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Chapter 2- Ann

'Hey...'

I grab my phone and almost squeal with excitement- he finally texted!

'You good?' Kylie laughs, already expecting what the notification is.

'He finally texted!'

'Wait, actually? I thought he ghosted you after you sent him 5 emojis in your first text...'

'Oh my god, are you ever gonna shut up about that? I didn't know how people talk on this app!' I shove her, and she jokingly pretends to be hurt.

'Okay. What you say next is VERY important.'

'Yeah...' I respond, once again getting lost in the eyes in his profile pic.

'So that means PAY ATTENTION!' I look up to see her piercing blue eyes locked with mine. 'No more staring at Mr. Wine taster.' I sigh and place my phone face down on the table.

'Okay so you basically don't want to repeat what happened last time-'

'OKAY WELL THAT WAS JUST ME BEING ME.' I groan.

'Why can't I just send him a waving emoji?'

'Oh my god.' she sighed.

We sat there for almost an hour, ordering countless chai lattes and iced macchiatos, only to settle on 'Hey', which is apparently the standard for dating apps now.

'Oh crap- this is work.' she turns away, in a futile attempt to stop me from listening in.

'I TOLD YOU I can't work weekends. There is a long pause, in which I happily help myself to her coffee.

'Yeah, well I just think It's unreasonable to ask your MOST LOYAL employee to work just because of Desiree.' She turns around and mouths 'help' and I just sit there confused, never having heard of Desiree.

'Yeah, well she wasn't even that close to her aunt...' She shrugs and swats my hand away from her macchiato.

'Yeah, well I'm busy too...' She gestures to me frantically, and then relief floods her features. 'Yeah, thank you! See you on Monday!' she quickly hangs up and is about to explain when I inevitably chime in. 'Who's Desiree?'

'I have no idea. Probably works in sales?'

Before I have time to respond, my phone goes off, and I almost choke on my coffee when I see its Marcus.

'Remember, don't read it right away.' Kylie warns.

'Screw it.' I grab my phone to read the text.

'I know this good Italian place – wanna go tonight?'

'Yeah-' I start typing before Kylie grabs the phone.

'Lemme type.' She shows me the text - 'Yeah- what should I wear'

He leaves me on read for a minute, and then responds with:

'Something hot'

Kylie told me not to ask where or when until the last minute- a rule I find stupid- so I leave him on read and try not to panic while downing the rest of my coffee.

'I gotta go – I should apologize to Desiree.' she sighs.

'Aw too bad.' I complain as she gathers her things and swigs the last of her coffee, stumbling towards the exit.

'Text me a photo of your outfit!' she hollers as she clutches her purse and runs out the door.

It's only after she's left that I realize everyone was staring at us, and I turn bright red and am about to go on my phone when someone on the table next to me turns around and says, 'Who's Desiree?'

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I sit on my bed, unable to decide what the hell I'm supposed to wear. I bought all my clothes in London last winter, just before I came here, so the closest to 'something hot' I own is a dark green strappy dress which I haven't worn in forever. I text a photo to Kylie, along with 20 question marks, to which she responds with a star- eyed emoji and 'WEAR GOLD' I laugh and sit at my desk, to start the most time-consuming part of getting ready.

I sit there for what feels like forever, but when I look at the time, I realize it has only been 45 minutes. For a moment I'm relieved, but then I remember I still don't know where or what time my date is, so I grab my phone and quickly ask him, not bothering to make it meet dating app standards.

It only takes him a few minutes for him to text me a pin of the location, along with a message reading 'Be there at eight' I take one final selfie before running out the door, and frantically calling for a taxi.