Dive

Marissa Thorne. No, I have not changed my last name just to fit into my profession. I’m your go to person come Valentine’s day. Florist by day, netflix watcher by night. If you want to know more maybe you should visit my coffeemeetsbagel, bumble, plentyoffish, match.com, okcupid, or tinder accounts. Hey, a girl likes to have options.

[marissathorne]

Text: Marissa ⇄ Matt

Matt: After what we did in the car, I'm very aware flexible you are. 😉

Matt: We should do another date! Leave it up in the air if we have a repeat in the car. Or elsewhere.

Marissa: I set myself up for that one, didn’t I?

Marissa: well if we do decide to have sex again I say we go for somewhere new. Just to keep things fresh 😏

[marissathorne]

Text: Marissa ⇄ Matt

Matt: Hey there Marissa. There's no way I'm disregarding this text because that'll be a dick thing of me to do but mostly because I had a great time with you the other night. The sex was a definite perk but leading up to it was fun.

Matt: Which do you want? A next time or another date? Or both?

Marissa: I had a good time with you too You know even before the good time in the car. It was nice getting to know someone that was genuine.

Marissa: I think I would be too selfish to say both but you can decide which you want. I’m flexible.

[marissathorne]

Text: Marissa ⇄ Matt

Marissa: Hey, this is Marissa from the other night. I’m the florist. I don’t know if you remember me, and if you don’t then it’s okay and you can totally disregard this message.

Marissa: Anyway, I think I gave you the wrong impression of the type of person I am during our date.I’m not usually the type of girl that just hooks up on the first night. I know you heard me say that I don’t usually do this plenty of times, but I was really being serious. Anyway... just wanted to clear that up. This message was in no way me asking about a next time or about another date, just so that we’re clear but more so me clearing the air in a way.

[marissathorne]

Meet Cute || MarissaxMatt

Matt: This girl...Matt thought to himself after she dropped the number, very aware of the look she gave him. Did she want to go that route with him? It was hard to tell if it was her being playful or amping him up for something after dinner. It didn't cause him to chance the way he behaved, because he intended to keep to this as a date and not him telling her to meet him in the bathroom so they'd fuck before their main course arrived. "I'll take you for a spin, too. You can't get the full effect of a classic car until you're in it." Which was true. The work he put into that car took a long ass time but damn, he was proud of it. "Hahaha. Yeah. The million dollar question. I'm single by choice. You make me sound like I'm some sort of sexy rock star but I don't get that many panties. I haven't had a serious girlfriend in a few years. It's hard to find someone who's okay with my job. Girls act like they are and a couple weeks later they don't like my schedule or how I'm busy all the time or how dangerous it is. I know the job is a lot but it's what I love. It's a passion of mine." He left out a lot when it came to this answer but it'd do for now. "Now you. Why haven't you been whisked away? I bet you have a few guys drop their jaws when they see you." This was honest. Marissa was hot but he felt like she wasn't aware of it.

Marissa: “And here I was thinking that we’d just park and that you’d take me in your backseat,” she laughed. She honestly joked but with her comment from before she was sure that she was sending him a signal she wasn’t even sure about just yet. Sure, she flirted but even implying to sleep with someone on the first date? Out of the question, right? This was only supposed to be a date to appease her mom and get her off her back. If things worked out maybe there would be more dates, but there wasn’t supposed to be this much lust in her gaze. Making a mental note to pull back she continued. Sighing at his own question in return she practically had asked for it in return. This was what dating was about. Getting to know someone, seeing their flaws head on before more serious things happened. “Well yeah, but once they pick their jaws up off the floor,” she averted her gaze. She honestly was trying to find a reason why she was single. Maybe it was the fact that she tried too hard. Or that no one truly understood her. No, that wasn’t it. “Hookup culture pretty much killed the last few people who actually believe in romance and chivalry.” She shrugged. “The excuse I’ve been getting lately is that they just want to have fun.” Air quotes went around fun. “Which I’m not opposed to. I like fun. I like a lot of fun. It’s just that that’s not all i want. I want romance and the kind of relationship that is more than just late night calls and a few drinks at the bar.” She knew just how much that could scare any guy now. Taking a sip of her water she shied away from any further questions. “But anyway,” she recovered hoping she didn’t scare him off in some way. “I think it’s important to have something you’re passionate about. Something that makes you feel like your life actually means something.” She might not have found what her purpose was completely but the fact that he was so brazenly in love with his job made her excited for him. Smiling she shook her head. “So most girls just think you recuse cats from trees?” She laughed. “I think it’s actually nice. You rescue people during their worst moments. When they’re afraid and see their lives literally going up in flames around them. Or you rescue them when they just thought they should give up. You have training in first aid and do everything paramedics do all while looking sexy the entire time.” She was really talking about all firefighters, but him specifically. “Besides, you guys are the only ones who can slide down a pole wihtout having to take your clothes off so that’s a total win, right?” Marissa made sure to keep their conversation light and playful no matter how much she had mentioned before. Never wanting to come off too strong right away.

[marissathorne]

Meet Cute || MarissaxMatt

Matt: Ah. Now this is what he wanted as he watched her through the phone's screen and took random shots while she spoke. There was something which came from witnessing a true smile, not those which came whenever you said 'Cheese' or whatever else people throw out at you. Matt leaned back and frame the shots better and didn't stop until she started to talk about cars. That was when pulled up the gallery and casually scrolled up to the start of his photo session, however taking a nosy glimpse at what else she had on there until he returned to his task. Matt swiped through the choices and looked back at her with a smile of his own. "I might be a man with a death wish. I'm a fireman, after all. So a date with a serial killer is right up my alley." He swiped on and on, going back to the smile she wore right before she brought up rainbows but liking this expression she had when cars were brought into the conversation. Matt messed with one, editing it slightly to make it sharper and the colors brighter. He slipped the phone back to her with the picture on the screen, in hopes she likes it. "Mine's a '69 Chevy Camero. Blue. I drove her here if you want to to check it out after dinner." He offered as he watched the waiter approach their table, probably in hopes for their meal order. He brought up his menu and said to her, "We should order so we can make this guy's life easier." He offered and, "Also so we can get out of here and get into some trouble." Matt winked at her, playful but with a hint of something more. "After all, I need to find out if you're really a florist or if that's a cover."

Marissa: looking at the phone she was surprised by what he was able to capture. She had never been the type that liked cameras, specifically because she never felt genuine. Placing her phone faced down on the table she listened intently. Her interest piquing even more even more as he mentioned the car. “Oh, it’s totally a cover,” she laughed now looking his way. Blushing a tad at his comment she continued. “Yeah Let’s order. Just so that I can see your car. I guess 69 is a good number for us.” She didn’t even shy away from how the number alone reminded her of a sexual position and looked him straight in his eyes as she opened her menu. Marissa typically was the one that was honest, but maybe not this forward with her advances. Still she was only returning his banter, it wasn’t like he was going to just carry her out at the first chance. Slowly uncrossing her legs from underneath the table she planted her feet firmly on the ground, her dress resting at her mid thigh. Ordering something simple she continued gazing his way. “So you’re a talented thrill seeking, mechanically inclined, photography buff with a death wish.” She bit on her inner lip now consummed with one thought. “So why hasn’t someone scooped you up yet? What’s your main flaw? Or is it more like too many girls out there just fling their panties your way that you don’t even really need to settle down?”

[marissathorne]

Meet Cute || MarissaxMatt

Matt: When it came to dates Matt preferred them to be loose and relaxed, which this slowly turned out to be after her initial nervousness subsided. He couldn't blame her. He was a stranger after all, who only heard about from her mom. His mom had somewhat okay taste, for the most part, but it was a fucking miracle he even allowed her to talk him into meeting someone; like he was a type of lost cause; which was Jenn's choice of words when they tried to get him to go out tonight. He took her phone and pulled the camera app onto the screen. "How about you look at me first and-" He raised the phone up and looked at her through the screen and thought about which pose to use but instead, "Tell me something that makes you smile. A favorite memory? Or maybe whether you like puppies or kittens?" He'd rather go for natural instead of an actual pose and he hoped this would pull a smile from her, the type he's seen flashes of since she sat down. "And I'm Mr. February. They tried to get me to wear and cupid's outfit but it was too distracting." He joked, "I did get to keep the bow and arrow. They're in my garage." Matt looked over the side of the phone and winked at her. "Firefighting photographer here. I also own a classic car and currently working on restoring another one. When I have free time I go to bars or concerts. Travel a little, too." He tapped on the screen to fix the brightness. "How about you? What do you do because I don't know a thing about you."

Marissa: Thinking of something on the spot that made her happy but wasn’t some embarrassing story was harder to do than she thought. “Jeez putting me on the spot here,” she rested her chin in her hand before she began. “Oh, I’ve got something. When it’s just about to rain. That feeling of the wind changing just a bit. Then there’s this gentle breeze. It’s almost like you can smell it coming before it actually even starts to drizzle.” A faraway look in her eye started to gleam a bit as she got excited thinking of the chance of it possibly raining. “Knowing that people stay in, possibly enjoying the comfort of being indoors, or knowing that things just have to go slower because it’s raining.” She sighed. “There are new things that come after rain too. Flowers bloom better. Rainbows.” At rainbows she snapped out of her trance shaking her head. “The whole flowers blooming better is actually really important for me,” she continued. “I’m a florist. I don’t own my own shop or anything but I can make a mean arrangement and I know how to tend to flowers in general really well.” She knew it wasn’t much, but the fact that she was happy doing what she wanted and still made ends meet somehow made her smile. “You really didn’t know that?” She questioned his words playfully. “You agreed to go on a date with someone you only saw a picture of, and you didn’t know anything else? I could have been a serial killer for all you knew.” Again playfully she narrowed her eyes giving him a silly gaze. “I’m not, don’t worry,” she recovered. Sighing a bit she went back to him. “February is a really important month. Maybe even better than being a sexy Uncle Sam.” She cringed and laughed. “Those words probably should not have gone together.” Clearing her throat she paused, making sure to take breaths between her words, her nerves fading to almost none. “I’m sure it was really distracting.” Her eyes widened as she took another sip while fixing her eyes on his frame, enough for him to see that she wasn’t being shy about admiring his general physique. “But anyway, cars.” Now she perked a bit, her dad’s fixation on wanting a boy and instead having a daughter now came up. Finally she thought. “What kind? I have always wanted to own a 69 mustang, coupe and not with the raceback. My only problem is that... every one I find is stick shift and I haven’t gotten the hang of it enough to buy a car that I don’t want to fuck up.” She shrugged now giving Matt a glimpse into her thought process. “Who have you seen in concert?” She continued. “And I’d love to travel but I’ve only been a few places.”

[marissathorne]

Meet Cute || MarissaxMatt

Matt: "That right? You think I have a chance with any girl in here if she's single?" He straightened up in his seat and looked around, but only in a joking manner as he had no intention to try this out. "Wait. You went on dates and the guy made you pay? The hell type of people did you go out with? Actually. Don't answer that. It's clear you went out with losers because that's complete shit." He didn't try to mask his language or his opinions. Matt had a way of viewing the world and he always felt when it came to dinner dates that it was always the guy who should pay, or to offer at least. If they wanted to go dutch that was good, too. "Did you hear anything about what I do? Not my job but hobbies? Because I like to take pictures in my spare time and if you want a picture that'll capture what I see before me, then I'm your guy." Matt pulled the menu back in front of him and he opened it. "It's fine if you cyber stalked me. I noticed you liked a picture from years ago," He said this, green eyes down on the menu before he looked up at her again. "I'm joking. You didn't like anything. One thing you'll learn about me is I like play around. I deal with so much serious every day and I cut loose when I'm away from work." Then, "Also, thank you. I'm flattered you find me handsome. Since we're being honest you're quite beautiful. I already mentioned that but it's the God's honest truth."

Marissa: laughed along as he looked about as if he dind’t know how attractive he was. “I bet most would want you to just take them home right now,” she teased before speading her hand out as if to say he was welcome to go find one. “You really don’t want to hear my past online dating horror stories,” she cringed that she was even bringing them up when she was just getting to know Matt. “”You’re offering to take a new profile picture for me?” She searched his face to see if he was joking and instead passed her phone. “Okay,” she started. “Should I go for sultry or perky, or serious?” With every new word Marissa changed her pose, her eyes narrowing for sultry, her back straightening and a wide smile for perky, her hand going under her chin for serious as she didn’t look at the camera. As she dropped her hand her smile also fell, her heart racing at the thought of possibly liking something on social media from a while back. “There you go again with the cruel,” she laughed. “I was starting to think that I had not listened enough to that Ed Sheeran song about not double tapping from way back because, that’s where the trouble’s at.” She still smiled, as she shook her head. “We’re both very good looking,” she didn’t know how to take the compliment again but instead bit her lip while looking at him noticing more and more of his facial features. “But anyway,” she recovered, her eyes focusing on more than his face. “They didn’t tell me too much about you just that you’re possibly Mr. July in the fire fighter calendar and that you are,” she cleared her throat and imitated her mom. “An eligible bachelor.” She laughed again before being interrupted by a waiter. Head turning towards the gentleman, she apologized for not even looking at the drinks. Settling for a water with lemon she waited for the man to take Matt’s drink order and leave before she continued. “Is there anything else you do, besides rescue people and take pictures?” Genuinely curious she leaned in closer to show her interest.

[marissathorne]

Meet Cute || MarissaxMatt

Matt: When people talked Matt was the type to give his full attention, this also served as a way to read her body language and pick up on any little quirks she might have while speaking. “Evil genius would be quite the level. Of nefarious proportions but I think to reach that I would have to bribe someone to pretend to be the actual date and then to stand you up with the bill. But. I’m not that kind of guy and even if you didn’t live up to my expectations I wouldn’t just bail.” Matt leaned back in his chair, completely relaxed with this whole set up. “Tossing this out there but that profile picture on your Facebook page is not at all an accurate representation of you. You’re much prettier in person.”

Marissa: “Oh and you think no unattached girl here would take you up on that offer?” Marissa didn’t hide the fact that she thought he was handsome with her comment. “And you wouldn’t be the first person to make me pay for the bill.” At her comment she shrugged not even wanting them to dwell too much on her comment. At his relaxing in his chair she did the same, now taking a better look at him. His strong jaw, kind eyes, smooth talking but overall calm at being in front of her only had her wondering how her mom had been the one to set this up. How had she not found someone like him to even talk to on her own? “And I was just going to ask if I did live up to the expectations or if you had any to begin with.” Pulling a strand of her hair behind her ear she cleared her throat. “Thank you, although that just means I should change it and every other social media site photo since that’s my profile picture on so many. It also might be why the wrong type of guys have been messaging me lately.” Moer so the homely type than anything she tried not to think about her social media profiles for now. “I have to admit,” she began “I looked at your profile picture too. I didn’t do a full cyber stalk because I didn’t want to seem like I knew you before I even spoke to you.” She now made sure to pause frequently to show her nerves dissipating. “Your profile picture isn’t bad. You just get the same compliment that you’re far more handsome in person.” Smiling she took a hold of the glass of water that had been placed in front of her. “Can I confess something?” Before he could even say yes or no she stopped drinking. “Maybe I was even more nervous because that’s what I was afraid of. You being more handsome in person than in your profile picture I mean.”

[marissathorne]

Meet Cute || MarissaxMatt

Matt: When it came to date setups, Matt wasn't a fan. He did all right with picking people up at bars and clubs; most ending with the person not even staying to have breakfast. Which was fine. That was the way it's been for some years after his engagement fell apart. But Matt's family, mostly his mother, wanted to see him happy and by happy she meant in a relationship since the two apparently went hand in hand. So, on one of his off nights from work, he was told to go this restaurant and wait for a woman named Marissa. This was a setup done between his mother and Marissa's, the women most likely exchanging their FaceBook information so they could get a good look at who they were about to meet. He won't displeased with her picture and the little bit he read but he wasn't exactly one to go based on what a profile said and more how the person was once they got to the face to face. Which...proved to be interesting so far as Marissa, who he immediatly recognized, came up to the table and fell right into a ramble. His hand slipped from hers and Matt waited for her to take a seat before he lowered back into his own. "Are you nervous?" He thought to ask, not opening his menu yet. "I could tell you right now you've got the wrong table but that will be cruel of me, right?" A grin followed this, which showed off Matt's dimples; but also to show this was asked in good fun.

Marissa: Mentally noting that she should slow down she took a breath and nodded. “Very.” At least no one could say taht Marissa wasn’t honest with how she felt. Then again taht was how a lot of her relationships ended. Her honesty when it came to every emotion often was too much for people who liked cryptic meanings and subtweets more than true emotions. “I never know what to expect out of a set up. Especially not one from my mom.” She cringed but retained eye contact. Relaxing her shoulders she laughed and nodded. “That would have been evil villain level of cruel.” At least he was funny, or at least wasn’t scared off by how she spoke so quickly. The grin on his lips only having her let her guard down even more. “Then again that would have been the easiest out if I didn’t turn out to be what you expected.”

[marissathorne]

Meet Cute || MarissaxMatt

Marissa: Not one to be typically nervous at least for a date she did almost everything to calm herself. If it all goes bad, at least you’ll get a free meal,” she told herself. Or at least she hoped. There had been plenty of dud dates that had ended in her footing the bill after having to endure horrible conversation. Still the girl was an optimist when it came to love and romance. She saw romance every day. People stopping in for their anniversaries, some guy coming in because he had messed up and wanted to show his wife that no matter what he still loved her. She had heard of people being together for decades upon decades. Her parents even being one of those couples. Her parents, or at least one half of the duo was part of the reason why she was so nervous to begin with. Ever since the facebook app had been uploaded to her mom’s phone it seemed like her mom used the app to hunt for a suitable suitor for her daughter. At least this one didn’t seem like a complete let down. Being led by the hostess to her table she smiled brightly walking to the table. “Hi,” she began. He seemed to be even more handsome in person, leaving her a bit flustered. “I’m Marissa.” If she hadn’t been a pro at meeting online dates, the introduction would have been far more awkward. She held her hand out for him to shake. “I hope you’re Matt otherwise I just introduced myself to a total stranger and should probably look for another table.” She chuckled a bit calming herself as only a flutter of butterflies remained. “Not that that would have been the first time.” Taking a seat she moved her hair a bit out of her eye. “Then again maybe I shouldn’t be talking about some of the embarrassing things I’ve done for our first conversation.”