Ned / Reader
It was a rainy afternoon when your phone notified you about a new match on Tinder. You tapped the screen and opened the app. You stared at the picture of a young man, about your age, with brown hobbit-like hair and adorable smile. The guys name was Ned and in his profile he said that he was a baker by profession.
You put down the phone and concentrated on the class again. These final hours of school before weekend could be menacing especially when the subject was taxation and accounting. You were studying marketing and international business and even though you liked the subject very much, the last classes in the Friday afternoon were the worst.
You did not usually send messages on Tinder but this time there was something very enchanting about this Ned-dude and his adorably cute smile so you, after thinking long and hard, decided to send him a “hello”.
“Hi! I like your smile. Looking forward to the weekend?”
You signed the message with your name and tapped the “send” button. You kept staring at the chat box for 15 minutes, maybe even more, and then sighed disappointed. The break was over and you had to put your phone away. However you kept checking it as often as you possibly could. Every time you got slightly more frustrated when there were no new notifications of messages received.
In the evening your phone finally beeped. You opened the chat box and saw a message from Ned.
“Hello! Thank you so much for that! Would you care to see this smile live? -Ned”
Your heart jumped. You waited for a moment, just so you would not seem too enthusiastic or like you had been stalking for his message by your phone whole evening. After 10 minutes you replied
“Sure, how about an ice cream tomorrow if you’re free?”
“Sounds great! I’ll see you at noon in front of that small café near the park, ok?”
You checked your calendar just to make sure that you had no plans for noon, just to be sure so you did not have to cancel. It had sometimes happened that you had made plans with someone, completely forgotten that you had something else planned and then been forced to apologize and reschedule which had been very inconsiderate and waste of the other persons time, in bad case at least.
“Okay” you answered. You stared at the screen but no new messages popped on it. You groaned and cursed yourself for such an idiotic answer “okay”. You sighed and typed
“So… it’s a date?”
“Looking forward to it.” Ned answered. You chatted with him for a moment and you felt that there was chemistry between you two. But then unfortunately it was time to go sleep since you had woken up quite early and the school had been tedious. It had indeed been a long day and you needed your beauty sleep to be at your prime tomorrow.
You were late. You hated to be late so much and you always made sure not to get late. However today from all the possible times when you could had been late, now… NOW… you missed the first bus which caused you to miss the second one. Finally you arrived to the spot where you had agreed to meet.
- I am so very sorry for being late! you apologized to a tall guy who was standing in front of the café. He was holding a bright yellow flower as he had said that he would. He smiled when he saw you.
- It is quite alright. he answered and gave the flower to you. Your face lighted up like a hundred suns and for a moment you were speechless for such kind gesture. He blushed and after standing outside for a moment he opened the door for you. You walked into the small, very cozy café that had been opened just recently. It specialized on different kind of ice creams which they prepared on the premises. The place was quiet since it was a rainy day of late autumn and people did not really eat ice cream that time, which was odd in your opinion since you could had eaten ice cream all the time.
Ned offered to pay for the ice creams but you told him “no”. You wanted to offer because you had been late. He reluctantly agreed after a brief debate about a subject and helped you to carry everything to the private corner table. He sat down after helping you with the chair. The atmosphere was somewhat stiff and awkward. You stumbled with your words and it seemed that there was no chemistry, mostly due to the state of nervousness that you both were in.
You thanked Ned for a lovely date and left home after an hour of chatting. You put the flower into a bottle that you used as a vase and placed it onto a table next to a window. The flower shone like a sun against the gray view. You took out your phone, stared at his picture and cursed that he was exactly as cute live than in the picture. And he was polite, such a gentleman… And there had been no chemistry. Damn! Okay, yes, you had liked him, but clearly he had not liked you and the lack of messages after the date was enough to prove your point there; he just wasn’t interested.
A couple of weeks passed by. The weather had turned even gloomier than it had been previously. The streets were slippery in the mornings and it was always dark; dark when you went to the classes and dark when you got home after them. One Wednesday afternoon you were shopping for study books at a mall when suddenly there was a tap on your shoulder. You took off your headphones and turned.
- Ned, uhm-hi! you exclaimed He smiled and greeted you. You asked him how he was doing and he asked you the same thing in return. After chatting for a while he looked a bit hesitant but then after clearing his throat he asked
- Mind if I ask, but why didn’t you like me?
- What do you mean?
- I do not go on dates often so… to avoid screwing up in the future, I was wondering if you could tell me what I did wrong… Ahem… Why did you not like me?
- I did like you. you answered and stared at him with confusion.
- You did? But you did not send me a message after…
- You did not either. Therefore I assumed that you did not like me.
- What? Quite opposite actually.
You were speechless. You had read him completely wrong, maybe because of your own insecurities and all the past million first dates when the guy had liked you but you had not liked him or the other way around.
- Are you busy now? he asked with a shy smile on his face.
- No… you answered although it sounded more like a question.
- Great! I say that we’ll go to the market hall and buy some ingredients.
- For what? you asked. You were sincerely both surprised and cheerful about the turn of the events which meant that your plans for the evening had changed completely. You had planned to study for the exam that was taking place the next morning, but suddenly it felt unimportant.
- I will bake a pie for you. he said, took your hand and led you out from the bookshop and into the market hall that was filled with fresh fruits and vegetables. His hand held yours tightly and did not let go as you followed him through the crowds.