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“Right, well, must get back, got to get the dinner on,” Maya said awkwardly, thinking up excuses to carry on walking and get away from Sam.
“Yes, we’re just taking a stroll before we head to my sister’s.” Sam shoved a hand in his pocket, the other arm wrapped protectively around his daughter. “Lovely to see you.”
Was it? Really?
Maya didn’t think it could have gone any worse. Sam may have been nice to her when collecting Chloe, but she would continue to keep her guard up. For all she knew, it could be a front just for the kids’ benefit.
“Yes, yes, bye,” Maya said, plastering on a fake smile and starting to walk in the opposite direction.
“See you at school tomorrow,” Amber called to Chloe. There were awkward waves — from Sam and Maya — and then the party separated, much to Maya’s relief.
Back home, when her children were distracted by the television, Maya braved opening the app on her phone again. It wasn’t as if it would explode in her hand, but she dreaded what she might see. She breathed a sigh of relief when she realised she didn’t need to block FYI1234. Find My HEA had already done it for her.
“What a moron,” she said to herself as she peeled potatoes, preparing a roast dinner. “He wouldn’t go into a nightclub and drop his trousers, so why does he feel it’s okay to do it on the internet?”
Once the parsnips were in the oven roasting with the potatoes, Maya decided to message PeterPan26 and tell him what had happened. It wasn’t until after dinner, when the kids were upstairs getting ready for bed, that she could read his reply:
Hey, Lois, it takes all sorts. But what a cretin. Another idiot! I’m sorry you had to be subjected to that level of perverse stupidity. How was your day apart from that?
The dick pic profile had made Maya think, From now on, no messaging anyone without a decent photo. However, PeterPan26 fell into this category. He might well be just as weird as FYI1234, only he hadn’t revealed it yet. His messages did come across as sincere, though. Maya messaged back:
My day was relaxed, apart from the idiot. However, it does make me question whether I should continue to chat to you, as your profile picture doesn’t give a lot away and I’m starting to distrust men on this site if they don’t reveal what they look like. And any that usually message me without a profile picture I’ve ignored. You’ve been exempt from this rule.
Maya didn’t know this guy, and it was best to be honest and up front. If she hurt his feelings, well, too bad — he needed to understand this from her point of view. Besides, someone who didn’t appreciate her honesty would not be the right man for her anyway. And the whole point of chatting to guys on an online dating site was to hopefully find someone to date, and maybe even, if she was lucky, fall in love again.
I understand. I assure you I’m not weird. I like our chats.
“Mum, can I have…? Oh, you’re on your phone.” Amber, dressed for bed in her pink onesie, walked into the kitchen. “Do you have a new boyfriend?”
Maya blushed. “No,” she said, sounding more defensive than she intended as she started grabbing cheese out of the fridge to make the sandwiches for the kids’ lunchboxes.
“You just seem to be on your phone a lot lately. More than normal.”
“No, I am not.” Mustremembertoputthephoneonsilentsotheydon’tkeephearingitping. She was on her phone way more than usual.
“It’s okay, Mum, if you do,” Amber said. “I mean, Dad’s got a girlfriend, hasn’t he?”
“No, I don’t have a boyfriend, and even if I did, I wouldn’t let you meet him until I was absolutely certain it was going to work out,” Maya said.
“Meet who?” Lewis entered the kitchen mid-conversation, as usual.
“Nobody. Okay?” Maya said, clattering the cutlery drawer as she closed it harder than intended. “Right, would you two like a hot chocolate while you read before bed?”
“Yes!” Both jumped excitedly.
She didn’t care that they’d already had a hot chocolate earlier. It wouldn’t do any harm, and Maya was desperate to change the subject. Did she really want to be talking boyfriends with her eleven-year-old daughter and nearly nine-year-old son? “And the magic word?”
“Please!” they said again in unison.
“Go sit in the lounge and start reading, while I make it.”
She watched her children leave the kitchen, checked her phone, then decided to lock the screen and concentrate on making their drinks.
Online dating was so time-consuming. It was easy to get sucked into checking the app, perusing pictures of men, and reading their profiles — well, the ones which had bothered to write a profile. And then, when you got into messaging someone…
She had to be more careful. Amber was clearly noticing she was on her phone more than usual. Even her clients didn’t message so much. Maya was hoping to keep this side of her life a secret from her kids for now. She would only introduce them to a guy if she found something serious.
