《Swipe Right for Catfish》Chapter 5
Advertisement
Alright, Ron might know me a little too well. This guy perfectly summed me up in about a hundred and forty characters and four photos. Maybe I should hire Ron to be my marketing agent. By the way, this app was amazing—there were so many hot singles in my area! I was swiping so much Dad asked if I was playing Fruit Ninja. Unfortunately, I didn't get any matches, so I threw in the towel and tried again the next day.
In just eight hours, I went from no matches to a smorgasbord of women on my phone, and let me tell you, it was a huge confidence boost—I was now a verified hottie. I looked through the sea of people who decided that they wanted to be graced with my presence. I preferred girls with shorter hair, so I kept only the cutest long-haired girls. Although I was tempted by a girl that had a unibrow. I wondered if she could make a "W" with it.
I swiped left on any girl doing a duck face. Although I must have missed a trend because there were a ton of girls on horses. The profiles I hated most were the girls that only had group photos. How am I supposed to know who I'm talking to? I definitely did not want to find a partner in a game of roulette. Overall, swiping through all these girls was great for my mental health. I felt like a king picking out his bride.
Now, you're probably thinking I shouldn't judge a book by its cover. But I would like to argue the person who created that phrase has clearly never bought a book and, dare I say, picked out anything in their life. I mean, who gets something without checking it out first? That would be as irresponsible as me walking into a car lot and instead of searching for the right car and doing a test drive, the salesman blindfolds me and says, "Point in any direction, and that's your ride." I might walk off that lot with a fucking horse and wagon.
However, throughout all of those matches, one girl, in particular, stood out from the rest. The top of her hair was black like ash that faded into orange, yellow, and red, like little embers slowly going out. Her black eyeliner made her hazel eyes stand out even more. She looked as if she had spent countless hours in the sun, given how tan she was. Each selfie and photo looked as if she had hired a professional photographer. This girl was the next level, and I needed help—I had to see Jackie.
Advertisement
I made my way out of my office and headed to the elevator. On my way there, Jose from IT came around the corner. "Hey, Autumn, how are you today?" he asked cheerfully. Jose was such a sweet guy. He would always check up on me, and if I remember correctly, he dated Jackie once.
"Not now, Jose. I'm on a mission." Sadly, I didn't have time for pleasantries—there was no time to waste. "We'll talk later." I walked past him and went into the elevator. When I was inside, the doors started to close. I heard someone scream to hold the elevator. I stuck my hand out, and the doors receded into their slots. When I saw who shouted, I wished I had just let the doors close. It was that creepy building janitor.
"Oh, heavens to Betsy. Autumn, thank you so much for holding the door for me," he said, pushing his janitor's cart into the elevator, blocking my escape. "Here, let me hit the button for your floor."
"Thanks, Mr. Janitor man, it's floor ten," I said reluctantly. I was trapped behind his cart. With the floors punched in, the elevator doors began to shut, leaving me trapped with him.
"Autumn, you're such a comedian. You know you can call me by my name sometimes," he said, smiling and looking away. I would call him by his first name if I knew it. "I see you have nice shoes on today. How's your left big toe? Is it still as beautiful as ever?" There you have it, and now you know why our unfriendly neighborhood janitor is a creep. I wore open-toed shoes once, and he's been obsessed ever since.
"It's as lovely as always," I replied, lifting myself up with the help of the railing. I perched myself on top of it. We were two floors away from my destination. I needed to get out of there as soon as possible.
"What kind of nail polish do you have on?" There was so much excitement in his eyes. "Is it purple like an eggplant?"
"No, not this week. Oh, look, this is my floor." Jumping off the railing I was perched on, I swimmer-dove over the cart, doing a barrel roll into the hallway.
Advertisement
"Maybe you can take a––" The elevator doors cut him off before he could finish. Fuck that guy.
I looked to my left and saw a dude standing there, shocked. "Sorry, I almost tackled you. I was practicing my diving form."
"Next time, save it for the pool. Someone could have gotten hurt," he said, walking away.
Saying sorry one more time, I made my way to Jackie's room. When I finally got to her office, Jackie was on the phone with someone. I waved to get her attention. When she noticed, I pointed to my cell phone. I sent her a text. "Hang up. It's important."
She responded, "I doubt it. I'm almost done, anyway."
"Tell them I'm dying," I texted back.
"Are you really?"
"On the inside, if that counts."
"It doesn't. Sit there and wait."
"Fine," I texted back, defeated. Turning around, I sat down next to the door. I heard footsteps coming up the hallway. It was James, walking toward me. James was one of our part-timers at the agency. We also went to the same university. Sweet kid, he might work for the company full-time when a position opens up.
"Hey, Autumn. Why are you on the floor?" James asked, walking up to me. His blond hair was in a ponytail. He had a clipboard and laptop in one hand and some papers in the other.
"I'm just waiting for Jackie to get off the phone. You look like you're heading somewhere. Do you have a meeting?" I asked.
"Yeah, my supervisors want a pair of fresh eyes on a new project they're creating for a new client, so they have tasked me with critiquing some of the proposed ideas. I usually go straight to Penultimate after work every day to think of new ideas for my team. But would you mind looking at what I've got?" he asked.
"Sure thing!" Standing up, I grabbed the paper. I forgot how tall James was until he stood right in front of me. He was at least six feet tall. The ad was for a new client, creating an organic cereal company. I didn't know if the actual cereal tasted any good, but the picture in James's ad sure looked tasty. "This looks great. I would mention they should add a nice slogan to go along with it. Check with the company, and see if they already have one." I handed him back the picture.
"Thanks, Autumn, that means a lot!" James said, taking the picture. He was so happy it looked as if I had given him a million dollars. Putting the picture in his bag, he looked up and said, "What do you need to see Jackie for?"
"Oh, you know, since I'm in charge of all creative projects and Jackie is our lead accountant, we have impromptu meetings to see if new projects are within budget." Other times, it was to gossip, but he didn't need to know that.
Before he could say anything else, I heard the door open next to me. "Hello, James. Are you ready, Autumn?" Jackie said, now standing in the door frame.
"Hey, Jackie! I have a big project coming up, and I am excited to share it with my team," James said, still feeling the high from my compliment.
"That's nice." Jackie turned to me. "Let's start the meeting, Autumn. I have another call soon."
"See you later, James, and good luck on the project," I said, waving goodbye and walking into the office.
"Thank you, and enjoy your meeting!" James said as we walked into the office and closed the door.
Advertisement
Regis and Charlotte
Regis knows it's an illusion. He's only ever seen Princess Charlotte from afar; only heard her voice when she spoke to a crowd. Sure he's good at reading people, but he knows she of all people will be wearing a perfect mask. The problem is he's in love with the illusion, and it's not going away. So he strikes out on a quest: win the fighting tournament held every year, where she gives out the prize, and hypothetically—just hypothetically—he can forfeit the monetary winnings and instead ask for a week to be close to her, to get to know the real her, and break the illusion once and for all.
8 128The Runt & The Alpha
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Meet Layla Anderson runt of the pack. In most packs runts are taken care of, protected. Although in Layla's case this wasn't it. Everyone in her pack despised her, even going as far as beating her, she had more scars than she would like. All for being born basically. To make matters worse her parents left the pack and haven't been heard from sense. During all of this Layla finds her mate, someone she would have never expected it to be.Meet Landon Carter the cruelest Alpha of the Blood Moon pack. Everyone fears him he's taken over more packs in his area than any other alpha & recruited them to his pack. The pack everyone knew not to step foot into. Landon's only rule he stood by was to never disrespect a girl, a rule his beloved mother told him to live by. Amidst all of his power and viciousness he finds his mate, what will he do when he finds out his pack has broken his sacred rule towards his mate.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
8 506To Muse
Life is simple for Davinci McCaskill, he has a doting girlfriend, a place of his own, and all his bills are paid by wealthy parents. Change is coming, however, demanding success or failure. He is expected to make something of his degree in the physical arts. But, he's lost his muse. When he finds it, everything will change. Reality is amiss when he begins painting a woman he's seen in his dreams. As his career takes off, Davinci realizes that the woman is not only his muse. She leads him across the world, on a journey of self-discovery, to meet people who aren't strangers and remember things that feel more like fantasy. As his two realities collide, an ultimatum will present itself. What will he choose?
8 99Bound To Be
Alicia is a beautiful curvy young woman. Yet she doesn't think too highly of herself, even though she should.Alicia and her father have had the closest bond ever since Alicia was born, well since her mother ran out on them when she was just a toddler. She hardly remembers her mom though. But Alicia's fine with that because she knows her and her father are unbreakable. That is until he gets a call one day saying he needs to come back to the Army Reserve for an official business matter.So now she is being shipped off to California to her father's friend's place where she will stay until he can come home. The question is, when will he come home?Not to mention this friend is a very rich older woman, Ann, who lives in a beautiful mansion in Malibu.When Alicia arrives to the mansion she is greeted by a very hot young man about her age, Abraham. But his rudeness and arrogantness sets her off the wrong way. They have to deal with one another since they live together. Right?What will come their way?
8 509Unhinged
[COMPLETED] Dr. Alexis Reyna's perfect life begins to unravel as her stalker's obsession turns deadly. Can she rely on her new boyfriend to help her or is she falling in love with a killer?*PLEASE NOTE: This book is unedited and a first draft. *
8 159feels like a daydream (dream x reader)
small twitch streamer u/n gets a series of donations during her live from none other than popular minecraft content creator dream. who would've thought a simple "thank you" in twitter dms would lead to so much?(dream x reader)* my lovely friend made a playlist to go along with the story! if you're interested, it's called "feels like a daydream" and it's by @elxxo. the link is in my bio, please check it out!* that same lovely friend also made the cover so appreciate him! * the og artist of the dream drawing is @costcopunk on instagram. go check them out!* if any parties included in this fan fic (dream, george, etc.) are uncomfortable with what i have written, please let me know and i will delete it immediately!* lowercase intended!
8 137