Rick lay on the couch, absent-mindedly swiping through his feed on HookApp. The girls who flitted past his screen were all gorgeous, but he didn’t stop to look at any one of them.
He couldn’t get that woman from the supermarket out of his mind.
When they had left the store, he had offered to carry the toilet paper to her car where they could portion it out, but she had gotten a phone call that had taken all her attention.
She had stopped in the middle of the parking lot, her face moving from bright and flirtatious to serious and anxious in the blink of an eye. Shooting an apologetic grimace to him, she had turned away to talk quietly into the phone.
A fierce feeling of protectiveness had washed over him. He had wanted to reach out to her, to enfold him in his arms…but he needed to stay six feet away.
When it was clear she had needed to stay on the phone, he had busied himself with opening the pack of toilet paper, ignoring dirty looks from empty-handed shoppers leaving the store. He’d pulled out 12 rolls for himself and left her with the rest.
“Hold on,” she had said as he had begun to walk towards his car.
Turning, he had noticed that a ray of sunshine had peeked through the clouds to shine a spotlight just on her. He had been struck by how perfectly her clothes molded themselves to her delectable curves.
She had put her phone down and pulled a five-dollar bill from her pocket. Though her eyes had been bright with tears, a mischievous glint reappeared as she squirted hand sanitizer all over the currency, then offered it, arms outstretched, to him.
He had taken the bill, holding the sopping paper gingerly by one corner.
“I know that’s not enough,” she had said, “but it’s all I have, and I need to get back on this call.”
Before he could respond, she had picked the phone back up.
“I’ll find you. I owe you,” was the last thing she had said to him before walking swiftly to the other side of the parking lot.
He had never even gotten her name.
He sighed and returned his focus to his phone. Surely there was a girl out there in the worldwide internet who could take his mind off—
His phone buzzed, and a message flickered at the top of the screen.
A photo popped up.
It was her! His pulse raced.
She was posing with a roll of toilet paper cradled at her bosom…which gave him the perfect opportunity to keep staring at those delightful globes of perfection.
User8675309: I told you I’d find you.
A rueful smile broke out across his face. “I guess your name is Jenny,” he murmured as he began to type.