Chapter 55 Dating Site
Amelia got home late that night. The house was quiet when she stepped inside, the kind of silence that she had gotten used to with how long she had been living alone.
She kicked off her heels near the door with a tired sigh and walked slowly toward her room. Her body felt heavy, not from dancing or drinking, but from everything that had happened at the club.
She shook her head, undressed and went to the bathroom to shower.
As the warm water poured down her body, Amelia closed her eyes and let out a deep breath. Images from the club replayed in her mind without her permission.
Even with all the fun she had with Ryan, she couldn't forget the man’s eyes, the way he spoke to her, the grip on her wrist. The embarrassment. The fear. The anger she hadn’t fully allowed herself to feel at the time.
She scrubbed her skin harder than necessary, as if she could wash the memory away.
After a while, she turned off the water, wrapped a towel around herself, and returned to her room.
She put on loose nightwear, brushed her hair, and climbed onto the bed. For a moment, she simply sat there, staring at the wall in front of her.
The laughter she had shared with Ryan earlier came back to her, followed by a soft sigh.
She lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling, as she thought about her life and everything that had been going on for a while now.
"If I had a boyfriend," she murmured to herself, "I wouldn’t have gone to the club alone."
The thought settled heavily in her chest, as she let out another sign.
If only she had gone with her own boyfriend, that guy wouldn’t have dared treat her like that, she wouldn’t have even been sitting on her own.
She turned to her side and hugged a pillow tightly. Everything that happened at the club would have been avoided if only there was a man in her life, she thought.
The silence of the room felt louder now, the loneliness deeper than she had ever felt.
She sighed again and pushed herself up to sit. Her mind started racing, one thought leading to another.
"How do people even get boyfriends?" she asked herself quietly.
She looked around her room as if the answer might be written somewhere on the walls.
She had no time to go on dates, no time to go out except from her cafe, and even when she was there, nobody approaches her, so how was she supposed to have a boyfriend if no one looked at her? She thought deeply as she rested her head on her knees, deep in thought.
She laughed softly, but there was no humor in it.
"I don’t even give myself a chance." She murmured quietly in pain.
Taking a glance at her phone that was beside her, she stared at it for a long moment before picking it up.
"Maybe… a dating site," she said slowly.
The idea felt strange but not impossible.
"At least there, people are actually looking," she reasoned. "Not like real life where everyone is busy pretending not to care."
She unlocked her phone and searched for a dating app. There were many options, but she was determined in her quest to get a boyfriend. After hesitating for a bit, she chose one of the applications that looked simple and easy to use.
She signed up, filling in the basic details. Nothing too personal. Nothing too revealing. When it asked for a name, she paused.
"Hmm," she muttered. "I don’t think I want to use my real name."
She typed in a nickname instead and uploaded a picture of a cat, for some odd reason she didn't want to give out her identity just yet.
When she was done, she went through some persons profile and kept liking the profiles that felt appealing even though most of the men didn't have a real name and picture like her.
After she was done, she sat back against the headboard and waited.
Barely a minute passed before her phone vibrated.
She frowned and picked it up.
"A match?" she whispered, surprised.
She hadn’t even finished processing the idea of being on a dating site, and someone had already matched with her.
"That was fast," she said, her eyebrows raised.
A message popped up.
Thatloverboy
\[Hi\]
Amelia stared at the screen.
"Wow," she muttered. "This is… weird."
She hesitated, then typed back.
Justagirl
\[Hi,\]
A few seconds passed before he replied.
Thatloverboy
\[Didn’t expect a reply so soon.\]
She smiled slightly, she also was not expecting a match that quick.
Justagirl
\[Neither did I.\]
The conversation started slowly, carefully. They didn’t share names. Neither of them asked too many questions at first. They talked about simple things, how their day went, what they liked doing after work, small habits that made them happy.
Amelia found herself relaxing.
She didn’t feel judged. She didn’t feel pressured. She could think before replying. She could choose what to say and what to keep to herself.
For the first time that night, her chest felt lighter.
She smiled at her phone when another message came in.
Thatloverboy
\[You seem easy to talk to.\]
She paused before replying.
Justagirl
\[You do too.\]
And she meant it.
As the conversation continued, Amelia realized she was enjoying it more than she expected. She felt… seen, even without the person knowing who she truly was. It was strange but comforting.
She lay back on the bed, phone resting on her chest, eyes fixed on the ceiling.
"This is nice," she whispered.
But then, without warning, another thought slipped into her mind.
Ryan.
She remembered the way he stepped in without hesitation. The calm strength in his voice. The laughter they shared afterward, sitting side by side like they had known each other for years.
The connection she had felt with him hadn’t been forced. It had been natural.
Her fingers tightened slightly around her phone.
"No," she said softly to herself. "Don’t go there." She can't be thinking of him when she is chatting with another man, she chides herself.
She turned her head and stared at the wall, trying to push the thought away.
"That was just one night," she reminded herself. "And this… this is different."
She glanced back at her phone and focused on the messages again.
After a few more exchanges, her eyelids began to feel heavy. She yawned and stretched slightly.
She sent a final message.
Justagirl
\[I think I need to sleep now.\]
A reply came almost instantly.
Thatloverboy
\[Alright. Goodnight.\]
She smiled.
Justagirl
\[Goodnight.\]
Amelia placed her phone on the bedside table and lay down properly, pulling the blanket over herself. The room was quiet again, but this time the silence didn’t feel so heavy.
As her eyes slowly closed, her thoughts drifted between the stranger she had just connected with and the man who had rescued her earlier that night.
She didn’t know which connection meant more.
And with that unanswered question in her mind, Amelia finally fell asleep.