The Magic Carpet Ride

RelocationJunkie

by RelocationJunkie

Story
2020 – 2021

It’s funny how life presents you with what you need at any given moment, isn’t it?

Three months ago I was at a bursting point. My job was stressing me to the point I needed therapy. Emotionally I felt so lonely after around 8 months of social isolation thanks to Corona.

I knew I needed a change. I needed to meet some people. I needed to focus on something other than work. I needed to… live.

That’s when it happened.

I was swiping on Tinder. I stopped at a profile. I swiped left but added the person to my Instagram. Their videos seemed cool. Nothing else.

A week or two later a story pops up. The person I added from Tinder has a WhatsApp group to help those isolating from Corona feel less alone.

A group to chat, get to know people, entertain each other and remind each other of what it means to feel together. Just what I need.

I ask to join. I introduce myself. Next thing you know I’m in full flow with the group daily.

A week or so later I get curious about the creator. He seems like an interesting guy. A magician. A polyglot. An entertainer. I wonder whether Instagram is his job or his hobby?

I ask him.

We get talking. I end the conversation. 20 minutes later he invites me and my friends over to hang. My friends aren’t too keen on meeting strangers at the moment. Should I go? It’s Corona-times after all…

I decide I’m done hiding and go. One night of hanging out at his place leads to another night of poker, then another night of dinner and another and another.

Soon enough Mr. Magic and I are texting, calling, video-ing, mostly spending time in, but occasionally going out. There’s a curiousity but also a definite tension between us.

It’s obvious we like each other. It’s also obvious we’re very different people and want very different things.

Yet it’s Corona-times and there’s comfort to be found in both our similarities and our differences.

We host parties together, we make mutual friends together, we enjoy each other and yet we disagree constantly too.

It’s a constant up and down. One day we love each other, the next we’re misunderstanding each other, and then new people come into the mix and my insecurity levels shoot through the roof.

We’re seeing each other, but we’re not together. We like each other, but we’re not good for each other. It’s an impossible connection.

We take one step closer to each other, then retreat two steps back. Then find our way back to each other and then all is good again… for a while.

Then one day I reach a realisation.

If we keep going like this I’m going to fall in love with this man.

This man who is so wrong for me it hurts. This man who also brings me so much pleasure it makes me forget all my troubles for a moment.

This man with whom I can spend hours without getting bored. This man with whom I’d quite gladly waste away time I will never get back.

This man who is destroying himself. This man who could destroy me too.

And then one day even quicker than the story started, it’s over.

Only not so distant memories remaining… of one beautiful, exciting and unforgettable magic carpet ride.

© RelocationJunkie 2021-01-23