Imagine being a single parent using a dating app for the first time in a while. Your child is getting older and growing just a little more distant: hanging out with their parent isn't cool anymore. Their quick submergence into puberty and early teen years is making you feel a little lonely, so you decide to get back into the dating scene.
You've been trying out a few apps here and there, and even had a few dates with some nice people! But none of your efforts have come to anything fruitful. You decide to give it one more try.
You see his profile and are immediately stricken with how handsome he is. He's new to the site but you can tell he's already popular just by the kind of photos he has. No one that handsome is going lonely. You're a little intimidated by his dark eyes. So brown they're almost purple. His hair is curly and black and cut into a very fashionable style. He's always wearing suits or button-down shirts in his photos and they look like they're worth more than your rent and all of your bills combined.
But in the pictures with his kids (two sons about your child's age) his eyes are kind, his face open and warm. You can tell that he loves them very much. It makes your heart melt to see them like that, and over the days of your deliberation to swipe right or not, you try not to imagine the two of you on dates or your kids playing in the yard. You wonder what his voice sounds like, whether his hands are rough or smooth, if his accent is as thick as the rest of him.
It's when you're distracted, laying in bed and brousing the app, when you swipe right. Your heart studders and beats in your chest and you feel wide awake. You can't help but stare at the screen, frightened and anxious. When you get the notification that you two have matched and that he super liked you of all people, you feel like fainting.
You panic, jumping up from the bed and running around your bedroom. You decide to try and calm down, setting your phone on your dresser, vigerously trying not to freak out.
Ten minutes pass and your heart has finally settled when you get a message notification. It's only ten at night but you're wondering at what could be messaging you right now. You try not to think about the handsome guy, instead thinking it was your sibling or an app notification.
It's a notification from the dating app... Handsome Man has sent you a message! Your hands are shaking, your mind boggling. You open the message and it's a simple greeting, but the words course through you like fire. You try to play it cool, giving yourself ten minutes or so to answer him. Too soon looks clingy, and too late looks uninterested. You try your best to play it cool...
To your surprise, you two develop a close correspondence over the next few weeks. You message each other every day and talk about everything. After the second week of talking, he admits to really liking you. He'd liked your profile from his first use of the app and was very nervous to come across as odd or weird or clingy. He's sweet and unfamiliar with the dating app.
After a few months of talking like this, you two finally have the free time to go on your first real date. Phone calls once a week and sending each other silly pictures and selfies (his were at odd angles and in bad lighting at first. You loved them anyway.) didn't count as a real date and he let you pick the time and place for your first date.
You were, understandably, so very nervous. You two had been talking for six months. Calling on the phone and sending selfies for five. His voice was deep and honey-like, thick and smoky with a Cuban accent. You knew he would be just as nervous as you, but you felt as if it were the first date you had ever gone on. Like you were a silly young teen again about to go out with the person you had a huge crush on.
You settled for a nice restaurant by the boardwalk. It was a mix of Itallian and Japanese cuisine and was your favorite place for special occasions. At the end of the boardwalk was a little carnival theme park; you had spent many a birthday there with your child. These were your favorite places to go and you hope he'd like them too.
You dress in your best outfit, fussing with your clothes and hair as you wait for him to pick you up. You've already made sure the house is spotless and are trying to smooth your kid's hair for the third time that night, when you hear a knock on the door. Your heart thunders in your chest, and the butterflies move from your stomach to your throat.
You walk over to the front door and peek through the curtain and he smiles and waves at you. The blush on his handsome face reveals just how nervous he is too. The butterflies are calmed slightly and you step back to let him in.
(would you guys like a part two of this? please let me know what you think! uwu)