Love Bombed

2

Mandy turned on the faucet in her shower. She undressed and looked at herself in the mirror. She thought about her last relationship with Dane and how he had called her fat. That had been the straw that broke the camel’s back. Until that moment, she had let a lot of his snide remarks slide. He had often commented on her food choices and the way she loved ice cream. She would always just tell him to find a skinny chick if that’s what he wanted. Mandy stared at her full hips and breasts. She then turned to the side to view her ample behind. She was not a size 2 but since when did a size 10 mean fat?! That day when she told Dane to kiss her you-know-what, she had felt empowered and felt a huge weight fall off her shoulders. “You’ll regret this,” Dane had said angrily. “I doubt that Dane. Have a nice life.” Mandy had been eerily calm as she left his apartment. At that moment, she realized how much of a waste of time the relationship had been. 3 years and she didn’t even have anything to pack from his place.

That had been almost 2 years ago and she had been single and not loving it ever since. At Reagan’s prodding, she had joined Tinder. “Girl! Do it! I need nieces and nephews! A lady at James’ job joined and she is getting married in June.” “I would rather walk on hot coals than join a dating site,” Mandy had retorted. “Plus, are you trying to get me killed?? I don’t want to end up on Dateline.” “Girl, I promise to cry real tears and give the interview of my life!” Reagan teased. “b***h!” Mandy laughed, “Now I see how you really feel!” Obviously Reagan had won their argument. She had sat with Mandy while she created the profile and basically vetoed every picture that Mandy tried to upload. “Too matronly…too sad…too boring,” Reagan had chastised. “Unless you’re trying to get a preacher…” Reagan took a new photo of her to use on the site. Even Mandy had to admit it was a really good picture. “You forget that my major at Jersey Community College was photography. I’m good at my job, girl! Well if I had a job,” she had laughed.

Mandy stepped into the shower and let out a loud groan as the warm water rushed down her skin. She had purchased some new products from Lush and was enjoying the scent of coconuts. “This is heaven,” she moaned again. She angled her showerhead just right and begin to purr. Her breathing quickened as she leaned against the shower wall. She slid her fingers against her c**t and began to shake. She quickly brought herself to a release and turned the water off. She climbed out of the tub and grabbed her bathrobe. The pink plush robe had been a gift from her grandmother this past Christmas. “I should call her,” thought Mandy. However, she knew the elderly lady would fuss at her for not coming home in over 3 months. She would definitely call her later this evening before she went to sleep. . Mandy loved to hear her grandmother’s voice right before bed but her grandmother went to bed with the chickens and woke up with the rooster. Literally. Her grandmother and her parents lived on the family farm. They raised cows and even had a dairy that sold fresh milk and ice cream to the locals. Mandy had been pushing for them to sell for years but they wouldn’t hear of it. “This farm is your inheritance,” Mandy’s father had told her. “But I don’t want to run a farm,” she had whined. “I felt like that at first too,” her dad said. “But sometimes when you get older, you find that things sometimes change. I lived in the city after college but the hustle and bustle grew old.”

Mandy’s phone buzzed. It was text from her dad, David. Good morning city mouse. Are you sleeping in today? You’re wasting daylight. LOLOL! Mandy laughed. City mouse was her dad’s nickname for her and he always teased her about her 7am wake up. “Girl, I’ve been up for hours! You need to catch up,” he would always laughingly say. Mandy replied to the text. Hey Daddy. How you doing? How’s Mama? She sat the phone down and sifted through the laundry basket find something to wear. She settled on a pink sweater and some black leggings. It was almost 8am and she would need to login for the morning Zoom call. She headed to the spare bedroom that she had converted into an office.