The motion of Zoe’s right thumb swiping left on her phone had become mechanical. So many weirdos, creeps and losers on tinder. Then, she saw him. His cool blue eyes pierced hers from behind the phone’s glass.
She swiped right.
They quickly moved from tinder to texting. Every incoming text, she hoped it was him. But she had to be wary, after all they hadn’t even met in person yet and she was getting her hopes up too damn fast. She knew when she did that, things never ended well.
And who really was this guy? Well, from the pictures, handsome, for one.
Tall.
A fireman.
Hot.
Finally, after a few days, the text she had been waiting for:
“Drinks. Thursday?”
She put the phone down. Didn’t even reply for a whole thirty minutes. Then with shaky hands, she picked it back up and typed yes.
They made arrangements for that Thursday evening at a local watering hole downtown.
Zoe sat in the driver's seat of her ‘98 Honda Civic. Discarded fast food wrappers littered the floor and passenger side seat. She looked in the visor mirror and reapplied red lipstick. She popped the cap back on the lipstick and took a deep breath.
She walked into the bar. She saw him instantly. He sat at the lounge. Their eyes met. He smiled and waved her over.
That smile melted her inside-out. She glided over to him.
He got up, towering over her. He bent down and hugged her. She clasped her hands on his strong back. She breathed in his cologne. They lingered in the embrace longer than they should.
She sat down woozy, feeling drunk already.
“It’s so nice to finally meet in person,” his deep voice carried over the buzz of the bar.
She nodded and gave him a sideways glance. She tried to look cool but knew she had a silly grin splashed all over her face.
He told a joke to break the ice. It wasn’t really funny and she didn’t get it but she laughed hard anyway. A bit too hard. She felt snot ooze out of her nose. She quickly grabbed a napkin off the bar. Mortified, she hoped he hadn’t seen.
Zoe peered into his eyes. It didn’t seem he had noticed or at least acted like he hadn’t.
One martini down. She laughed at every one of his bad jokes.
Two martinis. She had her hand on his forearm.
Three martinis. She wanted to get the hell out of there. With him.
“You doing alright?” He gulped the rest of his pint of dark beer.
“Oh, me? I’m doing just fine and dandy.”
“Should we get out of here?” he asked, piercing her eyes with his baby blues.
Zoe nodded vigorously and downed the rest of her vodka martini.
Back at his place, Zoe sat on the couch and played nervously with the fabric of her tight black dress.
“I got white wine or beer,” Brad yelled from the kitchen.
“Wine, please.” Zoe craned her head back at him. She watched him uncork the wine and pour her a glass almost to the brim.
He handed her the wine and plopped down on the couch with a bottle of beer.
She took a few sips and put the glass down on the coffee table. She noticed an errant sock in the corner of the room but her gaze fell on the handcuffs on the bottom shelf of the oak coffee table.
“I didn’t know firefighters used handcuffs.” She crossed her legs and leaned slightly towards him.
“Well, we usually don’t. Unless someone plays their cards right.” Brad sat his beer down. He moved close to her and put his arm on her thigh.
Their eyes met.
He leaned in.
Zoe closed her eyes.
They kissed.
She felt his strong hands carcasses her waist. She tasted the slight bitterness of beer on his tongue.
She leaned back and rested a hand on his chest.
“I’ve never done this before.”
Brad raised an eyebrow.
“I mean, a tinder date. And now this. It's so quick. I mean it’s good. It’s great. I really like you. It’s just been a while. My last relationship didn’t end in the best way and...” Zoe stopped herself. She felt her face go flush.
Brad gave her a reassuring smile and put his hand gently on her knee. “It’s okay. I know. I’ve been there.”
“You won’t hurt me, right?”
“No, never. Well, unless you ask me nicely.” She followed his gaze as he slowly looked at the handcuffs and then back at her.
Zoe felt her body go weak. She took the glass of wine and gulped some down.
“Maybe we can go slow. For a bit,” she said.
Brad nodded once and leaned back in. He kissed her neck. Zoe closed her eyes, tilted her head back in pleasure, and grabbed a handful of his thick hair.
She felt steel wrap around her wrist with a click.
She opened her eyes.
Brad had grabbed the handcuffs and snapped them on one of her wrists.
The look on his face was irresistible. A small part of her protested but the alcohol quickly melted that away. She relented and held out her other hand. He gently clamped the handcuff on.
In a flash, he turned her body over. She gasped. Her face was now buried in the couch. She heard him get up and tilted her head to the side to see. She couldn’t see him but felt his hands tie rope around her ankles.
“B-Brad, I don’t know if...”
“Shh. It’s okay. It’ll be over soon.”
Panic flooded her senses. Here she was, in a strangers apartment all tied up. She fought the urge to scream. She steadied her breathing.
Maybe this was just part of his game. Part of the fun.
“I’m really not used to this,” she whispered.
He caressed her hair and leaned in close to her ear. She felt his breath on her neck.
“I promised I won’t hurt you.”
Brad pointed to the TV. “Watch.”
He turned it on.
What Zoe saw horrified her.
Cartoons.
“Is this some sort of sick joke?”
Brad laughed. “No joke. This is the only way I can get girls to watch anime with me.” She felt his hand rest on the small of her back.
In that instant, Zoe realized tinder really did suck.
She huffed.
“Uncuff me. Now.”
“Sure, sure. Soon.” Brad chuckled. “Just try to relax and enjoy the show.”
This is my entry to 
To be honest I thought I would skip this prompt. It didn't seem up my alley but I gave it some thought as I didn't want to just do the first weeks prompt and that be it. The character came to me pretty quickly and then the story started to unfold.
I hope you enjoyed the ending. I played with a couple of different endings (some pretty dark) but with the theme in mind, I went with something more lighthearted.
Thank you for reading!
Pexels Image Source edited by me.