This is my favorite part. I have always been a sucker for falling in love.

When I see you, you are everything I ever imagined you to be. You are as you appear in your photos and videos; the interests and quips are something to be determined soon.

The place we meet is a spot that you claimed to be a part of your stomping grounds — a cafe selling new-age fusion drinks and ancient dishes conjured up by “out-of-date” cookbooks.

It’s a nice place, unique and interesting, like you.

When we see each other, your smile is soft and fox-like. As if you know something I do not or as if there is a joke we shared, just between the two of us. Our hug lingers like old friends, long since united, and your scent is that of your hometown out west. Rustic and earthy.

Our conversation is perfect, ebbing and flowing as the sea does. The words and stories we tell are never-ending, crashing and blending with interests, experiences, and desires. You tell me about a play that you saw — I remember this, you mentioned it in your profile bio — and go into detail about the digital waterfall used and how its programming was the actual theme of the rendition.

I know this too because I had just come from that play; I had seen it, anticipating you would want to speak about it.

We laugh and enjoy smoky cocktails until our main course comes. You ask if we can share and I of course oblige, knowing that you enjoy small portions of many different flavors.

The date was perfect, so perfect that I agreed to meet you.

 

SATISFACTION RECORDED. THANK YOU FOR USING AUGMENTED DATING ARRANGEMENT. SELECT YES TO SCHEDULE A RL DATE.

I select yes.

DATE RECORDED. ADA IS HAPPY TO PROVIDE A SERVICE TO GET TO KNOW ONE ANOTHER BEFORE MEET—

 

I remove my headset and let out a sigh.

The smile that stretches across my lips lingers, not on the surrounding reality — the cramped apartment, the dirty clothes, the chipping paint, the towering mega-structures — but on the artificial one I just experienced.

My home communication system alerts me and I check the home module. Just as the hyper waves of our first date fade to the drab reality around me, I see you sent me a message, as if you too just completed our first date.

“You want to meet tonight?” I nearly leap out of my discolored sofa with excitement. You really might be the one, I think to myself as I pull up your social profiles and begin to scour your public photos and videos, imagining myself in them.

I reply to you and suggest the place where I first met you. The place on the ADA server.

You agree, but say you’ve never been there.

A small chip, but nothing that’ll crack this growing affection.

 

When I arrive at our cafe, the space is more crowded than during our simulated tryst. The towering city structures block out the sun and fumes and noise from the street are choking, even inside.

But I don’t mind — I am looking forward to your sight, your smell, your sound.

When you arrive, I nearly don’t recognize you.

You are wearing a trendy outfit that looks like everyone else around you. The shape of your face and the length of your limbs appear to be a shadow of what I recall.

When you see me, there is a shocking realization — not one of recollection, but something else. The smile that comes up is childlike, having no maturity or cunning edge.

I smile back and approach you, lifting my arms for a hug, but did not see your hand extend for a handshake. The greeting is clumsy and I notice we are both embarrassed — me more than you.

I try to breathe you in, for some resemblance of you. There is nothing natural there. Cheap, astringent citrus scent. An artificial attempt to mask the polluted scent of the city, which clings to all of us. Nothing about it beacons the west, you.

You tell me you have never been to this part of town, and when I bring up the play you mentioned in your bio, you tell me you only put it there ironically. I feel foolish for having spent the money I don’t have on the tickets and wasting time constructing an opinion I only wanted for you.

The jumpy movements of your hands lack confidence and the slang you use is jarring. When I suggest the smoldering cocktails and dinner, you instead ask for tea. We don’t talk about the menu and we don’t share an array of ancient flavors.

Instead, we shake hands again and disappear separately back into the suffocating city. My chest is aching and my head is eager for another reality. An artificial, static reality.

When I return home, I waste no time and slip on my wire headset.

 

WELCOME BACK TO AUGMENTED DATING ARRANGEMENT, HOW WAS YOUR ARRANGED DATE?

*click*

WE ARE SORRY TO HEAR YOUR DATE DID NOT GO AS PLANNED. WE HAVE CAREFULLY CREATED ANOTHER DATING PROFILE THAT MIGHT MATCH YOUR INTERESTS. WOULD YOU LIKE TO BEGIN?

*click*

WONDERFUL. REAL LOVE IS JUST A STATIC CLICK AWAY.

 

An upbeat chime plays as I scroll amongst a thousand faces and a thousand profiles. Finally, I find you and you are perfect.

This is my favorite part. I have always been a sucker for falling in love.