Dating : I Finally Got My Online Crush’s Phone Number

“Hey!”, he replied. “I have a crush on you”, I said straight to his face. I wasn’t going to amble about nonsense talks and mundane greetings with a stranger over the internet. He would either take it in a healthy spirit and reply or ignore it.

When my phone lit up with a notification a few seconds later, my heart skipped a beat. “Thanks! I don’t know what to say.”, he had replied.

His Instagram account is open for public viewing. He’d often post cute pictures of his baby nieces. I decided to take it from there. “Your little nieces are cute”, I told him. Thereafter, we talked a little bit about the city we lived in. I was back home because of the pandemic. But he was still there. I went on to appreciate the work he was doing and how he seemed to be a loving and caring brother to his sisters.

That pushed his buttons.

“Hold on! I am not comfortable talking to you.”, he typed. “Who are you?”

The question was coming. I wasn’t surprised. I had no profile picture or posts. My Instagram account was a throwaway. I’d never been comfortable with having a social media profile in my name.

“Sheena?”, he questioned. “Heck no! I am not your ex!”, I retorted. Yes, I knew his ex’s name. That’s how keenly I’d stalked him.

“Ajay you ass!”, he typed again, mistaking me for a friend playing a prank. I rolled my eyes. How skeptic was this guy?

“Listen! I am not any of those people. I told you. I have been following you for quite some time now. I messaged you because I have a crush on you and was genuinely interested in striking up a conversation. If you’re uncomfortable, let’s not continue this okay?”

“Okay do this and send me a picture,” he sent me a picture of his hands locked in a random gesture. Now I was offended. “Sorry! I don’t use the app so I can’t click a photo”, I gave a lame excuse.

“Ummm….I think I am not comfortable”. “Thank you for messaging me”. He went offline.

This didn’t turn out the way I had expected it too. It was worth a shot though, I sighed.