Daddy's Little Girl

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Jennifer’s first thought when she woke up the next morning was to regret signing up for any site, but especially the b**m site. She instantly dismissed the idea of taking it down because she had made a promise to Gary to try, and she had never broken a promise. She refused to admit to herself that she still hoped she would find who and what she needed on one of the sites.

Choosing to ignore the sites for the morning, she got up and started her plans for the day. Given it was Saturday, she had no intentions of working in her office, instead it was her day to catch up on chores around the horse and errands. As she began this process, her laptop sat on the breakfast bar, taunting her with its very presence. She knew that it would only take a moment to check, but that if she did that she could be stuck for hours and in a bad mood for the rest of the day.

Moving from room to room, she completed the vacuuming, mopping, started the laundry, and tidied the surfaces before dusting. After each task she would glance at the computer, trying to decide what she should do. Wanting to delay the inevitable further, she grabbed her purse and headed out to complete her grocery shopping.

As she left, the jarring tones of Gary’s ringtone started echoing from the bottom of her purse, causing her to stop to fish it out.

“Hi, what's up?” Once she answered, she started making her way back to her car to run her errands so that she could come home and relax.

“I just wanted to remind you of your promise to try to get out more and find a man. To that end, come out with me tonight. I will take you to a club.”

Jennifer rolled her eyes, aware that Gary could not see her over the phone. “I remember my promise, and have plans for this evening already.”

“OMG! Where are you going? Who is he? I should really come with you since you have proven to have such crap taste in men in the past.” His excited babble was so rapid that Jennifer was unable to get a word in edgewise.

Laughing, she slid into her car, waiting for the bluetooth to switch to her car. “Calm down, there is no one yet. Last night I made profiles on a few dating apps and my plans for tonight are to check my messages and maybe start some conversations. I still do not think I will meet anyone, but I made you a promise and I will make every effort to live up to it.”

Her words came out stronger than she intended, but having grown up with parents that thought nothing of breaking any and all promises, she herself would never break one if there was any choice.

There was silence at the other end of the line as Gary absorbed her words, realizing what she had already done. “Well, okay then. I still stand by my original opinion that you have crap taste in men and cannot be trusted. How about I come over this afternoon? I will bring lunch again, and we can look at the profiles together. If you find someone you want to meet, you can set it up and me and Kyle will just happen to be meeting for drinks at the same bar this evening. What do you think?” The comment was phrased like a question but the tone of hisvoice made it clear that Gary had made up his mind.

Jennifer weighed the idea but also knew that if she was going to bring him into the process, he would need to know things about her that no one else did. Glancing at the time on her car's clock, she noticed that it was early enough that she could be home by noon to meet Gary. Taking a deep breath, she thought about her words carefully. While having Gary join her for the first day of reading messages was comforting, she knew the complications it would create as well.

“If I agree to that idea, and that is if, we will need to talk first, and I need you to listen to everything that I am saying before responding.” There was an unfamiliar edge to the words that she spoke that shook Gary for a moment.

“Anything for you love. I just want to support you and help you through this process.” His tone had softened and his words were tentative.

“In that case, my place, I will provide lunch as you did yesterday, see you at noon." Before hanging up she took a deep breath and continued. "Gary, I don't think I say this enough but I love you and I do not want to think of what my life would be without you in it.”

Her words were met with a chuckle. “I know you do, sweetie. Grab me something spicy, and we will work together to get you laid.” The laughing comment ended the call with Jennifer wondering if she had just made the best or worst decision of her life.

After completing her errands, Jennifer swung by a sandwich shop and grabbed their lunches before heading home. She was shocked to arrive and see Gary’s car in her driveway already. It was clear that he was excited about helping her find a partner.

As she climbed from her car she watched the front door open and Gary pop out, coming right for her to help unload. His easy smile and relaxing manner instantly convinced Jennifer that agreeing to have him here this afternoon would take some of the stress of the situation away.

“Welcome home! Let’s get this party started!” His words triggered a sudden laugh, as he had intended them to, and together they proceeded to unload her car and put her groceries away. As they worked, Jennifer thought about what she was going to say to Gary, and even if she was going to skip the final site. Part of her wanted to keep that side of herself a secret, as she always had, but another, stronger part, knew she had to be true to herself and if she could not admit it to her best friend in the world she would never admit it to a stranger.

Sitting down on the couch, she grabbed her sandwich and looked at Gary’s excited face. He had already brought over her laptop and looked ready to open it up and get started.

“Before we begin, I need to tell you something. I need you to just listen and not react until I am done, please.” Her voice conveyed her concerns and caused Gary to adopt a serious expression.

“Do you even have to ask? There is nothing you say that will change who and what you are to me. Unless you are an axe murderer, that might change how you are to me, but only if you ask me to help hide the bodies because you know I don't like blood.” His words were nothing more than the truth, When he had come out, his family had disowned him and only Jennifer had stood by his side. As far as either of them were concerned, it was them against the world and had been for quite a while.

In an effort to delay the inevitable, Jennifer moved slowly, unloading her groceries while Gary set up the laptop and brought their sandwiches to the couch. While Jennifer appreciated the thought, she was so nervous that she did not think that she would be able to eat. Deciding to ease them both in, she leaned forward and opened the first of the three sites.

This site was mild and targeted working professionals. Instantly, Gary’s opinion of the option was written on his face. He leaned over her shoulder to read the contents of the profile, tilting his head left and right as he progressed.

“Not sure what you think I will learn about you from this profile, other than that this makes you seem even more introverted and homebody than you are, if that's possible.” He ignored her groan as he took control of the computer to open the message tab, where there were five waiting.

As soon as the first message bubble opened with the words “Hey baby, wanna party?” They both laughed and Jennifer reached over to hit decline. Out of the initial five, there was only one that Jennifer was mildly interested in. Hhis name was Zach and he owned a local restaurant.

“You don't want him. His hours will be crazy and it will be too easy for both of you to forget you are in a relationship.” Decisively, Gary closed the chat bubble, taking away Jennifer's option to respond.

“Hey! I thought you wanted me to meet someone. I can’t do that if you close my potential options before I have the chance to speak to them.” Jennifer was slightly upset and a little confused.

Shaking his head, Gary sat back crossing his arms. “I want you to find someone to have a relationship with. I don't want you to find another workaholic that will just give you more excuses to hide at home. This is why I came over, it’s my job to protect you from yourself.”

His words both warmed and confused Jennifer as she shrugged and pulled up the next site. This one was one of the big name sites that advertise on late night TV. Gary groaned when he saw the site but still smiled as he read her profile. “Okay, this is so much more for you. Look, you already have so many messages.” He pointed at the screen with a sly smile on his face.

Seeing he was right, Jennifer braced herself and opened the first message. Between the two of them, they were able to weed through the potential candidates to narrow it down to two that she was interested in meeting. One was a local engineer and the other an artist. Gary told her that there was no way she would be able to tolerate the artist, but she found his picture attractive and was interested in learning more. Sticking her tongue out at her friend, she sent both men messages.

It was now time for the part she was dreading. For a moment she thought of skipping this site until Gary was gone, but part of her needed her best friend to see it and understand this side of herself. Plus, once he knew, she would finally be able to talk about the feelings with someone else, instead of just keeping them bottled up. Turning to him, she grabbed his hand.

“Ok, here comes the judgment free time please. I am trusting you to be the confidant that you always have been.” With those words she clicked her mouse up to the favorites button and loaded the b**m site for him to see.