It’s a beautiful little spot, just off the path with a perfect view of the stream. I drink in the beauty of the place, breathing in the sweet fragrance of flowers perfuming the air. But then my eyes return to something equally gorgeous: Russell’s smiling face as he offers me a glass of wine.
I’m wondering how the hell he managed to transport glass in a backpack without it getting broken, but when I take the glass, I’m a little relieved when my fingers aren’t met with cold, inflexible glass, but lightweight and malleable plastic.
He keeps pulling more from the bag; cheese, crackers, grapes, and finally he has the whole little picnic laid out on the blanket and settles next to me. “Hope this is okay,” he says with a slightly nervous expression, “Now that we’re actually here, I’m wondering if maybe I should have taken you out on a proper date…”
I shake my head. “This is a perfectly proper date,” I assure him, “I love it.”
“Was I right about the hike?”
“You were,” I agree, “This wasn’t bad at all.”
When I think “hiking,” I tend to think of people trekking through rocks and brush and climbing almost as much as they walk. But Russell was right, this was just a nice walk.
“Looks like you’re safe from that foot massage after all,” I tease him.
He laughs. “Oh, yes, safe from the horrors of your oh-so-scary feet.”
“You don’t know,” I tell him, lifting a single sneakered foot into the air, “They might be.”
“I kind of do know, you were wearing some kind of sandals or something last week,” he reminds me, “I wasn’t exactly focusing on them, but I feel like if they were some kind of terrifying monster feet, I might have noticed that.”
“Guess you got me there,” I laugh.
“And anyway, I’ll still give you that massage if you want,” he says.
I smile. “You’re sweet. Maybe after the walk back, I’ll see how I’m holding up,” I reply, half-teasing.
“Deal.”
“So how did you find this place?” I ask him, “Do you bring all your dates here?”
“Well, considering you’re the first date I’ve had since I moved to the area…”
“That’s right, you said you’ve only lived here a few months, right?” I pluck a grape from the spread in front of me and pop it into my mouth.
He nods. “Maybe more than a few, it’s been about nine months. And as far as how I found the place, unfortunately I don’t really have a cool story or anything, I just kind of came upon it the first time I walked this area.”
“Eh, that’s cool enough,” I shrug, “What about before you moved here? Were you good at finding magical little fairy glens back in your old town?”
He laughs. “Definitely not. Part of the reason I moved out here was for some scenery and some fucking air. Got tired of being packed into a massive city like a sardine smushed in a can, y’know?”
I get exactly what he means, and I nod. Our city’s kind of a perfect balance, with all the conveniences and attractions you could really want, but with enough spread out, rural areas to keep it from being a congested mess.
“So how did you find out about MysteryMatch?” he asks, curious, “I know I found an ad online, was that you, too?”
I wince. “Um…not exactly.”
He furrows his brow in confusion but doesn’t speak, clearly waiting for me to elaborate.
“My best friend is the creator of it,” I admit, “She asked me to be a part of the beta test.”
I don’t know why I’m so sure that the news will elicit a negative reaction, but it just feels weird to confess. So I’m surprised when Russell’s eyebrows merely lift with interest and surprise. “Oh, yeah? That’s cool. I kind of figured you had some kind of personal connection to someone involved, since you had a number to call when there was a problem.”
I hadn’t really thought of that, but he’s got a point. Neither of them had access to the creator’s personal cell. Admittedly, they had no way of knowing that I’d talked to Josie over one of the programmers or something, but still, I’d made it pretty obvious that I had some kind of inside track.
“It’s a really creative idea,” he adds, “I’ve never seen a dating app that operates like hers does.”
“No kidding,” I remark drily, thinking of the glitch that had brought us here to begin with.
He laughs. “Okay, I didn’t mean our experience, I meant just overall.”
“I know. And you’re right, it is,” I agree, “She’s been working on it for a long time. It took her a while to iron out all the details, and until last week, I was positive she’d thought of every single possibility under the sun to plan for.”
“Yeah, but that’s what the beta testers are for, right? Finding those oddball bugs.”
“Exactly. And admittedly, a lot of specific things had to happen to make our glitch happen, so it’s not like I blame her for not thinking of it.”
“Kind of makes me curious to see what else might crop up,” he remarks, “I’d be kind of interested to see what the other beta testers find out for her.”
I hadn’t really thought about it, but he’s got a point. Our situation is kind of a funny story, and I haven’t really asked Josie if anything else has come up with any other testers. Who knows what other scenarios might have triggered something funky with the app?
“Maybe I can find out for you when the beta run ends,” I tell him, although I almost want to take the words back as soon as they tumble from my mouth.
I have no idea where the two of us will stand by the time Josie ends the beta testing. This date might very well be the last time I ever see Russell, even if the idea sends a pang through my chest. But still, that’s weeks from now, and I don’t even know what’s going to happen at the end of this weekend.
There’s still a part of me that just wants to duck out, to leave Russell and Marco to each other, but another part of me keeps chiding me to stop letting fear control my life.
Because that’s what it would be at this point. When I wasn’t really interested in anyone, not dating was no sacrifice, it was just me going about life. But now that I’ve found them…I don’t want to be afraid anymore.
I don’t want Lance to be pulling my puppet strings anymore. It’s been too long, and he doesn’t deserve to occupy space in my head anymore.
“Sofia?” Russell calls, and I realize it’s not the first time he’s tried to get my attention.
“Sorry, what?”
“You okay?” he asks, “You looked like you were on another planet.”
I shake my head. “I’m fine,” I say, and on a whim, I decide to just tell him the truth.
“If I’m being totally honest with you, I never wanted to be a part of the test," I confess, “I haven’t dated in like five years and I kind of wasn’t looking to start. I only did it because Josie asked. But I’m glad I did.”
“I’m glad you did, too,” he replies.
He’s quiet for a moment, then asks, “Is there a particular reason you didn’t want to date? You don’t have to tell me if that’s too personal.”
“No, it’s okay,” I say, my nerves climbing.
I’d only ever really talked about Lance with Josie and a therapist, but it’s surprisingly easy to talk to Russell and tell him the unpleasant tale of my stalker. When I tell him about Lance breaking into my apartment, his jaw drops. “He actually climbed into bed with you?” he asks incredulously.