Writing Prompts (Week 2) - Swiped Right [Short Story]
The motion of Zoe’s right thumb swiping left on her phone had become mechanical. So many weirdos, creeps and losers on tinder. Then, she saw him. His cool blue eyes pierced hers from behind the phone’s glass.
She swiped right.
They quickly moved from tinder to texting. Every incoming text, she hoped it was him. But she had to be wary, after all they hadn’t even met in person yet and she was getting her hopes up too damn fast. She knew when she did that, things never ended well.
And who really was this guy? Well, from the pictures, handsome, for one.
Tall.
A fireman.
Hot.
Finally, after a few days, the text she had been waiting for:
“Drinks. Thursday?”
She put the phone down. Didn’t even reply for a whole thirty minutes. Then with shaky hands, she picked it back up and typed yes.
They made arrangements for that Thursday evening at a local watering hole downtown.
Zoe sat in the driver's seat of her ‘98 Honda Civic. Discarded fast food wrappers littered the floor and passenger side seat. She looked in the visor mirror and reapplied red lipstick. She popped the cap back on the lipstick and took a deep breath.
She walked into the bar. She saw him instantly. He sat at the lounge. Their eyes met. He smiled and waved her over.
That smile melted her inside-out. She glided over to him.
He got up, towering over her. He bent down and hugged her. She clasped her hands on his strong back. She breathed in his cologne. They lingered in the embrace longer than they should.
She sat down woozy, feeling drunk already.
“It’s so nice to finally meet in person,” his deep voice carried over the buzz of the bar.
She nodded and gave him a sideways glance. She tried to look cool but knew she had a silly grin splashed all over her face.
He told a joke to break the ice. It wasn’t really funny and she didn’t get it but she laughed hard anyway. A bit too hard. She felt snot ooze out of her nose. She quickly grabbed a napkin off the bar. Mortified, she hoped he hadn’t seen.
Zoe peered into his eyes. It didn’t seem he had noticed or at least acted like he hadn’t.
One martini down. She laughed at every one of his bad jokes.
Two martinis. She had her hand on his forearm.
Three martinis. She wanted to get the hell out of there. With him.
“You doing alright?” He gulped the rest of his pint of dark beer.
“Oh, me? I’m doing just fine and dandy.”
“Should we get out of here?” he asked, piercing her eyes with his baby blues.
Zoe nodded vigorously and downed the rest of her vodka martini.
Back at his place, Zoe sat on the couch and played nervously with the fabric of her tight black dress.
“I got white wine or beer,” Brad yelled from the kitchen.
“Wine, please.” Zoe craned her head back at him. She watched him uncork the wine and pour her a glass almost to the brim.
He handed her the wine and plopped down on the couch with a bottle of beer.
She took a few sips and put the glass down on the coffee table. She noticed an errant sock in the corner of the room but her gaze fell on the handcuffs on the bottom shelf of the oak coffee table.
“I didn’t know firefighters used handcuffs.” She crossed her legs and leaned slightly towards him.
“Well, we usually don’t. Unless someone plays their cards right.” Brad sat his beer down. He moved close to her and put his arm on her thigh.
Their eyes met.
He leaned in.
Zoe closed her eyes.
They kissed.
She felt his strong hands carcasses her waist. She tasted the slight bitterness of beer on his tongue.
She leaned back and rested a hand on his chest.
“I’ve never done this before.”
Brad raised an eyebrow.
“I mean, a tinder date. And now this. It's so quick. I mean it’s good. It’s great. I really like you. It’s just been a while. My last relationship didn’t end in the best way and...” Zoe stopped herself. She felt her face go flush.
Brad gave her a reassuring smile and put his hand gently on her knee. “It’s okay. I know. I’ve been there.”
“You won’t hurt me, right?”
“No, never. Well, unless you ask me nicely.” She followed his gaze as he slowly looked at the handcuffs and then back at her.
Zoe felt her body go weak. She took the glass of wine and gulped some down.
“Maybe we can go slow. For a bit,” she said.
Brad nodded once and leaned back in. He kissed her neck. Zoe closed her eyes, tilted her head back in pleasure, and grabbed a handful of his thick hair.
She felt steel wrap around her wrist with a click.
She opened her eyes.
Brad had grabbed the handcuffs and snapped them on one of her wrists.
The look on his face was irresistible. A small part of her protested but the alcohol quickly melted that away. She relented and held out her other hand. He gently clamped the handcuff on.
In a flash, he turned her body over. She gasped. Her face was now buried in the couch. She heard him get up and tilted her head to the side to see. She couldn’t see him but felt his hands tie rope around her ankles.
“B-Brad, I don’t know if...”
“Shh. It’s okay. It’ll be over soon.”
Panic flooded her senses. Here she was, in a strangers apartment all tied up. She fought the urge to scream. She steadied her breathing.
Maybe this was just part of his game. Part of the fun.
“I’m really not used to this,” she whispered.
He caressed her hair and leaned in close to her ear. She felt his breath on her neck.
“I promised I won’t hurt you.”
Brad pointed to the TV. “Watch.”
He turned it on.
What Zoe saw horrified her.
Cartoons.
“Is this some sort of sick joke?”
Brad laughed. “No joke. This is the only way I can get girls to watch anime with me.” She felt his hand rest on the small of her back.
In that instant, Zoe realized tinder really did suck.
She huffed.
“Uncuff me. Now.”
“Sure, sure. Soon.” Brad chuckled. “Just try to relax and enjoy the show.”
This is my entry to @themarkymark's Week 2 Writing Prompts Contest. The prompt/theme for this week was: Your first tinder date.
To be honest I thought I would skip this prompt. It didn't seem up my alley but I gave it some thought as I didn't want to just do the first weeks prompt and that be it. The character came to me pretty quickly and then the story started to unfold.
I hope you enjoyed the ending. I played with a couple of different endings (some pretty dark) but with the theme in mind, I went with something more lighthearted.
Thank you for reading!
Pexels Image Source edited by me.
That was one, shall we say, surprise ending. When I read Anime the only thing I could think of was "Firefly" the series, not anime. Because of it being markymarks prompt thing.
Interesting, I guess because of markymarks profile pic but I can't see another connection otherwise. Thanks for reading.
Man I don't know what to say really :D You have a mastermind for short story writing :)
Thank you @rifkan! I've been trying to improve my writing so your comment made my day :)
I rarely read fiction or short stories as I have a belief if it doesnt attract me in the first few sentences it wont be good. But your story I read without a break of a single second. I felt I was there in every second and they way you end it. I had no idea that you would go in that direction. Just keep writing here so that we can read a lot of your amazing stuff.
This is high praise for a writer, thank you again @rifkan.
And I agree that the opening should hook the reader and not let go and I'm very pleased that it worked for you here. This is actually the specific thing I've been working on in my stories and hopefully can keep improving.
I did not see that sort of ending coming! Nicely done! You are a very clever writer!
Thank you Melinda! Glad you enjoyed the ending.
Brilliant. I was holding my breath all the way.
Thank you @deirdyweirdy! I'm glad you enjoyed the story :)
I see everyone in the comment section laughing and stuff but I think this is a totally legitimate bonding strategy, I don't know why Zoe was so mad, I'm sure they were watching JoJo Part 5, no one can say not to JoJo, amazing writing man you're a beast, the storytelling was top notch!
This post was nominated by a @curie curator to be featured in an upcoming Author Showcase that will be posted in about 12 to 24 hours on the @curie blog.
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Thanks for your time and for creating great content.
Franz (@curie curator)
Great anime to pick for the scene, I think it might make Zoe change her mind lol.
Thank you @elfranz, it's an honour to be included in the author showcase :)
FIGHTING GOOOOOLD!!!
The ending was hilarious. I really didn't see it coming and I was already feeling so sorry for Zoe.😀
Now, I can't believe that Brad went through all of that in order to get someone, no, a lady to watch anime with him. He is totally crazy and super funny too, I would say. Ah, I can't imagine the look on Zoe's face, reluctantly watching the anime.
I love the funny twist of this story. Your story draws someone in, gets their attention and then surprise them. You are such an incredible writer.
Thank you for reading and the lovely compliments @audreybits
I contemplated that ending quite a bit and it just seemed the right fit as far as something a bit unexpected and fun :)
Ha ha ha. It's a very cruel story for a woman, of course. It was funny and witty
Glad you enjoyed it @yaleal :)
Nice pace to it. Firemen get laid quite easily. Anime is popular so, I didn't find it particularly believable. Overall I enjoyed it. Strong dialogue, which is tough to do and tends to keep me engaged.
Thank you @cosimo
Glad you enjoyed the pacing here which I've been working on overall in my writing.
Oh my goodness, this is so goood!! At the back of my head I was trying to remember if I saw an NSFW warning but I just couldn't scroll back up to check until I finished the story! You got me there! Brilliant! I can't stop laughing. Wahahahhaha!!! 🤣🤣🤣
Thank you @romeskie! The NSFW thing made me smile, I guess I did push it just a tad :)
I'm so glad that you went with something lighthearted :) I was already thinking NO, NO, NO :D And then I had to laugh. When I feel that something's going to happen I tend to read quicker just to get over it. I did it with your story but it was not needed at the end :)
Great writing! I personally would never go on such a date but I know that many people do. Oh, I can imagine how Zoe was feeling when she was facing the bed all tied up. And then the horror with TV, lol. What a disaster :D
But at least he was not a maniac ;) And he knew how to get her watch the anime :D
Thank you for sharing! Good luck with the contest!
Thank you for such a lovely comment @delishtreats!
I've been on online dates before (I promise nothing like this happened, heh) but never been on tinder. Probably a good thing :)
I had a similar thought process when writing the ending. Originally I was thinking of something dark but then that would be too expected so I wanted it to be a surprise but nothing too gruesome--a bit of a curve-ball for peoples expectations.
Thank you for reading!