Chapter Six

The computer screen glowed against the backdrop of the oncoming evening. The dark blue of the sky as night felt was soft and comforting like a blanket around a child. It was another warm night in Miami and the intense heat of the day had mellowed into a pleasant temperature and the humidity was actually comfortable. On a normal night, my computer screen became the only light in the room and I used it to get lost in my blog.

However, this evening was different. On this particular evening I needed to research and make sure I was prepared for my date. I had gone deep into the conversation that my sister had begun. I was like a student studying over a textbook before a big test; I knew their conversation held valuable information, it was a matter of trying to dissect it and uncover his personality.

The mask that Rosie had assumed while trying to imitate me was hilarious. I had already scanned their conversation several times and had paused frequently to laugh out loud. She either had no idea how to flirt with someone online, or she was too concerned with compensating for my personality that she just sounded absurd. Or more likely, a brutal combination of both.

I wondered if he had also thought she sounded absurd. He seemed to have been receptive though, and we were going on a date, so apparently it wasn't too awful. I kept going back through to re-read various portions of their exchange to make sure I wasn't going to say anything contradictory.

He had initiated the conversation: Hey whats up? I saw your picture and thought you were cute.

Rosie had replied: Hey! You’re not too bad lookin yourself.

Gabe: I usually hover around a 7 on a good day.

Rosie: I guess your picture was taken on an extra good day then.

Gabe: Why? You think I’m looking more like a 7 ½?

Rosie: Maybe even a 7 and ¾ …

I couldn’t help but laugh again. It wasn’t awful but the idea of Rosie flirting like that while her husband looked on was hysterical. She had made an obvious attempt to sound flirty, which worked better on some occasions than others, but overall it wasn’t a terrible effort. It was still weird to imagine Rosie trying so hard to sound like me. Most of their messages were amusing but they were also far from what I would have said. There was still a little too much Rosie seeping through, no matter how hard she had tried to mask it. I sure hope he doesn’t expect me to be this sweet in person, I thought.

At one point he had said; So is this how you usually spend your Saturday nights?

And Rosie had replied with; Idk… I like to switch it up and keep it interesting…

I wanted to slap my sister through the screen. Is that really how she thinks I would have responded to that? It’s a wonder this guy still wants to go on a date with me, I thought.

The conversation got a little better after the topic of sports was introduced and I was immediately glad to see he had brought it up.

Gabe: So youre a Bluejays fan huh?

Rosie: I’m the biggest Bluejays fan there is!

Again, not how I would have phrased that, but okay sis.

He wrote back; I’d be willing to make a bet on that one. No way you're a bigger fan than me.

Rosie replied with more frivolous banter. She had refrained from interjecting any sort of real sports talk, and I was glad. Knowing Rosie, she would have attempted to sound clever and like she knew what she was talking about, but anyone with an actual understanding of football would have seen right through it. I wondered if Thomas had stepped in and told her to hold back. Most likely, I decided.

The topic of sports trailed off probably after he realized it wasn’t really going anywhere. In person I would have to revive his faith in me as a sports fan, but that was okay. He had transitioned by asking about my work.

He wrote; Ha ha I guess we’ll see. So what do you do for work then?

Rosie wrote back; I’m a writer! What about you?

Gabe: Oh that’s cool! What do you write about? I kind of do some writing for work, too.

Rosie: No way! I write articles, what kind of stuff do you write about?

Gabe: Wow that’s really cool. I’m not actually that much of a writer I guess. I just write code- ha. I own my own business.

Yeah, writing code isn’t quite the same, buddy, I thought and chuckled to myself. Rosie replied with a joke about writing code that I figured had probably come from Thomas. He then jabbed back by asking whether I wrote articles for The Wall Street Journal or for Playboy Magazine. I laughed again. Not bad dude. But if only you knew, I thought. Luckily Rosie hadn’t disclosed any specifics about my blog.

The conversation continued with more playful mockery and teasing. He seemed like a decent enough guy. He was a little bro-y, but that was okay, I could be a bit of a bro myself. Besides that he was funny and even a little clever. He sounded smart and for a second I found myself slightly interested by his persona. He had managed to lead a pretty fun and entertaining conversation, despite having to deal with Rosie’s uncanny sort of demeanor.

I found myself fixating on certain messages where he seemed particularly crafty. He sounded like a fun person to talk to and I wondered if he would maintain the same sense of clever confidence in person that he had shown online. The ones with strong online personalities and a weak physical presence were the worst. Then again, whatever personality he had put forth online was immediately more than any effort of mine. Any idea he had of my personality was fabricated. In all my days of writing a dating blog, I had never imagined I would be following a blueprint laid down by my sister.

My phone beeped loudly, startling me and reminding me that it was time to get ready. I took a deep breath and stood from my computer.

It was time to see how accurate this perfect match really was. Time to see if he was really as charming as he seemed online. I wasn’t usually the type that attracted gentlemen, but maybe Rosie was. After all, she had landed Thomas and he was a good guy. I could see myself being happy with a guy like Thomas. Evidently, she had done enough to make this guy interested in me, or interested enough to consider being interested in me. It was time to find out.

Trying to match an expectation set by my sister was going to be weird. Whatever blueprint she had laid had been with me in mind, but still, their conversation was littered with things I would never say. It was all based on things Rosie thought I would say. Whether or not he liked or disliked those things, they weren't going to be what showed up on our date tonight. I wasn’t going to fake a personality, even if it was supposed to be me in the first place.

Though I wondered how many times had I encountered someone with a million different faces. People who appeared to be one thing online, only to be completely different in real life. Too many to count, I thought. My readers would have known the answer to that.

Perhaps there had even been times when I had come across differently online than in person. Even though I tried to come across as real as possible, it was a natural problem with online dating and a certain level of variance could always be expected.

Even if Mr. Perfect Match had fallen in love with the character Rosie had created, he was going to get me. He was going to meet the girl that my sister had attempted to imitate. And if I couldn’t live up to her imitation and his fantasy, then that would be on him. He would have to learn that perfect matches aren’t the same in the real world as they are online.

I had already showered and was finishing the final touches of my make-up. It was kind of funny how my mind had wandered, I thought. I had spent the entire preparation process worrying about trying to live up to an online profile that I hadn’t even created. I was nervous about being the bad date

instead of having one and I laughed. That’s new, I thought. I guess if you write about bad dates long enough you start to become one.

I buckled my shoes around my ankle. We had planned a dinner with a walk and I had selected a decent pair of black wedges without much of a heel that would be comfortable and sexy. The restaurant was slightly fancy, but I had been on enough dates that I no longer stressed over my outfit. I wore my favorite dark blue dress. It was just the right amount of classy without going overboard.

Dinner and a walk had been his idea and Rosie had happily agreed. He had also recommended the restaurant. At the very least a nice dinner would be enjoyable, as long as I wasn’t conned into paying extravagantly again. The walk would be something new. I wondered where he was planning on taking me, or if we were just going to walk around the restaurant. Either could be interesting.

A walk also means that I’ll have a lot of open space to run if things get really bad, I thought and almost laughed again as gathered my purse and stepped out the door.

Okay, Mr. Perfect Match. I'm ready for my date.