Pandemic Tales: The First Date
By Cam C.
I thought I would be fine during the pandemic. Distancing myself from people and crowded places. I’ve been doing this my whole life. But one thing is to decide to be a recluse and another is to live in a state of emergency where your life and others depends on how you adapt to solitude. I live alone with my cat and in all honesty he´s a great housemate but never talks back when I’m rambling to him.
Most of my interactions with people have been through the phone, my family lives far away from me and transportation is difficult even without the pandemic. So my days usually end with me sitting in front of my televisión looking to distract my loneliness with a new Netflix show. Naturally I got tired of it so I tried to find relief by going to the park.
It was summer and I was going daily to the park, often to read or to look at people while a podcast plays in my earbuds. That was my summer activity just sitting alone on a park bench watching squirrels fight for trash. And then one day a girl introduces herself to me. Turns out it was out of necessity for I had left my wallet behind and she was just trying to get my attention to give it back. But, as I later found out, it was also an excuse so she could speak to me. The following days we would see each other in the park frequently and just make some small talk, I’m very shy so it took me a while to open up but I realized it was my turn to be brave and make a move, so I asked for her phone number so we could talk more. I'm very glad I did because ending summer I wouldn't be back to the park for a long time. The recent spike in cases alarmed everybody and now it was back to where we began, in strict quarantine. But I now had a companion to go through it.
After that we talked on the phone almost daily and the last time I saw her was in November. I felt a very familiar sense of nausea, the one that only shows up when my mind can stop raising with scenarios and things I want to do or say but can’t. This would be the first time we saw each other since the park.
There really wasn’t a plan to the day since all date related activities consisted of interacting with more people in a close space, but that was not to worry she already had a plan. I made sure to look as pretty as she tells me I am and when the day came she picked me up in her dad’s old car.
It’s really special when you find someone that can speak as much as you can, or even more. We didn't shut up the whole day we were together. Rambling about childhood fears, sexual awakenings and embarrassing first kisses. At the end of the night we didn’t kiss, you can call it safe Covid protocol but it was just dumb nervousness. We talk almost everyday, watch movies together while talking on the phone and try to replicate the closeness of that day in her car.
Cam C. is a freelancer writer that explores the expression of femininity and tries to tear down the toxicity behind it. Find her on Linkedln.