“Maybe he’s grumpy because he works here. You know what I’m saying? He needs a girlfriend and working here and being reminded that he doesn’t have one just makes him sad.”
We both giggled as we turned back to our computers and continued working. No matter what code I put into the social interest section, I continued to get errors throughout the morning. I reloaded several versions of the code and even read the entire code line by line as I tried to fix my error. It was exhausting.
By the time lunch rolled around, I was in the middle of a pure frustration fit. Coding for our clients’ profiles was my main area of work. I had to fix this error before I could continue on to test any other issues we were having. As I was about to walk away from my desk for lunch, an instant message window popped up on my screen.
IM from Brandon: Do you accept?
“Oh, Mattie, I’ve got a guy messaging me,” I laughed. “See what happens when I put an amazingly small bikini photo on my profile?”
“Is he cute? If he’s cute, you need to answer him. Remember, these guys are rich. You need a rich guy in your life.”
“It doesn’t matter. This is a fake account; I’m not going to accept the message. I don’t need anyone in my life. I’m very happy exactly where I am.”
“Del, it’s not really all that fake. It’s your picture and your details. Just answer him. Is he cute? And, yes, you do need a rich handsome guy in your life. Hell, I need one in my life. Answer him – for me. Take one for the team, Delilah!”
“Yes, his profile looks like he is acceptably handsome.”
“Let me see,” she said as she jumped up and came around to my desk. “Oh, wow, Del; he’s really handsome. You’ve got to talk to him. Message him, or accept his message, or whatever you need to do. Let’s make this happen.”
I looked around in fear that our manager would come walking past. I didn’t want to get caught using the instant messaging app on our dating site while I was supposed to be working on fixing our problems. He already yelled at us enough for no reason at all, so I didn’t want to give him an actual reason to yell at me.
“I only have my profile up while I’m fixing this error. I really shouldn’t be talking to any of the guys on here.”
“Why not?”
One of the things I loved most about Mattie was her willingness to go against the norms of everything. She was so much bolder than I was. I was pretty sure I’d always be a rule follower, but I liked having her around so I could live vicariously through her and her wild ways.
“I’m an employee here. I’m sure there are rules about us having a profile on the site. Plus, I’m not dating right now.”
“Yes, you are. You totally brought that guy home from the charity event last month.”
“That wasn’t dating,” I clarified. “That was a one-night thing.”
“Oh, come on. Just say hello to the guy. What could it hurt to say hi? Everyone is heading out to lunch. Robert isn’t even around to see what you’re doing. You are flat out of excuses. Say hi to the guy.”
Mattie reached around me and clicked the accept button on the message. Soon, another message popped up and she went scurrying back to her desk with a huge smile of pride across her face.
“Mattie!”
“You can thank me later when the two of you fall madly in love and you’re married to a millionaire.”
Brandon: Hi, I’m Brandon. It’s nice to meet you.
Delilah: Hi, Brandon. I’m Delilah, my friends call me Del.
As I typed my reply, I looked at his profile to see who this guy was and if he was anyone I might be interested in. Even though I wasn’t really dating, there was always this little voice inside my head that said there was another right guy out in the world for me. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever find someone I could love as much as my late husband, but I still had a little hope that someday I would cross paths with a man of equal standing.
“What’s he saying?” Mattie asked as she leaned in from across the cubicle. “Is he nice? Are you going to go out with him? I bet he’s really rich. Ask him how much money he has. Wait, no. Don’t ask that.”
“He just said hello, and I said hello. Now go to lunch; I’m only going to talk to him for a second before I’m getting back to working on this project. I need to get this error fixed before the end of the day.”
Mattie laughed as she grabbed her purse and headed out. We normally ate together for lunch, but she knew how I was when I had a lot of work. I wasn’t on a regular break and lunch schedule like she was, so I could always leave early if I skipped my lunch. Mattie worked in customer service and had to be at her desk at specific times.
Brandon: That’s one hell of a profile picture.
Delilah: Well, it got your attention, didn’t it?
Brandon: Definitely. I was a little disappointed you didn’t have a cat sweater photo, too. I bet you look amazing in cat sweaters.