My Summer Vibe

"Come on, Georgia! I'm bored! Play with me!" The girl's voice echoed into the house and Georgia couldn't help but huff softly. She had just walked into Petra's house, the 12-year-old's she was supposed to look after during the whole summer. As soon as Georgia walked in, Petra's mother waved them both goodbye and rushed past them without giving a second glance to either of them. Georgia closed the door behind her and braced herself for one more day of relentless playing. Why did she ever agree to babysit in the first place? Because she liked children, or so she thought before she actually had to be responsible for one during the whole summer. And because she desperately needed the money, of course. She had been out of job for so long and she was sick and tired of her parents supporting her. So the moment she heard of a family searching for a babysitter for their daughter, she didn't give it a second thought, even though she had no experience whatsoever. The parents aparrently were desperate because they had no one to take care their little girl, so they hired Georgia the same day. And one month later, Georgia was so exhausted that she had come to regret that decision of hers. She never knew how tiring it would be, takin care of a kid. Georgia took a seat on the couch and patted the seat next to her, motioning to Petra to sit beside her. "Alright Petra, what do you wanna do today? Maybe go to the mall? Or maybe the playground?" Petra shook her head negatively and exhaled an annoyed sigh. She was just as bored as Georgia was and Georgia couldn't blame her. After all, she wasn't a professional; she didn't know how to keep a kid occupied for long. So within that one month, they had pretty much done everything Georgia's mind could think of. They had gone to the mall endless times, stayed home and watched TV, read books and played board games. There wasn't anything new Georgia could think of doing to amuse the little girl. "No, I'm not in the mood to go outside. Let's just stay here and watch TV." Georgia sighed in relief on the inside. It was so hot outside that she thought she'd melt if she stepped outside. Summer in Italy wasn't a piece of cake; currently it was 38°C outside. Even meteorologists warned people to not exit their homes unless it's absolutely necessary due to the heat wave. "Well, are you hungry? Do you want me to make you a snack?" Georgia asked, even though she already knew the answer. Petra loved food, and that was something she and Georgia had in common. Despite their 10-year age gap, Georgia had tried hard to find similar interests between her and the girl. She could see that Petra wasn't happy. Her parents were gone all day long and she had to spend her summer with practically a stranger. How could you blame her? Petra's eyes lit up and she nodded with a newfound enthusiasm that made Georgia laugh. She got up and walked to the kitchen in order to prepair both of them a snack; a sandwich and a glass of juice. Petra followed her closely and sat down beside her, watching her every move. "Hey, I forgot to tell you! Look what my parents bought me!" She said excitedly and Georgia turned to look at what Petra was holding. A smartphone. Her parents had bought their 12-year-old, who should be out having fun with her friends and enjoying the summer with her family, a smartphone. Not only they were absent for the better part of the day, but even the little time they had to spend with their daughter, they preferred to not utilize it at all. But now she couldn't think about that. Petra was waiting for her reaction, and Georgia wasn't one to disappoint. She raised her eyebrows in surprise and let out an exclamation of awe. "Wow, that's a super phone! It's so nice, I hope you enjoy it, Petra!" The girl giggled happily, having taken the reaction she wished for. "Thank you. C'mon, I want to show you what apps I have downloaded!" Georgia laughed at the girl's excitement and nodded in agreement. She let Petra skip towards the living room as she took the tray with the snacks and drinks in her hands and followed behind her. She set the tray on the coffee table and sat beside a very enthusiastic Petra and looked over at her interested. "Go on then, show me, what do you have installed so far?" Georgia folded her arms over her chest and got comfortable on the couch, looking over at the girl's phone. Petra turned on her phone and scrolled the screen so that the menu appeared. Georgia recognized every app that was there. YouTube, t****k, Vine, and i********:. "You should be careful with i********:. Never speak to strangers and only follow people you know." Georgia said and Petra nodded her head twice. "Don't worry, I'm only speaking to my friends from school. And I've also made my profile private. Those who don't follow me can't see it."  Georgia shook her head astonished. The new generation new so much about technology already. And how couldn't they? They were born into it. It made perfect sense. Kids these days first learned how to handle a phone and then how to walk.  "I still have so much room into my phone though. I don't know what else to download." Petra huffed and locked her phone. "Do you have any games on your phone? Maybe I could find something interesting there." Georgia rolled her shoulders into a shrug, sliding her phone out of her pocket. "I don't have much on here, but there's a couple games I play." She unlocked her phone and turned it slightly so Petra could watch the screen as well. "One of the games I really like is Angry Birds. Basically you throw birds onto pigs. It's really fun, you should give it a try." Georgia swiped the screen in search of another game when Petra's eye fell on a blue icon. "I think that's f*******:, right? My mom has a profile." Petra said. "Yeah, but it's not for your age yet. As far as social media is concerned, you should stick to i********: for now. It's much safer." Georgia said and pointed to another icon on her phone. "This one is called Tuber Simulator. You pretend to be a YouTuber and customize your own room, appearance, you gain views and subscribers and other stuff. It's a cool game." Georgia turned to look at Petra, but the girl's attention was shifted elsewhere. She could see that she was fixated on a pinkish icon on the top of the screen. "What app is this? I haven't seen it before." Petra said in a curious tone. Georgia looked at the app's icon. She barely recognized that app. She had downloaded it last week but had yet to use it. "That's a dating app. You use it to find boys from all over the world. I haven't used it yet though so I don't know how it works." "Well why don't you open it now then? Maybe you'll meet someone special." Petra said and nudged Georgia's side. Georgia couldn't help but laugh. So that's what her love life had come to? Taking advice from a 12-year-old? The fact that she started considering it threw her off even more. What was wrong with her? She couldn't introduce a girl her age to the world of online dating. She was too young for that stuff. "That stuff isn't for your age, Petra. I can't do that with you present. Now eat up your sandwich." Georgia said and pointed to Petra's snack which was still untouched. Petra huffed and muttered something, but complied and started eating her sandwich. Georgia turned on the TV and shuffled through the channels before she found a program she knew Petra liked. Within a few minutes, Petra had lost her interest on the previous subject and was watching TV quietly as she munched on her sandwich. Georgia grabbed her snack and sat back comfortably on the couch. Her phone was beside her, the screen still lit up. She couldn't take her eyes off the app icon. For some reason, she was curious as hell to see what that app was all about. She finished her sandwich and took the phone in her hands again. She glanced over at Petra; she was sipping on her juice, completely drawn in by the program on the TV. Oh, what the hell? Might as well try and make the hour pass by a bit quicker. She tapped on the icon and the app started to run itself. She read the instructions quickly; no photos were allowed whatsoever, and everyone was assigned of a random username once they logged in.  All she had to do was input her zodiac sign and some of her interests and she would be good to go. She couldn't choose who she'd be talking to; the app would would randomly pop up users that it would think would be compatible according to her listings and they would go on from there. Georgia pressed the Capricorn sign and proceeded to the interests section. She chose reading, food and binge-watching series and pressed the OK button. And just like that, her profile was ready. Huh. Easy like that. As soon as her profile was ready, the first person popped up. They had an altogether compatibility of 87%. Not bad for a first try. Before she could even think of an introduction, the typing icon appeared and soon after, a message took its place on her screen. "What do you call fake spaghetti?" Georgia furrowed her eyebrows in question. She definitely didn't expect that kind of introduction. Although she couldn't say that she wasn't intrigued. So, without missing a beat, she typed back. "I don't know, what?" "An im-pasta." Georgia suppressed a chuckle and then shook her head at herself. How could she be such a fool to fall for that kind of corny jokes? She took a deep breath to compose herself and glanced over at Petra. She was still watching her show. Georgia turned her attention to her phone and typed an answer. "Do you really think jokes like that will get you laid?" The response came almost immediately. "What makes you think I'm here to get laid?" "Well, this is a dating app, after all. If you're not here for that, then why are you here?" "Maybe I'm just here to kill the boredom." Hm. That person had a point. After all, Georgia herself had logged in to kill the boredom. "I can't argue with that. So, let's kill the boredom. Tell me a bit about yourself." "Oh, me? I'm simply a bartender searching for a lil' coworker to share my love for the one and only Queen Cersei." Georgia's eyes lit up. She had only recently started watching Game of Thrones and she was obsessed with it. But none of her friends shared the same love for the series with her and she was desperately searching for someone to talk with for the show. "Well, you found your lil' coworker. Sort of. I'm a waitress. But Queen Cersei? I'm more of a Stark girl myself, excuse you." Georgia noticed she was waiting for the person's answer nervously. They had managed to intrigue her with just a few sentences. That required some talent, to say the least. "The Lannisters send their regards to the Queen in the North, then. So tell me, lil' coworker. Where are you now? I hope I'm not bothering you at your work." "Don't worry about it. I'm currently unemployed and babysitting a 12-year-old girl until something better occurs. What about you?" "I'm relaxing in bed, filling my batteries before I have to go to work in a couple of hours." Georgia looked at the time at her phone. It was almost 7 pm. Time had flew by so fast that she didn't even notice it. Petra's mom would be here soon, which meant she would have to leave...and lose her WiFi connection. She would lose them. And she wouldn't be able to find them again, considering the randomness of the app. "I'm getting off in a bit. What do you say we keep this up on f*******:? I'd hate to lose my lil' coworker now that I found you." Georgia took a deep breath and waited for the response. Maybe she came off a bit too desperate. After all, who could tell her that the person she was talking to felt the connection like she did? Maybe she was just paranoid. Still no response. She shook her head as she heard Petra's mom's car parking on the driveway. She locked and let her phone aside before she started packing up her things. Petra's mom walked inside and greeted them both. She chatted a bit with Georgia as to what they did all these hours she wasn't there, paid her and showed her to the door. Georgia put on her backpack and said her goodbyes with Petra's mom, before Petra rushed to her at the door. "Georgia! You almost forgot your phone!" She said as she handed Georgia her phone. Georgia took it in her hands and smiled at Petra. "Thanks kid. I'll see you tomorrow, m'kay?" She ruffled Petra's hair playfully and made her way down the stairs. Once she exited the building, she turned on her phone to check the time...and there it was. "I'd hate to lose my personal Queen in the North too. Add me." Under that, there was a link to a f*******: profile. Georgia clapped her hands excitedly and stopped on her tracks in order to not lose the faint WiFi connection she still had. With swift motions, she tapped on the link and pressed the "Add Friend" button. Once she saw that the request had been sent, she turned off her phone and stuffed it into her pocket. Now that she found a way to communicate with that person, everything else could wait. As she made her way home, she realized she didn't even know their name. Hell, she didn't even know if she'd been chatting to a boy or a girl all this time. Not that she hadn't experimented with her s****l life before. But, for some unknown reason, she had a certain image in her head about him. Yes, it was a him. She knew she had been chatting to a man all along, her gut could tell. Her impatience took the best of her and she took her phone out of her pocket to get a closer look on his f*******: profile. Teddy. His name was Teddy. And his profile picture was of a man riding a motorcycle, wearing a black helmet and staring straight into the camera. She scrolled through the rest of his photos. None of them showed enough of his face so she could form an opinion. Every single photo though had his motorcycle; a gorgeous, black Gilera Runner FXR 180, with details in white marble. Just as she imagined him to be. Mysterious and adventurous. She quickly checked the rest of his information. Living in L'Aquila, 90 km away from her. No information regarding age, but she thought he couldn't be more than 30 years old. She slid her phone back into her pocket and picked up her pace. Now she couldn't wait to get home and continue their little chat. After 30 minutes or so of walking, she unlocked the door to her place and walked in. She exchanged a few words with her mom before quickly shuffling into her room and closing the door behind her. She threw her backpack on the ground and fell onto the bed. She turned on her phone and noticed she had two notifications. He had accepted her friend request. And not only that, but he had also sent her a message. With her heart beating out of her chest because of her excitement, she tapped the icon and opened their conversation to check the message. "Hope my lil' coworker sends me a message when she's safe and sound at home." Georgia chuckled softly and typed up her response. "I, the lil' coworker, have to declare that I am indeed in the comfort zone of my bed." His response didn't take long. "Good, good. By the way, I love your name. Georgia. Very special. Is it Greek?" "Yeah, my father is from Greece but moved to Rome before I was born. Met my mother, fell in love. The rest is history. Your name doesn't seem Italian either though." "Ding ding ding! You're right. It's short for Theodore. My friends call me Teddy. And it's actually also Greek. My dad was from Greece as well. Mom originally from Canada. Moved to Italy after they got married, searching for something better. After giving birth to me and my siblings, they decided to not return to Greece. Things were actually better here." Georgia noticed the past tense that Teddy used, but decided to not say anything about it. She typed up her response. "Well, look at that. We're actually so close yet so far away. I live in Rome with my family. Mom, dad and brother. And what do you know, you two actually have the same name!" "It's a common name to Greeks, and so is yours. But when you're abroad and you realize someone actually has a Greek name, it wakes up the nostalgia, no matter how common it is." "We might have common names, but we're special individuals. At least, I am for sure." "So I can tell, lil' coworker. There's something about you that makes me want to continue talking to you all night long." Georgia took a deep breath as she read his message. So he felt the connection between them as well. It wasn't all in her head. She started typing a response, but quickly erased it. Before she had time to think of another response, he sent her a message instead. "Don't delete what you typed. Speak your thoughts freely." Georgia stared at the message and instinctively looked around. Has that guy installed cameras in her room or something? How could he possibly know about that? She started typing the message she typed before she changed her mind and sent it. "I feel the same way, Teddy. But unfortunatelly, you have to go to work and I have to go to bed." "Well, not yet. I still have some time before I go. If you'll do me the honours of keeping me company." And so she did. They talked for about 2 hours before he had to leave for work. They shared everything they could think of; childhood memories, funny stories, family background. Teddy had two sisters, Leyla and Mariah, and he was the oldest of the three; 28 years old, with Leyla coming second at 26 and Mariah last at 25. He was working as a bartender in a local bar. Mariah was a barista at a small coffee shop and Leyla was a hairdresser. His mother was away; she was a tour guide, travelling all around Italy for half of the year. Right now she was on a tour at Pompeii. Georgia talked about herself too, though. At the 22 years she had been living on earth she still hadn't decided what she wanted to do with her life. That's why she used to be a waitress to a local fast food restaurant, but the shop closed down and she lost her job. That's why she had to babysit Petra all summer long, while still searching for another job once September came. She wasn't that close to her family so she didn't talk much about them, but she was filled with clever comebacks to his teasing words that made both of them laugh with their heart. Somewhere along the way, they exchanged photos as well. She sent him a photo of herself in bed, her brown hair up in a messy bun, wearing her PJ's and a big, genuine smile. Not what she would normally sent to a guy she likes. But she felt like doing it. She felt it right. He told her her smile was gorgeous. And that so was the rest of her. He proceeded to send her a photo of himself, allowing her to see his face for the first time. The first thing she noticed was the eyes. Light brown, but with yellow highlights. The kind of eyes you know change colour when they turn to look at the sun. The next thing she noticed was his smile. So big and heartfelt, almost contagious. He didn't seem to care to look handsome; he cared to look real. And oh, how much beauty his truth was hiding. Georgia was mesmerized. "I really hate to cut this short, but I have to go to work or I'll be late. Will you be here later?" "I'm getting really sleepy, Teddy. I think I'll call it a night. Do you mind?" "Of course not. A queen needs her beauty sleep." "Don't be corny, it won't get you anywhere in life." "Well, it got me to meet you, didn't it?" Georgia laughed and shook her head. She hadn't felt this way in a long time. How could he have that effect on her? When she only knew him for less than 12 hours? "Alright, alright. I'll let you go to work. And you'll let me go to bed. Sounds fair?" "We have a deal. But on one condition." Georgia sat up on her bed, intrigued by his message. "What condition?" "I want to have your first good morning and your last goodnight. Every day. No exceptions. No matter what happens between us. I want to be privileged enough to be the first thought when you wake up and the last one before you go to bed. And I'm asking you this because I know you'll be that for me. My first and last thought throughout the day." Georgia stared at the screen for what seemed forever. What an odd request for someone to make. But for some reason...it made her feel all warm inside. And she hadn't felt like this in a long, long time. "Alright then. First good morning, last goodnight. I can do that." "Great. Then I can go to work knowing that I'll be roaming your dreams tonight." "Only because I'll go to sleep knowing that I'll be roaming your thoughts tonight." "It's a deal, lil' coworker. Goodnight and try to not dream of me naked yet. You are the best first contact I have with someone in a very long time." "Goodnight, Teddy. Take care at work. The feelings are definitely mutual. I'll be dreaming of you." And with that, Georgia turned off her phone, laid down on her bed, and slipped into a sweet, peaceful sleep, filled with dreams about her and a mysterious guy riding his motorcycle into the sunset.