Chapter Twenty-One: Liz’s Heart:

She wants to love. She wants to be loved. Men come and go in her life. But she wants something more permanent. Her latest fixation? Wallace was cute and fun to mess with. But she couldn’t see anything besides flirtation with him.

Time to go back online.

Liz pulled up her favorite dating app on her phone when she got home. She walked into the kitchen and heated up dinner in the microwave. Nothing new on the front page. The professor checked her notifications. Ah, here is a new batch today. The trick was to lower your expectations on dating apps. But don’t settle all the same. Go for about sixes. Liz began scrolling through her notifications.

Nope. No. Too dull. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe. Ooo… oh, maybe. No. No. No. Maybe. Maybe. No. No. Maybe. Maybe.

But then she pauses.

Oh, looks like she’s got one. Neptune’s Jewels. It sounded kind of cheeky in way. Age thirty-five. Black and Hispanic mix. Works in a garage. Now, Liz didn’t usually go for car guys. But NJ looked fine. She licked her lips as she kept reading.

Let’s see. Just looking for a good time. A few connections if lucky. Liz’s eyes widened as she saw his location. The Five Boughs, huh? How far was that from Manhattan? The professor shrugged. She would have to Google it in later. Right now, she found a match! Liz happily swiped right and hit send a message.

“Hi. I am up for an adventure. Want to meet up?”

The professor smiled at her message before she hit send. She should be getting a reply back really soon. For now, she decided to look for two more matches as a back-up. Liz started scrolling through her notifications again when her phone pinged.

Oh? One new message from Neptune’s Jewels. Liz whistled to herself. That was fast. The professor tapped the screen.

“What did you have in mind?” he wrote back. The professor giggled to herself. Step one was set into motion. Liz started typing.

“How well do you like surprises?” she wrote back. The thought bubble with flashing dots appeared on the screen.

“What kind of surprise?” NJ wrote back. Liz couldn’t help but smile.

“Are you free on Friday?” she asked. She hit send and went back to scrolling. She spotted a doctor in her notifications. He looked kind of cute with a baby face. Doctors weren’t her thing but he looked like he’d make a good coffee date. Liz swiped right and sent him a quick message. Her phone buzzed when she received another message from NJ. The professor raised a curious eyebrow as she opened the message.

“How does six sound?” he wrote back. Liz licked her lips as she got to typing.

“Let’s meet at the Pink Horse Bar. I will send you the directions,” she typed. The professor googled up directions for the Pink Horse Bar and attached them to the message. She smiled as she hit send. Now for one more potential suitor. She came down to the last notification.

He looked nice. A bit skinny. He was a Jewish pure educator in the area. His profile picture screamed virgin all over. But Liz was in an adventurous mood. So she swiped right and sent him a quick message. By then, she had finished her leftover dinner.

“Oh,” Liz said to herself. She got up and cleaned up her area on the kitchen table. The professor exited out of the app for the night. Best to let her suitors stew for a while. A girl needs her alone time after all. Liz smiled as she put her phone on silent.

“Time for a bath,” she said. After she finished cleaning the kitchen, Liz walked down the hall to her bathroom. She couldn’t wait to start the next day.