Swipe Right Ch. 01
Hello and welcome to Swipe Right Chapter 1!
This originally was just going to be a one-shot story and be self contained. But as I was writing the length grew and I wanted to make sure it was easier on all of you to read. So I'm cutting it into two chapters.
If you're a fan of my current series this might be a bit of a departure from that.
I generally like to put theme warnings in my stories but all of those should be covered by the tags. With this story I tried to keep it as grounded as possible but obviously there is always going to be a level of suspension of disbelief.
I hope you all enjoy it and as always I encourage any feedback, private or public.
All characters featured in this story are 18 years of age or older.
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Losing track of people after college.
I think a lot of people have this idea that the people you are talking to right now will always be there. It doesn't matter if it's a close friend or even someone you work with for decades. There always seems to be the possibility of people just kind of fading out of your life. It's kind of sad but it also is just one of those aspects of this crazy thing we call life.
That's what happened to me going into college and even after. Friends I had freshman year had come and gone by junior year. A coworker I was close friends with doing IT left for another company. I thought we would be gaming every night even after he was gone. But within a month we haven't even sent a single text.
Two years down and a promotion later it seemed like even my family faded into the background. We were never really a close family. I don't mean that really in a bad way. We still went on vacations together and attended each other's functions but weren't really a family that was always in communication. None of us are super active on social media, if we even had any.
My parents both worked in academia. My father was a professor of economics and still teaches today. My mother is a former professor, now she's the Dean of a private school. They never really pushed me and my sister into that path. They just asked that we go to school and go into something we enjoyed. Being big into computers I took the soul crushing route of going into IT and network security.
My older sister Megan took a gap year before school. Not really knowing what she wanted to do. She did some traveling and a lot of drinking. Eventually she settled on a business degree. We haven't talked in years so I'm not exactly sure what she's doing. It's been so long I can't even really even remember what she looks like.
After me and Megan were off at school my parents started to travel more. Getting closer to retirement they wanted to get a head start on really enjoying life. My mom would call to set up a dinner or get together and two weeks later I'd get a call that they would be traveling to Austria or China. After a while planning didn't even really happen anymore. Just an occasional call on my birthday.
This all might sound very depressing but to me that's just how it was growing up. Our family dynamic just wasn't that close. I'm happy where I'm at and I'm glad they are too.
1. The Daily Grind
I had heard that going into IT can wear you down but honestly it's not too bad. The scales on my career path were also tipped a lot. One of my professors wrote me a glowing letter of recommendation to a company and after graduation they took me without even needing a second interview. Not having to cut my teeth doing help desk or anything like that. Pretty much went straight into network security.
My day is generally pretty easy. Start my day at 9:00 AM, usually with a meeting. Sit through that while sipping my coffee. Go to my office where I read through maybe five or six emails. Then just sit and wait for problems to pop up or my phone to ring. When 5:00 PM rolls around I walk my happy ass out the door.
I live and work in the city and was lucky enough to get an apartment within biking distance of the office. So most of the year I just bike to work. Even in the winter I sometimes don't bother to get my car out. There is nothing that drives me nuts more than traffic.
Getting home I usually grab a quick snack and head down to the gym. Paying extra for a nicer apartment has its perks. A full gym and a very nice pool. Even have a little grocery store downstairs.
Generally I don't workout too much. Just enough to keep me in shape but by no means am I jacked. Swimming for years has kept me lean with some nice muscle mass. I try to keep that consistent look and nothing more.
After the gym I like to sit back and relax. Usually with some video games or going to a nice bar down the street. Have a few beers while I read a book or scroll through the news.
I'll be honest that it does hit me that the 9 to 5 lifestyle has me pretty captured. I do my little activities after work at my decent job and maybe go "crazy" by getting takeout or having a nice dinner out. Usually I avoid the clubs around here. Not that they are bad, just not really my thing.
Doing the daily grind can make time pass quickly. Sometimes I feel like I "wake up" and it's a month later.
2. Dating in the Big City and Fond Memories
Dating for me hasn't ever really been an issue but gaps in girlfriends isn't too uncommon for me. I'm mostly fine living by myself but there are times it gets to me. I could easily go out to a club and probably pick up a girl. But that does get boring after a while, I'd rather have something more concrete.
The longer relationship I had was with this girl Sammy starting my freshman year of college. She was a great girl and we had a lot of great times together. We met in a very boring chemistry class. We ended up passing notes about how boring the professor was.
Passing notes turned into texts and eventually a date. I was super nervous that night. As soon as we got together I could tell she was just as nervous. We went to dinner then a movie. After the movie we walked around town for what seemed like hours. The nervousness was gone and we both just relaxed.
It was two or three dates later that I asked her to be my girlfriend. I remember asking her as we walked back to her dorm. We ended up making out on a bench for what seemed like hours. I remember she stopped kissing me and looked me straight in the eyes.
"Max, your roommate is gone right?" She asks.
"Yeah! Went to see his parents for the weekend." I replied.