Jordan could tell her the truth: that his ex-girlfriend cheated on him with a guy who looked like he modeled for Abercrombie catalogs in his spare time, that he spent two weeks in a gooning spiral, that he'd rage-bought this package at two in the morning while crying and eating gas station ramen.
Or he could lie and say something normal.
"Curiosity, I guess," Jordan said, picking the middle ground. "You seem cool. Thought it'd be interesting to meet you in person."
Chloe nodded slowly. "That's probably the healthiest answer I could've gotten."
"What were the other options?"
"Obsession. Parasocial fantasy. Secret plans to follow me home." She said it casually, but Jordan heard the edge underneath.
This was her job. Meeting strangers from the internet for money. Of course she'd thought through worst-case scenarios. Of course she'd probably told a friend where she was going and when to call if she didn't check in.
"None of those," Jordan said. "Promise. I'm just a guy who made a financially questionable decision and is now committed to seeing it through."
"Financially questionable is an understatement." Chloe leaned back in her chair. "Three thousand dollars is a lot of money."
"Yeah, well." Jordan picked at a thread on his napkin. "It was a weird week."
Their food arrived faster than expected. The server placed the plates down with practiced efficiency, asked if they needed anything else, and vanished when they both shook their heads.
Chloe stared at her salad. Jordan stared at his burger.
"This feels weird, right?" Chloe said. "Like, I do this thing online where I'm this character, and now I'm sitting here in real life and I don't know how to be that person without a camera."
"So don't be," Jordan said. "Be whoever you are when the camera's off."
Chloe pulled down her mask just enough to take a bite of salad. Jordan caught a glimpse of her lips, plump and pink, before the mask went back up.
His brain short-circuited for a full second.
Breathe. Normal breathing. In through the nose, out through the mouth. Don't be weird.
"That's easier said than done," Chloe said after swallowing. "The whole point of doing this anonymously is so I can keep those parts of my life separate."
"Then why'd you offer the coffee dates at all?"
"Money." She said it flat, no shame. "The package was three thousand dollars. Do you know how long it takes to make that much from regular content? A month, maybe two if engagement's good."
"So this is purely transactional," Jordan said.
"Yeah." Chloe stabbed a piece of chicken with her fork. "I mean, no offense. You seem nice. But I don't know you."
"None taken." Jordan bit into his burger. The flavor exploded across his tongue, beef and cheese and sauce combining into something that probably justified the thirty-two-dollar price tag.
His phone buzzed again.
✨ TRANSACTION PENDING ✨
Estimated meal cost: $60 + tip
Current attraction: 11%
Rebate calculation: 0.22x multiplier
Projected return: $13.20
Net loss: $46.80
Proceed?
Jordan closed the notification.
Forty-six dollars down the drain for this meal. Plus the three thousand he'd already spent. Plus the two hundred sixty-three on his new outfit.
"Can I ask you something else?" Jordan said.
"Sure."
"Do you like doing it? The content creation thing."
Chloe set down her fork. Her sunglasses reflected Jordan's face back at him, twin versions of himself staring from dark lenses.
"Sometimes," she said finally. "It's good money. I can make my own schedule. I don't have to answer to anyone."
"But?"
"But it's exhausting." She picked up her fork again, pushing lettuce around her plate. "Keeping up with DMs, editing photos, coming up with new content ideas, pretending to care about every subscriber's fantasy. It's a lot."
"You don't have to pretend with me," Jordan said.
Chloe looked up. "What?"
"I'm not expecting you to be Calypso right now. We're just two people eating overpriced food and having a conversation. You can drop the act."
A long silence.
Then Chloe laughed. Really laughed this time, not the professional giggle from her videos. Her shoulders shook.
"You're weird, Ricky."
"I get that a lot."
She pulled her mask down again to take another bite. This time Jordan forced himself not to stare at her mouth like a creep.
They ate in comfortable silence for a few minutes. The sun filtered through the umbrella above them, creating patterns on the white tablecloth. Other diners chatted and laughed around them. Someone at a nearby table was celebrating a birthday, the staff bringing out a dessert with a single candle.
"So what's your deal?" Chloe asked. "Business Econ major. Expensive school. Dropping three grand on a coffee date with an internet stranger. You don't exactly scream trust fund baby."
"My parents own convenience stores," Jordan said. "Three of them. Comfortable, not rich."
"And they're paying for Pacific Crest?"
"Yeah."
"That's forty-five thousand a year."
Jordan blinked. "How'd you know that?"
"Lucky guess," she said quickly. "All private schools are expensive."
Jordan's brain started connecting dots it probably shouldn't connect. Communications major. Freshman. Eighteen years old. Pacific Crest's tuition down to the dollar.
No way.
"You go to Pacific Crest," Jordan said.
Chloe's water glass stopped halfway to her mouth.
"What?"
"You go to Pacific Crest," Jordan repeated. "That's why you knew the exact tuition. That's why you didn't want to say where you go to school."
Chloe set her glass down carefully. "You're reading into things."
"Am I?"
Her jaw worked behind the mask. Her fingers drummed against the table.
"If I did go there," she said slowly. "Which I'm not confirming. It would be a really bad idea for you to know that."
"Because?"
"Because my entire business model depends on anonymity. If someone from campus recognized me, I'm done. Scholarship gone. Social life gone. Everything gone."
Jordan held up his hands. "I'm not gonna say anything."
"You don't know that."
"Yeah, I do." Jordan leaned back in his chair. "I've got my own shit I don't want getting around campus. We can both keep secrets."
Chloe studied him. The sunglasses made it impossible to read her expression.
"What kind of secrets?" she asked.
"The kind where my ex cheated on me on Christmas and I spent two weeks in my apartment crying and eating ramen," Jordan said. "Not exactly something I'm putting on my resume."
"Oh." Chloe's voice softened. "That sucks."
"Yeah."
"Is that why you bought the coffee date? Rebound thing?"
"Probably." Jordan picked up his burger again. "Like I said. Weird week."
His phone buzzed one more time.
✨ ATTRACTION UPDATE ✨
Chloe Kim: 11% → 15% (+4%)
Note: Vulnerability and shared secrets build trust. Moderate gain registered.
Current Rebate Rate: 0.30x
You're doing better than expected!
Fifteen percent.
Still terrible. Still in the red. But better than eight.
Jordan finished his burger. Chloe finished her salad. The server brought the check without being asked, and Jordan handed over his card before Chloe could protest again.
Total: Seventy-three dollars and forty-two cents including tip.
The transaction went through. Jordan's phone pinged with the rebate notification.
✨ TRANSACTION COMPLETE ✨
Amount Spent: $73.42
Chloe Kim Attraction: 15%
Rebate: $22.03 (0.30x multiplier)
Net Loss: $51.39
Keep building that chemistry!
Fifty-one dollars in the hole.
Jordan pocketed his phone and stood. Chloe stood too, adjusting her purse strap.
"So," she said. "That was the forty-five minutes."
Jordan checked his watch. Three forty-seven PM. They'd actually gone seven minutes over.
"Yeah," he said.
"This was..." Chloe trailed off, searching for words. "Not what I expected."
"Good unexpected or bad unexpected?"
"Good, I think." She pulled her mask up higher. "You're not as creepy as I thought you'd be."
"Bar's on the floor, but I'll take it."
Chloe laughed one more time. "Thanks for lunch, Ricky."
They walked toward the parking lot together, the silence between them easier now. Less performative. Less transactional.
Chloe stopped next to a silver Honda Civic. Jordan stopped next to his white Honda Civic three spaces over.
They both stared at each other's cars.
"No way," Chloe said.
"2019?" Jordan asked.
"2020."
"Close enough."
Chloe shook her head, still smiling behind her mask. She opened her car door, then paused.
"Hey, Ricky?"
"Yeah?"
"If I do see you on campus..." She bit her lip. "Just pretend you don't know me, okay?"
"Deal."
She climbed into her car and started the engine. Jordan watched her back out of the parking space and drive toward the exit.
When her car disappeared around the corner, Jordan finally let out the breath he'd been holding.
His phone buzzed with one final notification.
🎊 DAILY QUEST COMPLETE 🎊
"Path to Becoming Adonis"
Reward: 3 Quest Tickets
Total Tickets: 13
New Achievement Unlocked: First Date (Technically)
Bonus: +5 Quest Tickets
Total Tickets: 18
[Gacha system now accessible]
Jordan climbed into his Civic, rested his forehead against the steering wheel, and laughed until his stomach hurt.
He'd just spent seventy-three dollars to learn that his OnlyFans crush went to his school.
The universe had a really fucked up sense of humor.
===
A/N:
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