Fate Interrupted

4. Plenty of Fish

Ren

Minutes later, I open the oversized door to the local brewery down the street from my office. The atmosphere blows me back a bit as I enter, like a shock wave of hectic chatter and the pungent smell of hops and fries. The place is absolutely jammed.

I recheck my phone. Hannah had texted that she'd snagged a high-top table near the windows. After threading my way through the pile up at the bar, I find her, all smiles and exactly how I pictured she'd be.

My vocally talented friend from high school is all grown up and is now the lead singer in a popular local folk rock band. Her hair is still long and brown and straight as ever. She absolutely owns her signature laid-back bohemian vibe.

She practically sways over to me, her long olive hippy skirt moving in ripples like the ocean. Her bangled golden-brown arms wrapped me in a warm, heartfelt embrace.

After ordering our drinks, I catch her up to speed about Alex and why I left New York.

"Wow, so living back here again in this small city after living in New York must be a trip."

"So weird," I agree. "I mean, there's a part of me that loves it. It feels good to be home, someplace so familiar, so much less..."

"Crowded?" 

"Yeah, absolutely! But I also feel like... I moved on from this place... mentally. I feel like I've time-warped a bit." 

Yeah, time-warped straight back to being Gio's girlfriend with just one look into his gorgeous eyes.

My mood is still a bit erratic from our brief but exciting encounter—my emotions lightly jingling around like a wind-chime. My brain can't quite believe I actually ran into him, and my heart does a somersault whenever I picture the look on his face after I hugged him.  I open my mouth to tell her all about it but then shut it again as I second-guess myself. I'm not sure I'm ready to share these mixed-up feelings with Hannah just yet. I sigh and change the subject. 

"Anyway, you still together with Jed?" 

"No, I broke up with him a few months ago. I'm back on the dating scene," she grimaces and sucks in air through her teeth.

"That bad, huh? I'm not looking forward to it, either. Sydney tells me everyone finds dates online these days."

"Oh-yeaaaah," she heartily confirms. "I'm on both of the big ones. OkCupid and Plenty of Fish."

"What's it like? I'm totally clueless about it." 

"You just sign up and answer, like, twenty basic questions about yourself. Then you can opt to answer more—hundreds even! Your likes and dislikes and all sorts of things. Then it matches you with guys it thinks will be a good fit."

"Really? And there are pictures of them?" 

"Hell yeah! Sometimes what you see, though, is not what you get," she warns me. "But anyway... basically, if a guy is interested in you, he will usually send you a message, and if you are interested too, you can chat and set up a date."

"Hmm." I slowly turn my beer glass on the table, stewing about going out with a guy I've never seen in real life. "Somehow, that sounds a little... intimidating." 

"It's not so bad. It's kinda fun. You should definitely try it. Text me any good PMs you get," she winks.

"Good PMs? What does that mean?"

"PMs are private messages."

"I know that part. What do you mean by good? If they're hot?"

She chuckles to herself. "You'll know what I mean when you get them."