ever called her that again.
What is funny is Lana isn't a big girl. Actually, she is rather small. She stopped growing at 4 feet 10 inches. She has also built petite. Sporting only large A-cups or small B-cup breasts on a 26-inch chest, her waist was only 18 inches around, and her hips and ass measurement was 30 inches.
She hated it. She was always complaining that she still bought her clothes in the junior's or children's departments. None of us ever laughed. We all remembered Bryan Stenson.
Other than her temper and short stature, Lana was really very pretty. Not my type, but still, very attractive. She had this untamable curly black hair that seemed to make her seem larger than she really was. It fell all the way to her knees. She had once said that her parents had never cut her hair, and I believe it. Usually, though, she kept her hair in a large, kind of wild, braid that looked like it might break loose at any moment. Also, I don't know what her heritage is, but she had these amazing, startling, iceberg-blue eyes, and skin the color of white marble.
Actually, now that I thought about it, Lana was actually very--very attractive. The guy that did finally catch her would be lucky indeed.
"Morning Charles," Lana greeted as I walked up.
"Morning Lana. Morning Randy," I returned.
"What happened to you yesterday?" Lana asked, "We missed you."
"I wasn't feeling it," I said, "So, I went home."
Lana looked perplexed but didn't say anything else. Randy though, gave me a knowing smirk before cutting his eyes to Lana.
"You asked her out didn't you?" Randy said.
"What?" Lana gasped.
"Is that what's going around," I asked.
Lana and Randy both returned perplexed expressions.
"I didn't know anything until just now," Lana said, "Though if I had I would have told you not to. She doesn't date. Something about her folks. Some religious thing. At least, that's what I've heard."
"I didn't hear anything either," Randy said, "I just assumed by your gloomy expression this morning."
"Huh," I mumbled, then nodded as I admitted, "Yeah, I asked her out. Sure wish I knew about the whole not dating thing. Thanks, Lana, for that..."
"Hey, don't blame me that you got shot down," Lana replied, "It's a well-known fact that Madison Fairchild doesn't date."
I had to admit that I should have known. Still, surprisingly, it seemed that Madison hadn't said anything to anyone about my confession. That was nice.
"Anyways," I said, changing the subject, "Are you two coming over this afternoon?"
