Swipe Right 2...

(Just in case you missed Swipe Right 1,Click here)

The flight was a two-hour flight but it felt like 20 minutes. I felt a mix of emotions, from excitement to afraid and back to excitement.

Serial killer.

Rapist.

Human trafficker.

Catfish…. CATFISH why hadn’t I thought about that?

It was too late now. What do the millennials say – ‘if I die I die’.

I grabbed my luggage, went through immigration and made my way to the exit…

Will he be there waiting for me?

He was there… taller than I imagined, more handsome than I imagined and more importantly THERE, HE WAS THERE.

We engaged in what is now filed as the most awkward hug of my entire existence and he grabbed my bag (full of clothes I probably was not going to wear but had to carry just in case) and then he burst into laughter.

‘You are one courageous woman’, he laughed.

What was so funny? He invited me here. Was he mocking me? Does courageous mean stupid? Am I stupid? What am I doing here?

He opened the car door and let me in.

‘How was your flight?’ he asked as we drove off into the unknown.

‘It was good, it just seemed shorter than usual’.

‘It must have been the excitement’, he answered.

‘Or fear’ I responded. We couldn’t have him being so sure that I was excited.

We got to his place and I was relieved that it did look like a bachelor’s pad. Definitely not an Air BnB hired to throw me off. He is a human being and we are in his home. We are doing fine.

‘This is a new bed. I didn’t have one in here so you get to be the first to sleep in it’, he said as he led me into the guest bedroom.

I raised my brow. ‘First of many?’ I wondered.

He noticed the brow. ‘As in, the first guest to sleep in the bed. I do have relatives visit but they are ok to sleep on the couch. I thought that wouldn’t be appropriate for you, so I bought a new bed’. He was rambling.

‘I will give you some time to freshen up and we can go and buy some dinner,’ he said on his way out.

He paused, ‘the key is behind the door, if you need to use it’ he said pointing at the door key.

I grabbed my phone and sent my location to a friend. At least one person will know where to find me or my body…

It’s nine pm and we were having dinner in a quaint restaurant.

Conversation is great, my steak is even better.

My phone vibrates on the table, I look at the screen. He looks too.

I decide not to disturb dinner. I will return the call when I get back to his place. I silence the call.

‘Aren’t you going to take that?’ he asks

‘No worries, I will return it later’.

‘Its nine pm,’ he says

I know the time I thought.

Deafening silence.

I imagined him taking out his mental image of me and making some edits.

I want to explain that it’s just my friend who is probably calling to find out about him. I decide not to explain.