Chapter 2

He was about to give up in exasperation when he spotted something interesting. He had been scrolling through the various profiles and could not believe some of the trite sentences that were tacked on to the profile details.

There were no photos of course, but that was the least of the offence. One person wanted ‘someone to walk in the park with and make love until the sun comes up.’

Another wanted a wealthy man so that she could be secure for the rest of her life.

Some were amusing and some were simply pathetic.

‘I have been single for most of my life and am now at a stage where I desperately need someone to love me. Anyone.’

Shaking his head, Earl was about to get out of the app, when something caught his attention. The tone of the message was slightly truculent as if the writer had been forced to check out the app.

Clicking on it, he opened the entire profile and scanned it quickly, his attention focused on the opening sentence.

‘I am not looking for ‘forever love’ – and for goodness sakes, shouldn’t we be editing before we press send? I cannot tell you the number of grammatical errors I have come across, it is a disgrace. Anyway, my name is Cathy as noted on my profile and I don’t know why the heck I am doing this.

I don’t like long walks in the park during the summer, because it is way too hot, and I am not looking for someone to stoke my ego. If you are likeminded, send me a text or whatever it is you are supposed to do in a case like this.’

He read the sentence again and found himself highly intrigued. Before he could change his mind, he sent her a message.

Fingers poised over the keyboard; he searched his mind for an appropriate response. With a smile wreathing on his face, he started typing.

‘I think we are of a like mind. I don’t particularly love to walk in the summer, and I am pretty certain I can spell most words, and I do edit my work before pressing send. I also have been coerced into going down this dating world.

So, for two people who seemed to have been reluctantly forced into this situation, what do you say we make the most of it?’

He waited a few minutes and did not think he was going to get a response, until he noticed the little dots, indicating that she was typing. Holding his breath, he released it in a whoosh when he skimmed the sentence.

‘Sounds like fun. Where do you want to start? I know we are not supposed to delve too deep on the first meeting, so I guess we could just talk about mundane stuff.

Like why are you really doing this? I know the standard line is going to be, you are too busy to put yourself out there and contend with the humdrum of dating. So, what is the real reason?”

Earl chuckled at her candor and found himself hyped up and ready to have a full-blown conversation.

“You really get to the heart of the matter, don’t you? My sister encouraged me to go this route and yes, I am going to use that line by saying that I am too busy to go the traditional route of dating. What about you?”

He waited with somewhat bated breath to find out if she was going to respond. He had no idea how this worked, but now that he had started, he wanted to continue.

“My best friend roped me into it. Something to the effect that I am wasting away. Mind you, I am only thirty-two, but apparently that’s an age where it is unforgivable to be alone. So, I guess since we are still communicating, this is a match?”

He felt a jolt at that and found himself staring at the words. A match? Shouldn’t he be scrolling through and looking at other profiles? But there was something about this particular candidate that caught his attention.

“I suppose we are.” He typed quickly, not wanting her to think that he was being hesitant or turned off by the idea. “What’s next?”

“We continue talking, I guess. We both agreed that walks in the park during summer are not the thing. What do you like to do?”

He thought on it for a minute, his smile widening.

“Don’t you think we should leave that line of questioning for when we get deeper in the relationship?”

The smile emoji she sent back had him laughing.

“So, it is a relationship now? Wow, you work fast. Well in order to cement this partnership, we need more details to work with. Like how tall you are.”

His thick brows lifted, and he grinned. “Is that a condition?”

“It might be. Now spill.”

“And if I say I am below five feet?”

“Then I am afraid this conversation along with the relationship is over.”

“Should I take it as a bad sign that you are into physical appearance?”

“Take it however you want to, but I still need an answer.”

He burst out laughing, gray eyes twinkling. This was the most fun he had had in a very long time. And it was with a woman he had never met before. “I am six foot three inches tall. Is that satisfactory?”

“Of course it is. Now please tell me you like double mint chocolate.”

The rapid switch in topic had him blinking.

“Are we talking ice cream?”

“Of course we are. What did you think?”

“I am not certain. We went from discussing height to sweets. Now to answer your question, I much prefer yoghurt and parfaits.”

“Everyone loves ice cream and if you don’t come up with a flavor, I am ending this right now.”

His amusement increased. His sister was right, this was so much fun.

“Double chocolate chip.”

“Not bad, I thought for a minute, you were going to go for vanilla.”

He laughed again, before typing. “What’s wrong with vanilla?”

“Absolutely nothing, if you happen to be boring and inspirational.”

“You are stereotyping. Should I be concerned?”

“Absolutely.” The smile emoji again which had him laughing. His fingers hovered at the keyboard, and he found himself wondering what she looked like. He wanted so much to ask her but had to stifle the urge.

They continued talking about inconsequential matters until she asked him a specific question.

“What about blind dates?”

“What about them?”

“Ever been on one?”

“When I was in college.”

“How did it turn out?”

Sitting back in the chair, he allowed his mind to wander back to almost fifteen years ago.

“Wasn’t so bad. She was not unattractive in the least and we had an interesting if somewhat awkward conversation. She was a minister’s daughter and that was her first time at being away from home.”

“I hope you did nothing to corrupt the poor girl.”

He laughed. “No. We were both very self-conscious and ended up talking about the various courses we were taking. What stayed in my mind was the fact that she was a minister’s daughter. It was a turn off. How about you?”

“I have been on several, unfortunately. My friends insist on trying to ‘help me out’ by trying to find someone. The last one was a complete disaster. The guy was too short, and he had a bad comb over that was very obvious and he tried to impress me with his knowledge of world history,”

“On a date?”

“Oh yes. He started talking about Napoleon and World War II in particular. He said he was on the verge of authoring a historical novel based on those two topics.”

“Perhaps he wanted to show you how intellectual and creative he was.”

“And he tried to feel his way between my thighs during dessert.”

Earl’s eyes narrowed. “I hope you ended the date.”

“I dumped strawberries and cream on his lap and walked out.”

“Good for you and it’s also handy to know that touching on the first date is not allowed.”

“You got that right.”

Cathy could not believe she was still talking to him. Justin had practically twisted her arm and threatened her. He had personally set up the app, paid for it with his credit card and told her that if she did not make the most of it, he wanted his money back.

“And don’t you dare tell me that you can well afford to give it back to me. You are going on that app, and you are going to find a damn man. It cannot be all about work for you.”

She had fumed and pouted, but in the end, she had succumbed. And now she was happy she had. For the first time in an exceptionally long time, she was having fun with the opposite sex. Justin did not count, because he was family.

She had shied away from relationships because they had all turned out disastrously. She had a feeling that it was because of the space between them and the anonymity that was making it work so well and whoever came up with this ‘no pressure’ dating deserved a medal.

She was supposed to be working on some designs, but the conversation had gotten so interesting that she had forgotten about work. It was while she was attempting to stifle another yawn that she happened to glance at the bedside clock and noticed with a start that it was close to midnight.

When she mentioned the time to him, he simply sent back a teasing response by asking if her carriage would be turning into a pumpkin at the stroke of the hour.

“No, but some of us have to work.”

“Are you implying that I don’t have that issue?”

“I am simply saying that I need to get my beauty rest.”

She waited for his response and felt a reluctance to get off line.

“It has been a pleasure speaking with you Cathy. Dare I hope we will be doing this again, tomorrow?”

Cathy felt something leap inside her chest at his question.

“Oh, absolutely. I enjoyed every minute of it.

“Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

She logged off and closed the lid of her computer. She had showered and changed into a silk embroidered burgundy PJ top and was propped up in bed. The conversation, something she had expected to be a complete waste of time had left her curious and wanting to know more about the man behind the screen.

She was not going to tell Justin yet how much she had enjoyed talking to Earl. When she admitted he was right, there would be no containing his gloating. She would pretend to be merely doing it to satisfy him alone.

A smile touched her lips as she settled back against the pillows. It was amazing that for the first time in a very long time, she had completely enjoyed a date and wondered if the lack of a formal setting, not been face to face with the guy had anything to do with it.

*****

It was ridiculous of course. Even long after the conversation, he was still seated at his desk, mulling over every single aspect of it. He had no idea what she looked like or knew anything about her and yet, here he was unable to get the conversation out of his mind. He was already forming an opinion about her.

And already liking what her very much. He reminded himself that this was just an experiment and one that could go wrong. Also, one that he could step away from any time. They were just talking, getting to know each other.

But damn if he wasn’t already eager to speak to her again. And damn if he wasn’t looking forward to tomorrow.

“Get a grip, why don’t you?” He muttered as he pushed himself away from the desk and rose. It might be the fact that he was starved for companion, female companion that was making him feel this eager, for want of a better word.

After Diana, he had been reticent, unwilling to even take a woman to his bed. It had taken several months for him to shake off the malady plaguing him and get on with his life.

She had tried contacting him and had persisted until he had his lawyer contact her and threatened a restraining order if she continued to plague him with her phone calls. But he was over her and told himself that he was not going to willingly trust another woman again.

Walking over to the cabinet, he contemplated having a drink before going to bed and decided against it. He had a series of early morning meetings and needed a clear head.

Turning away from the cabinet, he went back to his desk, his eyes straying to the laptop and could not help the grin splitting his face. Hell, he did not care how it sounded, but he was looking forward to talking to her again.

*****

Cathy stared at herself in the mirror critically the next morning. She had spent the night mulling over the conversation and trying to picture his face. Now standing in front of the full-length mirror she took the pins from her thick dark brown hair and combed her fingers through the strands.

For a hell of a long time, she had been insecure about her ‘bigness’. Especially being brought up in the group home and discovering that she had been unwanted by both parents, it had caused her to become bitter and self-conscious.

Children had picked on her, until she learned to lash out with her fists. Because of her height and size, she had started to earn respect. Her hair and skin had always been her best assets then, but she had never thought about it until Justin pointed it out to her.

They had been about thirteen when he admitted that he was in love with her. She had stared at him in comical dismay. “Are you out of your frigging mind?” She had picked up the swear words and used them frequently.

“You are beautiful,” he had told her dreamily.

“And you are a fruitcake.” She had hurt him with that name but had not apologized. She knew he was trying to deny his sexual preference, because admitting you were gay in an environment like that was taboo.

Shaking her head, she passed a hand over her flat stomach and itemized her features. Her eyes were an unusual shade of brown and her complexion was flawless. She was voluptuous and after wearing hand me downs that had been ill fitting, she had decided earlier on that she was going to design clothing for plus-sized women.

Now her outfits were designed to tantalize and mold the curves. She was risqué in her design and had creative freedom to do whatever she wanted.

She used flashy and bold colors and instead of covering up the flesh, she dared to highlight them. Her collection was called ‘Curvaceously Lovely’ and had been featured in several magazines.

But since her very few relationships had ended in disaster, she had found herself asking questions. Was she attractive enough? Her self-confidence, one she had carefully honed since the debacle with her mother, had taken a beating.

Biting down on her full bottom lip, she took another look before turning away and reaching for a red and blue cotton sheath and pulled it over her head.

The material was soft and malleable, settling on her curves like a lover’s hand. Twisting her hair into a braid that hung over her left breast, she shoved her feet into snakelike sandals and grabbed her pocketbook. She was meeting Justin at ‘Tremors’ for lunch.

*****

“So, are we going to talk about it now or wait until dessert?”

“Talk about what?” Cathy reached for the fruit bowl and picked up a slice of mango. It was almost the end of summer, and one could already see the leaves changing colors.

They were seated under a canopy outside and far away from the other diners to provide privacy. Both were famous enough to give them access to the trendy restaurant and coveted spot.

Other than the incisive and curious stares from the diners making their way inside, they were left alone.

She grinned at the dirty look he gave her as he took a sip of his lemon water.

“I met someone. His name is Earl, and he sounds decent enough.”

Justin wrinkled his straight nose. “Earl? I am not certain how I feel about the name.”

“That’s your problem. I happen to like him.”

Justin gave her a level look as he picked up his olive. “Hmm.”

“What?”

“You seem animated. What was the conversation about?”

“This and that.”

“Please be reminded that I was the one who insisted on you joining the online dating and I almost had to hog tie you to get you to participate. Now, dish.”

“Okay, fine. We talked about silly things. He made me laugh and I did the same for him. We don’t know anything about each other of course, except the basics and it is kind of exciting that we are not hung up on looks or status or anything like that. The pressure is not there, and I find that I am looking forward to talking to him again.”

“Hmm.”

“Will you stop saying that?”

“You are being defensive. Darling, bear in mind that this man might not be ideal.”

She stared at him incredulously. “Are you serious? You were the one who begged me to try out the app.”

He shrugged. “I wasn’t expecting you to go gaga over the first one. Have you tried any of the others?”

“No!” She glared at him, upset that he was raining on her parade. “Because they were morons. Some could not put a simple sentence together and the rest were sprouting nonsense about looking for ‘forever love’. Who the hell talks like that?”

Justin grinned. “Desperate men. So, this paragon of virtue could actually spell.”

“Yes. It was an easygoing conversation, and I like the tone of it.” She automatically passed him the piece of roll she had broken in two.

“And I should be rejoicing that it was successful.”

“I am being cautious.”

“As you should be.” He sighed softly. “I hate that you have been hurt so much in the past.” Taking her hand, he kissed the back of it. “And I am hoping that you find someone who appreciates your value the way I do. God!” he blew out a breath. “I often think that the man upstairs has a strange sense of humor.”

“Meaning?”

“Here we are, two beautiful people, best friends and romantically incompatible. I don’t know if I will ever love anyone the way I do you, Cat.” His voice had turned wistful. “What we shared together in that home defined us. You are never far away from my thoughts, and I think about you every single time, no matter where I am.”

She linked her fingers through his, and her expression softened. “It’s the same thing for me. You are more than my best friend Justin; you are my only family, and I love you. Having you in my life especially during those long and dreary days made it better for me.”

They stared at each other for several minutes, before he shook his head, dreadlocked coils tumbling around his face. With a self-effacing laugh, he pulled his hand away and picked up his wine. “Enough of that now. Okay, tell me more about this man.”

*****

Eleanor handed him the glass of wine, before sitting across from him. “You look rested.”

“Do I?” He mused, twirling the stem of the glass between his fingers. She had stopped at the office on her way back from a charitable luncheon after asking if he was available.

“I was expecting a call from you.”

“About?”

She sent him an exasperated look that had him chuckling.

“Alright, yes. It went well.”

Her gray eyes widened. “You met someone.”

He nodded, his smile widening. “She is a pretty unusual woman, very blunt and has a rapier wit that I admire.”

His sister gave him a worried look. “Darling, please be careful.”

His thick dark brows lifted.

“Of?”

She shook her head. “I don’t want you getting hurt.”

His expression hardened. “I have been there several times already. Now, I am just having a bit of fun. Cathy, yes, that’s her name, is just someone to talk to. We are having fun together without the pressure and I would appreciate you not trying to spoil things. You were the one who recommended this, remember?”

“Yes,” she nodded quickly.

“Good, now just leave it at that. It is completely innocent. Two people having some harmless conversations.”