A Blind Date On Zoom

Julie's hands shook as she opened the door, anticipating a delivery guy. There he was right in front of her.

A large bouquet of red roses was delivered to her with a card that read "I hope you like it!" along with food and a bottle of red Merlot wine.

The delivery man looked at her, astonished.

She could tell by the look in his eyes.

Julie was wearing a black dress with a face mask that had a picture of red lips on it.

Julie loved lipstick, and since she had to wear a mask due to the pandemic, she bought ones with red lipstick on.

She couldn't control herself and started laughing as she closed the door. She must have seemed quite strange to the man.

Suddenly a notification popped up on her phone. She was expecting a text message from the unknown man she was about to have a date with.

Julie hadn't been on a date for a few years now. However, she never expected to go on a date like this.

"Who would have thought of this", she thought as she placed the flowers into a vase.

Now Julie felt butterflies in her stomach.

"Why did I agree to do this", she thought.

Amy and Joe, her best friends, convinced her to go on a blind date.

Although Julie had long ago given up on the dating game, she agreed to give it a try.

But now, she thought that having a blind date on Zoom seemed ridiculous.

"It must be a joke. Amy loves to prank me", she thought.

Julie took off her mask, grabbed her phone in her hands, and opened the message.

"I emailed you the link. See you in 5 minutes. I hope you'll like the food and wine."

Julie was convinced that Amy would be waiting at the other side of the Zoom call.

So she opened the food packaging, which revealed spaghetti alla carbonara. Julie put the pasta on a plate and opened the bottle of wine.

She smelled the red wine and took a sip of the Merlot.

"This is so good", she whispered as if someone was in the room with her and didn't want him to hear her.

Julie opened her laptop, followed the link from the unknown email, and waited to get connected.

At least she would spend the night talking to Amy.

This would cheer her up. Those last months were challenging, and the lockdown made everything worse.

As Julie was having another sip of her wine, she noticed a face popping on her screen.

It wasn't Amy.

It was Ewan, Amy's friend, who worked at the Silver Oak Hospital as a doctor.

She remembered meeting him a few months ago at Amy's house.

Julie met him briefly because he had to leave and go to the hospital.

He looked handsome, and Julie was too shy to talk to him.

When finally she found the courage to speak to him, he had to leave. "It wasn't meant to be", Julie thought as she watched him go.

Now Ewan was looking at her. He looked amazing.

"Oh my God," Julie thought she screamed, but it was all in her head.

She was caught by surprise and sputtered the wine all over the screen.

Ewan couldn't stop laughing.

"I never expected this kind of reaction", he said.

Julie turned red.

Fortunately, Ewan couldn't tell because the wine spilled over the camera and the computer.

Julie rushed to the kitchen and brought a towel to clean up the screen.

"Are you OK? Didn't you like the wine?", Ewan asked.

"Sorry about this. I wasn't expecting to see you. I really love the wine", Julie replied.

"It's fine, don't worry about it. I know it is kind of awkward having a blind date on Zoom", Ewan said.

Julie felt a little better after the initial surprise.

"I am used to having meetings on Zoom, that's for sure. It's my first blind date, and it's kind of funny", she said with a smile.

Ewan couldn't get his eyes of Julie. It was obvious he liked her. She had a beautiful smile, full lips, flawless skin, and the bluest eyes you've ever seen.

"I hope you'll like the pasta. Amy told me that you love spaghetti alla carbonara", Ewan said.

"Thank you for the roses, I'm sure Amy told you they're my favorite too", Julie laughed.

Ewan was making her feel comfortable.

Ewan and Julie began to eat their pasta as the conversation, and the wine flowed freely.

They were having a good time, and the hours passed by like a breeze.

As Julie poured herself another glass of wine, she looked at Ewan.

"What is it, Julie?", Ewan said.

"Can I ask you something, Ewan?", Julie asked reluctantly.

"Sure, anything you want", Ewan replied.

"Why did you choose to have a blind date on Zoom with me", Julie said.

"I thought it would be safer this way. I wouldn't want anything to happen to you", Ewan said with a low voice.

Ewan kept talking about what he was going through every day at the hospital and what he had seen with his eyes.

"There is so much pain around us, Julie."

Julie's eyes welled up in tears.

Ewan started talking about the day they met and how much he wanted to talk to her but never got the chance.

And then the pandemic hit, and the world turned upside down.

"But now we're finally talking to each other", Julie said.

"I'd rather be there with you", Ewan replied.

Julie couldn't believe she finally met someone that cared about her in the middle of the pandemic.

"I'm not working tomorrow. Would you like to meet me at the park?", Ewan said with a warm tone in his voice.

"It's a date", Julie said while a tear ran down her face.

"We'll keep our distance", said Ewan.

Julie grabbed her face mask with the red lipstick and put it on.

"You will recognize me. I will wear this mask.", said Julie laughing.

"OK, then I'll see you there", Ewan said with a smile on his face.

"Have a good night", Julie replied.

Julie was about to close the call as suddenly Ewan stopped her.

"Wait, Julie, I would like something from you", Ewan said as quickly as possible.

"Yes", Julie replied.

"Can you take your mask off? I would like a kiss goodnight", Ewan asked.

Julie nodded her head, took off the mask, and moved closer to the screen while Ewan touched his lips to the camera.

Both screens got black as they blocked their cameras with their lips.

"What's the flavor of your kiss", Julie asked.

"Drink your wine, and you will taste it," Ewan said with a smile on his face.

Julie took another sip of wine, closed her eyes, and savored the flavor of every drop.

They said goodnight, and both closed Zoom.

Although they were far away from each other, their hearts started beating at the same beat.