Never Trust an Online Lover

Claire Summers knew this was very wrong and inexcusable, but she was going to catfish Erika. After all, she’d had a sixth sense about Hunter since the first time Erika and Hunter ever started going out. Even back then, she did not trust Hunter Walsh one bit. She knew he was trouble, and guys like him were so frustratingly irresistible to young women for whatever strange reason. She knew her daughter deserved better, much better than what Hunter could ever give her in a lifetime. Claire learned to become more social media and technologically savvy in order to pull off this catfishing scheme that might come back and bite her hard in the ass.

Claire logged on to Facegram and saw that Erika was active on it, chatting with her friends and replying to their messages. Not necessarily posting anything, just reaching out to friends and letting them know she was okay and she’d be back in school next week.

Claire logged out so she could try to create a new profile and lure Erika in. She was able to pull it off that well. Created a new profile from scratch with a creative (or not so) username: Mike A. That was it. Then she went online to find some pictures of really hot guys, preferably younger guys between late teens-early-to-mid-20s, or slightly older, and Caucasian because why not. As “Mike”, Claire sent Erika a friend request, but what a perfect timing: Erika was suddenly logged out of her account. So, she probably didn’t even see the friend request. No worries, she’d probably notice it tomorrow morning.

The prediction came true. Erika woke up the next day to a million notifications on a bright blue-skied Saturday morning. She saw the notifications from friends, and after a few seconds of scrolling, finally noticed the friend request from the mysterious Mike A. Enthralled by his looks (which was basically just his profile picture), Erika immediately accepted the friend request. She didn’t even bother to find out if they had any mutual connections, but that was okay… For now.

Claire felt a little anxious when the notification went off, meaning that Erika had accepted the friend request. She lowered the volume on her cell phone so Erika wouldn’t soon catch on to the fact that her notifications would go off at the same time she was messaging this Mike. Taking a big leap of faith, Claire (as Mike A.) initiated conversation: Hey, thanks for accepting my friend request.

Erika’s phone pinged for notification and saw the message from Mike. She replied back: No problem. But I don’t think I know you, do I? Any mutual friends or anything?

Claire was panicking internally, not having thought any of this through. She had to come up with a plan to keep the ruse going.

Before she (as Mike) could reply back, Erika wrote a response: Never mind, that was extremely rude of me to ask about mutual connections. Lol😆.

Claire: No worries. I’d be a bit skeptical too. It’s totally fine. LOL.

Erika: So, what are your plans for today? I hear the weather’s supposed to be really nice this weekend.

Claire: I’m a fan of nice weather. But I’m curious to know what YOU wanna do.

Erika: I asked you first🙂.

At that point, Claire did not know what to say. She abruptly logged out before Erika suspected anything. Erika found it a bit odd that the guy she’d just been chatting with a few seconds ago had suddenly logged out on her. She thought she might have come on too strong by asking him about his weekend plans. Then again, guys are weird. She headed downstairs and saw her mom getting up at the same time.

“You’re up too, sweetie?” Claire asked.

“Yeah, I tried to get some sleep last night. How about you?”

“Slept like an angel.” Claire noticed Erika feeling a bit more smiley—if that’s the word—than she’d been all week. “What’s gotten into you this morning?”

“Well, good morning to you too,” Erika replied. “Aren’t I allowed to smile?”

“I know, but it’s just that you’ve been in a slump all week, avoiding your friends and barely talking to anyone. And now suddenly, you’re in such a great mood. Why is that?”

“Can’t a girl just be excited for the weekend?”

Claire had a knowing expression on her face. “Are you chatting up a storm with a certain someone?”

Erika blushed a little. “Mom! How did you…”

“I mean, I always know if you’re talking to the girls, or to a particular guy. I can always tell the difference. And I have a feeling that Martin is way out of your league.”

“Ew, gross, Mom. He’s gay, and you know it!”

“I knew it. It is a guy… Right?”

Erika sighed, finally ready to admit it. “Yes. This guy just hit me up on Facegram out of the blue, sending me a friend request. Which I accepted because why not? You’d see this guy, Mom, and you’d know he is so cute. Like, really irresistible. I mean, his eyes…”

“Sounds like a real dream.” Claire was doing her best to play along and not give Erika any impression. “Do you have any mutual friends, or anything?”

“Yeah, see, that’s the thing, Mom. I don’t think we do. I mean, judging from his picture, he doesn’t seem like anybody I’d recognize, or someone from school. I don’t think Jeanne and the others would recognize him, either. Honestly, he looks like he’s a bit older than us, but then again, that could just be my perspective. I don’t know. Do you want me to show you his picture, and see for yourself?”

Claire had to think of something fast. “Uh… Actually, I think I’d better run to the store and get some more eggs so we can have something for breakfast.”

“Right now?” Erika chuckled. “Mom, you literally just got up. And it’s not even 9:00 yet. The grocery store’s not open yet.”

“Uh, I’ll drive around town and find other stores.”

“And besides, we already have eggs… Right?”

“Those are brown eggs, sweetie. I’m gonna get more regular ones. After all, you can never have too many eggs. Eggs are good for you. You know, something about protein and all that.”

“You don’t have to do that, Mom. I’ll just go for my run, then come back, hit the shower, make some coffee and head over to Jeanne’s next door.”

“No, I insist. I’m gonna make us some breakfast. I want to make up for all the breakfasts you’ve missed this week from moping around in your room all the time, barely wanting to get out. I’m surprised you didn’t take a leak in your room or something.” Erika gave her mother a glare, letting her know that the comment was not funny as intended. “I know, terrible joke, I’m sorry. But seriously, though… Do not go anywhere at all until I come back from my shopping. Okay? I promise you, I’ll be back within the hour for us to have our breakfast, and we can spend quality time with each other and talk about things.”

Erika wanted to say no, but she knew it was a bad idea. After all, it wasn’t very often that she and her mother had breakfast together. Or lunch, or dinner, or any meal for that matter, together. Erika often ate in her room in front of the TV and would use her devices while eating. Claire would do the same thing downstairs in the living room, sitting in front of the TV. It’s amazing to know how much modern technology has consumed our daily lives, even at home.

“Okay, you say you’ll be back within the hour? I’ll be keeping track.”

“Oh, no worries, sweetie. You know I’d never leave you to starve.”

Erika shrugged. “I mean, I’m just a tad worried that I’ll miss just a few minutes of hanging out with Jeanne and my friends this weekend, but I suppose starvation is a bigger issue.”

“I’ll be back before you can even say quicksand,” Claire said. That was a promise she was also keeping to herself. She had a plan… Going out there to find any random guy who could possibly pass off as Mike A., so Erika would never suspect anything.

Moments later, Claire was dressed up and ready to head to the grocery store. She gave Erika a goodbye kiss on the forehead, grabbed her purse and jacket, and headed out to the driveway. She made her way to the grocery store, even if she wasn’t actually intending to buy anything. But sure enough, fate also had plans of its own…

While at the Eggs section, she accidentally bumped into someone. When she turned around, she saw an attractive young man who bore a slight resemblance to Mike A., with his dark hair parted to the right and bright blue eyes. This time, he looked like he was in his early 20s, a good guesstimate of Mike’s age. “I’m sor…” They both said at the same time.

“I’m really sorry,” Claire apologized, not seeming to stop. “I know I have a habit of saying that a lot.”

“It’s okay.” The young man smiled. “You’ve already apologized enough.”

At least he was polite about it, and not rude, thankfully. He was about to walk off before Claire got his attention again. “Excuse me.” He turned back. “I’m sorry, sir, I didn’t catch your name.”

He grinned. “Well, first off, it’s not Sir, that’s for sure. It’s Jefferson, but everyone calls me Jeff for short. Jefferson Wagner.”

“Nice to meet you, Jefferson… I mean, Jeff. My name is Claire Summers.”

“Nice to meet you too, Claire Summers.” They shook hands.

Claire hesitated before finally working up the courage to ask him to go along with this scheme. “Hey, Jeff, I know this is totally inappropriate because we’re practically strangers, but I need you to do me a favor, if you’re open to it.”

“No, of course. What is it?”

Claire took a deep breath. “So, I have a daughter… I mean, I’m not married or anything. I had her when I was pretty young and had just turned 20; her father is not in the picture because he walked out on her before she was even born, and…” She chuckled, a little nervous. “Get to the point, Claire,” she told herself.

She cleared her throat, then continued. “I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t be doing this, but I did a very bad thing yesterday. Well, it’s not just a spontaneous thing… I’ve been planning it for a long time, but anyway… The bottom line is, she just went through a bad break-up, and she’s been wallowing all week, isolating herself from her friends by locking herself up in her room. Didn’t even want to go to school at all. My heart just breaks for her because it’s not like her to be this sad over a guy.

“She’s known this guy for nearly four years, and they had such an amazing history together, and now it’s all gone, just like that. He broke her heart, and it kills me to see her like that. I want to give her hope that there are good guys out there, and not every guy is a scumbag… Excuse the language.”

“I get it.” Jeff was completely sympathetic. “I’m so sorry for your daughter… Uh, how old is she?”

“Seventeen,” Claire replied.

“And how old do you think I am?” When Claire hesitated to answer, he said, “Wait a minute, don’t answer that. I’m 23. So, you’re trying to set me up with your 17-year-old daughter?”

“Yes.”

Jeff took a minute to think about it before finally agreeing to the deal. “I’m up for it. I’m willing to give it a chance.”

Claire was relieved to know that she’d finally—and unexpectedly—found someone who was willing to go along with her devious plan. “Really? Are you sure?” she asked. “You don’t have to go through with it, you know. I mean, I wasn’t expecting you to say yes so soon.”

Jeff grinned. “Let’s just say, I’m the type of person who’s more—How do you say it—Live-for-the-moment kind of thing. I like to take risks.”

“That’s funny, so does Erika. That’s my daughter. You know, who I’m trying to set you up with. She also likes to take risks, so I think you’d both hit it off really well.”

“Count me in, Ms. Summers,” Jeff said. “Or do you have a preference for…”

“Just Claire is fine, for now, thanks.”

Now Claire had to come up with a way to let Jeff know that he would actually play along in this scheme to lure Erika into a relationship.

_________________________________________

After breakfast was over, Erika met up with Jeanne and Martin next door. Martin decided that he wanted to tag along with the ladies because his crush had just dumped him, so he needed to spend quality time with the ladies to “forget all about the men.” That was his mindset; who could argue with a heartbroken teenage guy?

Claire gave them a ride over to Willa’s house so she could pick Willa up, and drop all of them off together at the mall. In no time at all, Erika and her friends were about to have the weekend of their lives. Erika gave her mother a goodbye hug.

“Call me when you’re ready,” Claire said.

“I promise. Love you.”

Claire gave her a kiss on the forehead. “Love you too. See the rest of you troublemakers later,” she said to Jeanne, Willa and Martin, and then left as they said goodbye to her as well. When Claire eventually returned home, the plan continued. She reached out to Jeff, asking him to meet up with her at Antonelli’s, the local cafe. Success. Now she just had to convince him to go through with this whole plan.

Jeff was a bit skeptical. “Are you asking me to catfish your daughter?”

Claire chuckled. “Catfish? Is that what it’s called these days?”

“Yeah, by definition, it is the act of getting someone you met online to be in a relationship with you, without having ever met them in-person.”

“I feel so bad about doing this. Trust me. It was never my plan to do this, but I just couldn’t stand seeing her feeling so down. You know…”

“And you think finding pictures of a completely random guy online would help?”

“I didn’t think I’d be that savvy enough to create a fake profile, but here we are.” Claire sighed in frustration.

“How much?”

“How much what?”

Jeff grinned. “How much are you paying me to do this?”

“Wait, you mean to tell me that you’re still agreeing to do this? Even if it means my daughter ends up getting hurt?”

“Hey, this was your idea; I’m just glad to go along with it… As long as she’s hot.”

Claire scoffed. “You’re calling a 17-year-old girl hot? What’s the matter with you?”

“You could ask yourself the same thing! Going through this much trouble just to keep your daughter happy. She’s going to hate you if she ever finds out about this.”

“That’s why I want you to try this for one month. A 30-day trial, so to say.”

Jeff scoffed. “A 30-day trial, like I’m some sort of electronic product from Amazon?”

“Do you want this, or not?” Claire was getting a teeny bit annoyed.

“Of course I do! Why do you think I’m asking about the money?”

“Okay, give me a number. Any random number.”

“20.”

Claire scoffed again. “That’s the best you’ve got? Damn, you young guys these days are so cheap.”

“Okay, fine… 85.”

Claire was astounded. “Are you kidding me? 85 bucks?”

Jeff smirked. “Yes. Take it or leave it.”

Claire thought about it before coming up with a counter-offer. “How about 90?”

“85, and that’s the final deal.”

“Fine, you win. You got yourself a deal.” She took out her purse and got her wallet and gave him the cash. “This stays between us, okay? Do not run your freaking mouth to anyone, anywhere. This is a private and confidential affair between two adults.”

“Private and confidential, huh? Sounds very… Uh, top-secret. Like, government stuff.”

“You won’t be cracking jokes like this when this plan ends up blowing up in our faces. You know that, right?”

Jeff shrugged. “Like I said, your idea, Claire.”

Claire knew she was going to regret this big time. But if it was anything to keep Erika happy for a while, even for just one month, then it was worth it.