Dating Apps

"So this is how it works, ma'am."

She squinted at her phone as the young man tried to explain things to her.

How had dating gotten so complicated? She had been in university when she had met her ex-husband, Douglas, and things had just sort of clicked... even if they had become unhinged and fallen into disrepair. But Douglas's wedding announcement to her childhood rival had sent her over the edge. She needed to get back into the dating game and pronto. No sense wasting away.

She looked at the faces on her screen.

"If you like them swipe right," he was telling her.

"And if I'm not interested?" Her voice croaked out.

"Then swipe left."

That sounded easy enough. She nodded as if she understood, but clearly she didn't and she'd be the last person to admit she hadn't a clue.

She thanked the young man then, carrying her phone as if it were a bomb, made her way over to a table in the cafe next door. She set the phone down and ordered herself a strong brew of Irish Breakfast tea.

While she waited for her tea, she stared down at the phone that lay on the table before her. Taking a deep breath, she touched the screen. A face appeared. Strong cheekbones with deep blue eyes stared back at her. They seemed to shimmer and give off a mysterious glint. Was there a challenge there?
The face was crowned with silver grey hair cut neatly. Very debonaire, she thought. Her finger hovered over the face, not sure what to do.

"Mavis, is that really you?" a voice from her past squealed, sending her fingers to dance. Before glancing up to see her long-time rival Emelia, her finger's inadvertently swiped right, causing a surge of panic to ricochet through her body as she realized she had made a selection. There was no turning back now.

Schooling her features, she looked up. Her eyes landed on Emelia. The stealer of her husband. The woman who had the audacity to talk to her; greet her as if they were old friends.... like nothing was amiss. The woman was as stupid as Mavis remembered.

Her panic was overtaken by a sudden urge to strike out at Emelia's smiling face. Instead, she curled her fingers into fists and tried not to glare at her.

A quick assessment had her noticing the amount of work Emelia had done to herself. Boob job. Face lift. Tummy tuck. The woman barely resembled the memory Mavis held. She was plastic on a stick. The thought struck her as funny and she pressed her lips together to suppress the laughter that threatened to bubble up. She forced herself to drag in a deep, calming breath and narrowed her eyes.

"Emelia," she said flatly, devoid of any emotion.

"It's so great to see you," Emelia infused.

"Is it?"

"Why, of course, And on the day of my announcement.... how... appropriate, wouldn't you say?"

Was that a sneer? Might have been, if she could move her facial muscles, Mavis thought darkly.

"If you'll excuse me. I need to be somewhere." Mavis grabbed her phone, shoved it into her purse, and stood. As she bumped the table, her tea wobbled. She made a grab for it, sending it airborne. Straight into Emelia's fancy fur coat.

The woman squealed as if she were being murdered. Her cries drew the attention of everyone within a 50-mile radius.

Mavis bit her tongue, forcing herself to refrain from her usual apologies.

"Oh dear. Such a mess," she began calmly, "Still not as nasty as you stealing my husband, but that's life. Do take care, Emelia. Hope your luck improves."

As she turned to walk away, her phone pinged. She reached in to pull it out and noticed a message from the man she had selected. She stared down at his face and smiled. Maybe she could handle this new dating app. It couldn’t be any worse that standing up to a home wrecker and it might be a whole lot more satisfying.


Words count = 679.


Notes ▼

The Weekly Quickie Contest - for Contest Challenge and I Write.
690 words or less. It was a challenge and over the years the contest developed, changed hands and saw some changes to an increased word count along with the eventual inclusion of romance to the mix. It went dormant for a while and now, I am hoping to bring it back with throwback to some of the old ways.

January 8 - 14: While online dating used to be the thing, now there are apps. It seems weird to go on a phone, look through images and pick someone to send a message to but then again so did the concept of talking to a random person at a bar. Let's start with some browsing profiles. How does you character find romance on an app? Do they swipe right on accident or on purpose?