Desperate times call for desperate measures. It’s just a few Saturdays left to the end of the year and Eugenia was still single. Like every new year, she had high hopes of ticking all her resolutions. The COVID19 pandemic changed her plans because it affected lifestyle. The social distancing thing was not helping in bonding with people. The lockdown added to her misery.
In this last minute rush, she decided to do what she has never done in her lifetime. Fingers scrolling through her phone apps, she logged into a dating site and created a profile. She didn’t think it through and just did it anyway. Her profile photo was not hers. She used a pseudo name, reduced her age, and lied about her location.
Eugenia was hoping she would attract a rich man. Her strategy was to look like a ‘high maintenance’ lady. She did well to persona but she didn’t think of the repercussions. What happens if she is found out? Why does she not just come plain? Her motives were clear and she felt it was only achievable by being deceptive.
Within fifteen minutes, she had created a ‘spectacular’ profile. Now she was ready to accept friendship requests. She was shocked to receive friend requests almost immediately. She clicked on the first profile. He did not fit her ‘spec’. After skipping, it was onto the next one. She was still unsatisfied. It was the fifth friend request that met her expectations. The man was exactly what she pictured. Lucky her, he had a ‘power’ profile. He was one of the ‘big’ boys in town. She accepted. After he got the notification, they moved to chat. He had sent her a smiley and wrote a long text about himself. Eugenia engaged him further in the chat. They found out that they had similar interests.
On that note, they hit off straight and got deeper with their conversation. The bubble burst when he asked her on a date the following weekend. Then it dawned on her that the person he liked was a different person. There she was, faking to be someone else. Now that they were planning to meet, how would she carry on with lies? Would she go and do plastic surgery?
She has started and built the relationship on lies. It was one lie to another. Now that it seemed to head somewhere, she knew she had spoilt chances. She could not postpone the date. The excuses were becoming too much. If she went on, he would suspect foul play. Maybe she would just tell him the truth or do a quick surgery to change her looks?