Chapter 9 - Dating in 79 TTE


A date in the year 79 TTE, what would that be like? That was the question on my mind as I waited for my car to arrive at Judy's place.

My car found a nice spot at her apartment's parking lot. I got out and walked up to the apartment.

At the door, I keyed in Judy's apartment number on the digital reception screen, and it started calling Judy's apartment. A few seconds later, the screen changed and a video feed popped up with Judy looking back at me.

I waved to the camera, "Hi Judy."

"Hi James, come in!" Judy said.

I watched as she pressed a button close to the camera on her end. The door beeped, signalling that it had been unlocked for me.

I smiled and walked into the apartment. I got into the elevator which hovered up to her floor. I'm not quite sure how these elevators worked (heck, I'm not even sure how the elevators back in 2015 CE worked besides the basic cable and counterweights stuff), but Matthew once told me that the elevators now use the same hovering technologies that could be found in the flying cars of 79 TTE. There was also some safety feature in place in case of a power failure, so they weren't completely detached, floating, metal boxes, but I'm not really sure how it worked.

Reaching Judy's floor, I stepped out of the elevator and found myself in front of her door.

I knocked on the door.

Judy answered soon after that. She stepped out, dressed in a nice, casual dress, and greeted me, blushing slightly, she said, "Hey..."

My jaw dropped a little at the sight, but I quickly closed my mouth as soon as I noticed it. I swallowed the knot in my throat and said, "Ready to go?"

She shyly nodded, smiling a little.

We went to a nice restaurant called Nova Robin, where we flipped through the digital pages of the mini tablet that was the menu, talking and discussing about the food and drinks that we liked and disliked before we ordered. The waitress came over and took down our orders with a mini-mobile device.

We continued talking over dinner, this time about each other.

"So, have you gone back to visit your family yet?" Judy asked me.

"I don't have any left," I said as I sipped a little of the red wine that we had ordered.

Judy put her glass down, "Oh, I'm so sorry, James."

"It's alright, it was a while ago. Well, a long while ago, considering what year we are in, but a little while ago to me." I put down my glass and left my hand on the table, beside the glass.

"How about friends, or relatives? Have you visited them yet?" Judy asked.

"Not yet. I didn't really have any close friends or relatives back in 2015 CE, so they wouldn't notice if I wasn't around for a while."

"Oh..."

"Yeah, I couldn't really make any lasting connections back then. I don't know why. Maybe it was because I was too busy working to help make ends meet after my parents died. Who knows?"

Judy reached over and grasped my hand, "Well, you have me now."

We both looked at our connected hands.

Then, realizing what she was doing, Judy quickly pulled her hand back and blushed, "And Matthew. We're your friends now, you know..."

I smiled at her and said, "Thank you, Judy."

We continued talking over dinner, learning more about each other. When it came time to pay, we split the bill, as it was now customary to do so.

After dinner, we went back to her place, and chose a movie from her digital library. Nobody really had DVDs or the like anymore. Most media was now available online, provided that we paid for it.

We had a great time watching the movie together (it actually wasn't a very good movie, so we spent most of the time making fun of it). When the movie ended, she poured out some wine, and we conversed about whatever topic crossed our minds.

And finally, at the end of the night, when everything seemed to align, I kissed her.

When the kiss ended, we both tried to play it cool for a second, but neither of us lasted very long until we both broke out into these big, wide smiles.

With a huge grin still on her face, she bid me farewell, "Good night, James."

"Good night, Judy," I replied as I walked out of the apartment, also with a huge grin still on my face.

So, it turned out that dating in 79 TTE wasn't all that different. It was still two people trying to make a connection, trying to learn more about each other, and, hopefully, finding the person that they would spend the rest of their lives with.


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