Currently listening to: Ditty – Paperboy
Make you man jealous, while hoes cheese like DoritosIt ain’t my fault, I lay the piper with concernAnd I ain’t from Mount Vernon, but a brother’s money-earnin’And for those disagree, and then jack, that’s a pittyJust bob your head for Paperboy and the ditty
My mom cooly mentioned that Mark would be reaching out to set up a date. My eyes nearly rolled into another dimension. Mark? Who the hell was Mark?
All I knew was that he was a physician assistant in the Army. That was it. No details, no background, just another name being thrown at me for another matchmaking fiasco.
Then, a text came through.
“Are you being forced into this date?”
The sheer bluntness of it made me pause. The way he worded it, like he was already looking for an out, had me raising an eyebrow. Was he hoping I’d say yes? Was this his way of dodging an unwanted setup? My mind immediately ran through the possibilities—was he secretly in a relationship his parents disapproved of? Was he gay and not ready to come out? Or was he just a sociopath who enjoyed toying with people?
Instead of answering, I flipped the question back on him. “Are you?”
“Yeah,” he admitted without hesitation.”Also, just so you know, I’m being deployed to the Middle East for six months to a year. I’m not looking for a relationship right now.”
Fair because neither was I.
With that, we both agreed to let this whole thing fizzle before it even started. We hadn’t met, hadn’t even exchanged more than a few texts, and yet the decision was mutual—we weren’t doing this.
But our parents had other plans.
Next thing I knew, his parents were on the phone with my mom, insisting that they would force him to take me out. As if that was supposed to be appealing. As if I should be honored to be granted a reluctant date with a man being dragged to the table like a hostage.
I turned to my mom, my voice firm.
“No. Absolutely not. That’s just not right.”
And just like that, the chapter ended before it ever began.
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