Ch. 8-Moving Right Along

Author's Note: This one's pretty short, but I did find time to work on it this afternoon while it was too hot outside to do anything else, and since I didn't know when my next opportunity to write would show up, I figured I'd better strike while the iron was still hot, so to speak. I guess it's no surprise by now just who this computer site has helped our dateless characters "hook up" with, is it? Still, though, it waits to be seen just how this blind date will actually progress, and I guess y'all will just have to be patient!

The following day…"I'll get it" yelled Frankie to no one in particular, hearing the doorbell ring. She'd been especially busy, dusting and vacuuming the foyer, and was glad for a bit of a respite from her chores. If nothing else, though, staying busy helped to keep her mind off of her currently dateless situation. Little did she know, but she wasn't the ONLY one who felt that keeping busy with chores was a good way to forget, temporarily at least, HIS dateless situation. Preoccupied with her own work, she'd completely tuned out the whir of a weed-whacker out back, wielded by an especially tall Imaginary Friend.

Opening the front door, Frankie expected to see some rather odd-looking creature, looking for shelter after being abandoned by his/her family, or a human family coming by to either adopt an Imaginary Friend for their kid, or to leave one that their kid had outgrown. Instead, she was a bit surprised to find her friend Elena, standing on the upper step.

"Elena! What brings you by this neck of the woods in the middle of the day?"

"Oh, girl, I was just in the neighborhood, you know, shopping…and I thought I'd be nice and just drop in on you…see how you're doin'! Elena said breezily as she strolled into the foyer, looking around her as though she were inspecting the place. You mean you stopped in to check up and see if I'd gotten a date yet, thought Frankie, mentally berating herself for being so negative. Elena was her FRIEND, for crying out loud!

"So, let's cut right to the chase" Elena turned and spoke suddenly. "You found somebody yet?"

OK, so maybe being negative isn't such a bad idea, Frankie put her hand on her hip in that aggravated-female sort of way. 'Elena, you mean to tell me you made a special trip all the way out here just to see if I'd found a guy yet? I mean, get real!"

"I am being real, sweetie," her friend replied, sounding a bit hurt by the accusations, "I'm not trying to mind your business; I'm just a bit worried about you, that's all. Is it still OK for a friend to worry about another friend?"

"I guess it is, but seriously, it won't be the end of the world if I don't. Besides, I really do have a lot to do. I barely just got through dusting, and I still have the vacuuming to do, and I haven't EVEN started on the bathrooms yet, and…"

Elena pantomimed playing a violin as Frankie reeled off the list of Things-Yet-To-Be-Done, then interrupted again, "I guess you're right, but before I get out of your hair, how about let's go check that dating site and see if you got any matches, 'kay? Then I'll leave you to your Cinderella chores for yet-another day."

"I don't know, Elena, I AM really busy today, and if the Rabbit catches me goofing off, he'll hit the ceiling! I can't even get to the dusting above the doorways yet-gotta wait for Wilt to finish up the lawn work outside so I can ask him, and…"

Even as Frankie continued her protests, Elena was slowly pulling her along by the arm towards the stairs that led to her room. "Yeah, hon, but honestly, it'll only take a few minutes, and I'm sure that Mr. Harrigan, or whatever his name is, won't notice! I just hate to think of you spending another one of your nights off all alone, with nothing to do. I mean, I'm gonna be goin' out to a movie with Kyle, and…"

"Kyle? Who's Kyle? I thought you were going with Roger, or Jonathan, or whatever his name is? OK, Ok…but this BETTER be quick, 'cuzz I don't have all day, alright?"

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Wilt glanced up at the kitchen clock over a tall, cold glass of water, noting that it was five minutes till three. That meant that Mac would soon arrive, and help him log onto BlindDatesRFun Dot com, to see if the computer site had matched anyone to his profile that they'd created and put up the day before. Wiping his face and neck down with a damp cloth, he wondered if he had time for a quick shower before the kid showed up; no use making the kid have to sit next to a very hot, sweaty, covered-in-grass-clippings Imaginary Friend after he'd probably had a full day of school, now was there? At the moment, though, another cold glass of water seemed like a better idea, the first having vanished in record time. Wilt still couldn't help but feel a bit skeptical about this whole blind date site, with its guarantee to be able to "hook up anyone", and time was rapidly running out, even faster, it seemed, than his second glass of water.

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"OK, you're logged on…now let's see if you got any responses" spoke Elena, hovering over Frankie's shoulder as the red-head sat at her computer keyboard.

Frankie took a moment to look over the guys that the site had matched up with her profile, noting that there was a new addition that had just been added the previous day, one she didn't remember from the last time she'd logged on. No actual responses in her message box, though. For some reason, she was neither surprised, nor terribly disappointed.

Elena had not failed to notice the date of the last entry, and pointed out the very obvious to her companion, "Look, that one was just added late yesterday. Let's check it out and see what it says about this guy!" Frankie gave a sigh of resignation, knowing it was pointless to suggest forgetting this whole thing, and clicked on the latest entry, that of an individual known only by the series of numbers the dating site had assigned him. That's kinda strange, Frankie thought to herself, most of the guys use their first names, at least, or some silly made-up name like "Super Stud" or something. As the two young women read through the guy's profile, even Frankie could not help but to be struck by how similar it seemed to Frankie's own description, nearly a month ago, that's she'd given to her friends of the sort of guy she was looking for, and of course, THAT similarity did not escape Elena's notice, either.

Elena gave Frankie a sharp tap on the shoulder with the back of her fingers to make her point, "Giiiirrllll…this one looks like he's custom-ordered for YOU! Look what it says…likes to help others, he says he's 'mechanically inclined'-that would sure come in handy when that old bus breaks down, right? And look…he's athletic, but says he's not obsessed with sports…isn't that exactly what you said you wanted in a guy?" Before Frankie could even respond to any of these charges, Elena continued, "Oooh, look right here…'has no trouble saying he's sorry'; now THAT alone is worth getting in touch with this guy!"

Frankie read on, then interrupted Elena's praise of this unknown guy, who at this point was no more than a series of numbers, to point out a couple of things. "I don't know, Elena-I mean, why didn't he give at least a fake name? Don't you find that odd?"

Elena had an answer for that. "Maybe he just forgot, or something; you know how guys are."

"And he didn't give his age, either, not even an age range. THAT kinda worries me. What if this is just a kid or something, somebody too young to even be on here? OR, maybe he's like, you know, over the hill, and he's trying to land a young date? I can just imagine going to meet this guy somewhere, and he's like, still wearing braces, or having the nursing home attendant push him around in a wheelchair!"

"Girl, you know you think too much? What could it hurt to at least meet him publicly somewhere, and if he's like, a kid, or some old codger like you say, just tell him you have to go to the little girl's room and take off? It's not like it cost you anything, and who knows? Maybe he will turn out to the man of your dreams, right? Oh, look, it says here that he's tall, AND he's a red-head…you know what THAT means, don't you?"

Frankie turned to give her friend that look that said, "No, but I bet you're gonna tell me!" and answered, almost hesitantly, "Nooooo…what DOES it mean?"

"Silly, it means that he won't be making fun of YOU being a red-head, callin' you 'Carrot-Top' and stuff like that, and when you have one of your little temper fits, he'll understand where you're coming from!"

"Well, THAT is always a big plus in a guy. I know that it's the main thing I look for in deciding if I wanna spend the rest of my life with him! I mean, forget good looks, or caring for others, or being able to help with things around the house…give me somebody who won't make fun of me being a red-head, geeshh!"

"Oh, don't be so snarky! Look, it says right here that he's very open-minded…you know how concerned you are that guys get all freaked out over what you do, maybe this one won't. It says he's really great with kids; THAT is a plus, since most guys aren't really comfortable with the little brats…I mean, kiddies! What say you send him a message, I mean, what could it hurt?"

Frankie sat awhile and just stared at the profile of the latest match. She didn't know quite why, but for some reason, she had this most annoying feeling that Elena was right, for once. Maybe it was the lack of details about the guy that made him seem more sincere, since all the others went on and on, ad nauseum, about how great they were, going into the most minute of details about their appearances, their hobbies, and of course, their, ahem, "performance abilities". The pure simplicity of this one match intrigued her, though right off-hand she really didn't know why. After what seemed like an eternity, Frankie finally moved the mouse cursor over the button marked "Send Private Message", and clicked. She then turned around to her still-hovering friend and said, "There. You satisfied now?"

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As Mac arrived at his usual time in the foyer, he immediately looked around for Wilt, rather than Bloo, today. It didn't take long for his expected companion to show up, coming from the direction of the kitchen, though his appearance at first was a bit startling. Mac gave a bit of an involuntary "double take" at the sight of the tall Imaginary Friend striding towards him. Noticing the kid's surprise, it took Wilt a few seconds to realize that he was still wearing the modified pair of safety goggles he'd strapped around his eyestalks to keep debris out of his one remaining eye while manning the weed-whacker. No sense taking chances, right? Obviously, they DID look a bit strange to someone who'd probably never seen him wearing them before.

"Oh, sorry…I forgot to take these off. I was outside trimming up the edges of the lawn a bit before you came over," Wilt responded, reaching up to remove the goggles at last.

Mac couldn't help but to wrinkle up his nose a bit as the cacophony of odors-gasoline, sweat, dirt, and freshly-cut grass-hit him, eliciting yet-another round of apologies from Wilt.

"Sorry…didn't have time to shower before you showed up. Sorry if I smell like a lawnmower! I'll try to stay as much downwind as possible, if that's OK."

"Aww, don't worry about it. Believe me, if you smelled my brother's room, you'd know that you're NOTHING compared to THAT! Anyway, let's get to the computer room before Bloo knows I'm here; that's why I tried to get here a bit earlier than usual, so we can see if you got any hits."

Wilt looked a bit confused. "Hits? What kinda hits?"

Mac realized that he should have known that Wilt might not be as familiar with some of the internet terminology as he was, so he explained as they walked along. "OK, a 'hit' means that somebody has responded to your profile that we put up yesterday, that's all. It means that somebody wants to find out more about you, basically."

Arriving in the Computer Room, the two of them took seats in front of an unoccupied terminal, and Mac went right to work logging onto the website, while Wilt waited beside him, holding his breath.

"Hey, LOOK! You got one already! See, somebody responded to your profile after the computer matched the two of you up! See?"

Wilt leaned forward to get a closer look at what the boy was pointing at on the screen, his heart rate suddenly increasing dramatically. Could it be that this thing really WAS going to work for him after all?

Mac moved over and indicated the mouse to Wilt. "Here, go ahead and click on it, and let's see what it says about this person." Wilt couldn't keep his hand from trembling a bit as he placed it on top of the mouse, and moved the cursor over to click and read the message, from someone called "F-GirlRed", a name that Wilt had to assume wasn't her real name, at the same time realizing that HE had forgotten to include any name at all with HIS profile. Oh, well…He and Mac both silently read the message together.

"Hi, I saw that the computer on this site had matched us up, and I just got through reading your profile. I don't know what it is, exactly, but something about your profile really intrigued me, so I decided to reply. If possible, how about get back in touch with me, so we can maybe arrange to meet up somewhere over a casual dinner or something. OH, and by the way, I'm a red-head, too!"

Wilt could not believe his luck. It was all he could do not to leap for joy at that moment, knowing that now, he actually had a chance of winning this thing, and keeping his one and only personal effect from a by-gone time and place, all with the help, ironically, of the person who'd created his rival in this bet! As he went back and read the profile for the person, he noted that she was much younger than he was. Hopefully, in his case, that wouldn't be too big a problem. I mean, it wasn't like he was looking to MARRY her, now was it? One date-that's all he needed, that and persuading her to show up at the home-hopefully Bloo would be satisfied with seeing her and Wilt out front. No big deal, right?

Mac brought something else to Wilt's attention. "Look, in her profile, it says that she is looking forward to meeting someone who's really open-minded, like her. You know what that means, Wilt?"

Wilt knew that he should have a reply, but at the moment his thoughts were racing along faster than his mouth could keep up, so he only could manage what he realized probably seemed to Mac to be a really dumb look.

No matter, Mac was more than happy to tell him what it meant. "It means that maybe it won't bother her too much once she finds out that you're…you know, not human. I mean, if it's just for one date, it's not like you're gonna ask her to marry you or anything!" Mac paused for a moment, as if in thought, then added, "But Wilt, what are you gonna do in case the two of you meet up somewhere, and she DOES get all upset that you're really an Imaginary Friend? THEN what?"

Wilt sighed, placing his hand on his right knee. "Well, I guess I'm just gonna haveta cross that bridge when I get to it, right? Here, how about help me come up with somthin' to say to her, something that won't make me sound like a complete idiot, if that's OK!" he added with a chuckle.

"Aw, man, you're not an idiot! You and Frankie probably are the two smartest ones here at this house! But OK, let's make this quick, before Bloo finds out I'm helping you with this!"