“Behind the Representative” (Original) [IV]
Note: This story takes place directly after the events of "One Bite". Please read that first before reading this to not be confused! Enjoy!
Word Count: 1,537
There are two types of dating experiences: the ones you can’t remember and the ones you wish you could forget.
I don’t have enough fingers on either hand that could count how many dates I’ve had over the years that either ended in slumber or disaster, but fortunately, last night couldn’t have gone better. The food was great, the conversations were great. Hell, Maya was great.
… Maya was great.
… Maya…
I pulled my phone from my pocket to look at the screen.
No notifications.
It’s fine, Willow, I thought, she’s probably just busy. She did say she had to work today. There’s no rush, she’ll reach out eventually.
To distract myself from the negative conclusions I was ready to draw, I paced to my room and underhand tossed my phone onto my bed before heading over to the kitchen.
“Alright, what to do, what to do,” I muttered as I overanalyzed every inch of the kitchen trying to find at least one mundane task to keep my mind off my phone.
And then I saw it.
There was a small coffee stain, desperately trying to hide from my gaze underneath the microwave. I walked closer to find that it had dried and left behind a sticky concoction of grounded coffee, sugar, and milk. It had probably been there for at least a day or so, perhaps from me trying to heat up a cup that had lost its warmth.
"I should probably clean that before ants get to it," I convinced myself as I opened one of the kitchen vanity doors to retrieve a bottle of all-purpose cleaner and a roll of paper towels. I retraced my steps back to the microwave and aimed the sprayer directly at the stain before squeezing down the trigger a few times to dilute it with the cleaner. After a few seconds of letting it sit, I ripped a sheet from the paper towel roll and started wiping the cleaner and coffee mixture off the counter. I balled up the dirty paper towel sheet and flicked it into the nearby trash can.
That... really didn't take that much time like I would've wanted it to, I thought.
The good news was that I prevented a potential infestation in my kitchen. The bad news was that it only took me less than a minute, which meant that receiving a text from Maya in that timeframe was highly unlikely. I started scratching my chin as I turned my gaze from the kitchen to the living room, again searching for a task that would be straightforward but time-consuming.
As I left the kitchen, I felt a crunch underneath my foot. I lifted my leg to see the remains of a crushed potato chip on the carpet.
"I should probably get that up before a roach finds it," I said aloud as I headed over to the living room closet and swung the door open before pulling out the vacuum cleaner. I loosened the cord from the side of the unit before plugging it in and powering it on. The quiet ambience of the apartment was quickly filled with the mechanical shriek of high-pitched sucking. I walked the vacuum over the crumbs from the crushed potato chip and pushed and pulled before they traveled into the guts of the unit.
"I... may as well just vacuum the whole carpet," I sighed as I started guiding the vacuum over every inch of the carpet in the living room - and I mean every inch. From around the television stand to underneath the couch, I made it my mission to eradicate every dust bunny and whatever happened to be hiding deep within the carpet of my home. Once the vacuum was filled with all I could find, I powered it off before detaching the dust bin and emptying the contents in the trash can. I reattached it back to the unit before tying up the cord and placing it back into the closet.
Alright, that should've been plenty of time, I thought with a grin as I quickly jogged to my room and grabbing my phone from the bed. I unlocked the screen.
No notifications.
Frustrated, I sighed deeply and fell back into the bed.
I'm not the type of lady to expect a wake-up text first thing in the morning, but it felt peculiar to not have gotten a single message from Maya when it was almost 1 in the afternoon. Surely, she would've texted me when she was free like she said, right?
Unless I disappointed her last night.
Almost immediately, I started assuming the worst. What if she actually didn't like the date and was trying to be nice? What if she met someone else between last night and today?
What if something happened to her?
I immediately shook my head and chuckled for even humoring such a thought.
Realistically, she was probably so busy that she didn't have enough time to shoot even the simplest text. After all, I never did ask her what she did for a living. She could be a cashier being swamped by self-entitled customers trying to grocery shop for the week or maybe she's a chef at some restaurant that serves brunch unironically.
Maybe I just need to be patient, I thought.
To take my mind off the impending text, I started to ponder what the second date would be like. Would we go to another restaurant? Would we go to the aquarium or an amusement park? How exactly would we top the first one, if I could even call it that?
Then it dawned on me: no one ever talks about the difficulties of the second date. Most people struggle so hard these days to find a potential partner that they think that the first date is unattainable. The reality is that it pales in comparison to the follow-up, much like the anticipated sequel to a successful film. Going on the first date is basically two saps trying to appeal to one another in some fashion. They're essentially introducing each other to their carefully crafted caricatures, their representatives who exist solely to sell them as being fantastic partners for the rest of their lives, and all is well for the night.
But then the second date comes around. The want to out-do the first meeting slowly becomes a need, the difficulty to decide the next destination increases steadily, and it becomes apparent that the representatives can't stick around forever. Eventually, the people behind the representatives have to come forward and introduce themselves to each other. From there, it either evolves into a spark that jumpstarts a relationship or the peak of a temporary meet-up that inevitably never amounts to anything but.
Was that us? Did I get to know Maya or the woman representing her?
Was I me... or my representative?
Then I remembered it: choking on cigarette smoke and being laughed at, the demeaning texts, the moment where we used a competitive eating technique to eat the flat wings, and the Maya star...
If we did have representatives, they didn't sell us as being clean, polite, and well-mannered; they painted us as being messy, playful, and quick to take the piss out of each other.
They sold us as genuine human beings.
I felt a vibration in my hand.
My phone.
I quickly unlocked the screen.
A text from Maya:
"I don't know if you're awake at this time, but when you wake up, I want you to know that I really enjoyed last night. We definitely need to have another meetup soon. 💕"
It was as if she had read my mind. For her to send this as I was contemplating whether or not I had screwed up felt like divine intervention. I was in utter dis-
Another text quickly appeared.
"You wanna guess who the dumbass was that forgot to hit 'Send' this morning before she left the house? 💀💀💀"
I chuckled at the thought of realizing that she forgot to send her morning text.
Wait, she sent me a morning text, I thought.
I started typing:
"Well, it can't be the girl I was eating wings with last night. She's super smart. 🤣"
Maya responded:
"Kiss my ass. 😭🤣"
I quickly responded:
"Isn't that what the second date's for? 👀🤣"
Oh, my God, I really just said that, I thought as I could feel my hands start to tremble and my heart rate skyrocketing. We hadn't gotten to the second date yet and I already started making suggestive comments. What if she ignores the message? What if she never talks to me again?
Maya texted back:
"If it goes well, you might be able to and then some. 🤭"
I gulped.
Trying to ignore the lustful thoughts that quickly clouded my head, I responded:
"Let me know when you're off from work and we'll figure out the next destination. 😌"
Maya replied:
"Sounds good to me. 😙"
And like that, my day immediately got better. I completed some productive tasks, I had gotten the text I waited for, I successfully flirted without being a creep, and I managed to land a second date.
Now, then... where should our second date be?
