“I waited there for two hours, but he never showed up”

The dating app Tinder is such a strange place. I figured that out within a couple of weeks after I started using it. You never know, what’s waiting for you up there.

It took a week to be back into myself after I was being ghosted by Brendon; the very first person with whom I went on a dinner date in the United States of America. And obviously, he was one of my Tinder matches, who showed interest in me at first and continued till the day we met. Maybe I look more attractive in my pictures rather than in person. Maybe Brendon wanted to have that attractive me from the picture, rather than the less attractive in person BROWN- me. And he ended up ghosting me. The one week, I and Brendon were connected; more accurately, the one week we kept communicating through text or video calls, it became a part of my everyday life. Starting from the Good Morning text to the Good Night video call. But the moment we stopped communicating, I started feeling an emptiness. I believe, everyone has experienced that empty feeling once in a life. Therefore, I was back again on Tinder, kept swiping guys around me, in a hope that probably would find someone who will be able to fill that emptiness inside me. I kept swiping but no one matched for three days.

One night when I was about to hit my bed to sleep, got a Tinder notification, it said someone liked my profile. Since I didn’t have a Tinder subscription, I couldn’t see who that person was. I was so desperate to see that person, I was even planning to purchase the Tinder subscription. Since I was new here in the US and didn’t receive my first credit card by that time, I couldn’t make it.

I couldn’t even sleep that night. I was so eager to know the person who liked me. The next morning, I woke up early. I reached out to every one of my cousins in my country who had an international credit card. I found one of my cousins who allowed me to use her credit card. I purchased the Tinder subscription. When I hit the “See Who Likes You” button a 29-year-old white American guy Eric showed up. So far, he had not much info on his profile except “An elementary school teacher from New York”. But I can assure you, he was really handsome and very cute. I took the first move saying “Hey, what’s up man. I see you liked my profile.” I waited the entire day to receive his response. By 8.30 at night, I got the response from Eric, “Hello, nothing much. Was super busy. Such a hectic day it was. How was your day? Yes, you are too cute to pass. Only blinds might not like you”, and that’s how the conversation started.

We took two days to exchange our numbers and transfer our chat from the Tinder app to text. Again, we kept texting the whole day. On our fifth day of texting, we both decided to appear on a video call at night. I can’t explain how much excited I was the whole day. I was counting to be dark. By 8.47 at night, we had our first video conversation. It lasted more than one and a half hours. I explained everything about me and he did the same. Before hanging up the call Eric said, “You are not only cute and adorable, but you are also a wonderful person. I am truly honored that you allowed me to come closer. I have been seeing some other guys too, but you perfectly fit in. Because I am not looking for someone to hook up with. I desire the same thing you do. I want a meaningful connection. I need a serious relationship”. His last words gave me new hope. We kept having the conversation more than five times a d After two and half weeks of our conversation, we decided to meet on a weekend at New York central park.

It was all good. The Saturday we were supposed to meet, we had our last video conversation in the very early morning of that same day. By 3.30 PM, I started from my home to the famous central part of the city. I texted Eric, “Starting now. Will be there by 4.00. See you soon”. It was the first time I didn’t receive any instant message from him. It took only twenty minutes to reach the Columbus Square of Central Park. Since we both loved coffee, I grabbed two expresso coffees from the nearest Starbucks.

It was 4.30, I was standing at the Columbus Square holding two coffees in my hand. I was thinking, “how long it does take from Brooklyn to Central Park? Maybe there is too much traffic on the street, maybe he is driving, I shouldn’t call him now”. I texted Eric when it was 5’O clock. Didn’t get any reply. Called him after fifteen minutes, but he didn’t receive my call. When it was 5.30, I started calling him in a row. He picked none of them. Kept texting him. I waited there for two hours but he never showed up. By 6.00 received a text from Eric, “Busy, can’t receive the call. Will meet later. TTY at night.”

I felt so humiliated that time, I can’t even explain. I was still holding those two coffees. I didn’t text or call Eric that night. He didn’t even bother to do the same. He was online the whole night. The next day I texted him, “Is everything alright? Was everything okay yesterday? Were you in trouble? Didn’t hear anything from you. How’re you doing?”

Eric didn’t reply to my text. But the same night, saw some pictures of him with a guy on Facebook stating, “Had a wonderful day. I am glad that I met a wonderful person like you. XOXO”.