No One Invited Us

“I can’t believe this is really happening!” Owen said to his roommate and friend, Joe.

“What is it?”

“It’s an invitation to meet someone named Ada in California.”

Joe sat at the kitchen table across from Owen and asked, “You’re not thinking of going, are you?”

Owen paused from looking at the invitation, and asked, “Why wouldn’t I consider it?” 

“You’re in New York. California is a world away. I thought you were busy with work.”

“I am. But it’s just for a week. And who knows, maybe I meet the woman of my dreams!”

“You’re in the hot seat at work. They won’t let you take a week off. We've got bills stacking up. And how are you going to afford the plane ticket?”

“Easy.”—Owen held up the ticket that came with the invite.—“It’s right here.”

“It came with a plane ticket?” 

“Yeah, I leave tomorrow. So I better get ready.” Owen got up and headed to his room to gather his things for the trip.

Joe followed him and gave it one last attempt to talk some sense into him. “How do you know this is legit?”

“What else could it be?”

“Who knows? The world is crazy. You don’t even know if you can trust it. Can you?”

“Hey, I know this all seems farfetched, but I gotta see this through. This ticket is an opportunity and what do I always say about that?”

“You don’t question the hand, you play the hand.”

“Exactly! I’ll call off at work. Grab the flight. And take in an all expenses paid vacation in the Golden State. Who knows? Maybe Ada and I hit it off.” 

Owen packed his duffle bag so tight it reminded Joe of his uncle Terry's bloated belly after eating a huge meal. Although Joe didn’t feel good about Owen going on this trip, he knew he was hellbent on doing it. So he let it go. He even gave him a ride to JFK the next day to see him off. With all the pressures mounting in his life, it was good to see Owen take a breath of fresh air. Once he dropped him off, Joe went into planning his week with the apartment to himself. It was party time!

The plane picked up speed as it made its way down the runway. Lift off. Owen gazed out the window as he watched the New York skyline get less significant to his view. He sat back and relaxed. He felt lucky that he had his row to himself. His mind traveled back to the day he got the email from the dating site. He thought about every step he had taken that ended with him flying to California. 

It started with him setting up a profile, reading through the rules, and agreeing to the terms and conditions. He had to answer a hundred questions about himself that gave him an initial ranking. The site administrator would be the only one to see the photos of each profile created. There wasn’t any interaction between the contestants. They answered scenario-based questions each week and watched their ranking fluctuate. Owen reflected on how he almost gave up on it after a few months. It had gotten tedious to answer all those questions, and it didn’t seem the contest would ever end. But now he was on a six-hour flight to Los Angeles to meet a woman named Ada. 

He wondered what she might look like. Who she was, and what was her reaction to the invite? Then he mildly panicked as he considered she might’ve declined the offer. Was he going to end up there alone? Maybe there was a runner-up in place? Then he thought how silly this train of thought was. He’d never done anything like this before. California wasn’t his first pick of places to go, but the sunny beaches would be nice. He dreaded the thought of what the aftermath would be if this trip ended up being a train wreck. At the age of thirty, he didn’t have time for more failures in his life.

The plane touched down in L.A. and for the last few hours, Owen had dozed off. A combination of some bumps, and the pilot’s voice over the intercom, brought him back to life. He squinted his eyes as he watched the busy traffic at LAX through the cabin window. He had no clue what to expect. The invitation only specified that he would be meeting Ada at the Chateau Marmont for dinner at six. As he waited in the baggage area, he received a text that read: Welcome to Los Angeles, Owen. We hope you enjoyed your flight. Your driver, Carl, is waiting for you at Terminal 7. At the end of the welcome message was a picture of his driver.

Owen found him, and as fast as L.A. traffic would take him, he arrived at the hotel. He went to his room and unpacked. There was a gift basket with another message (on Chateau Marmont stationary) explaining what the night would entail. The balcony of his room overlooked the Hollywood Hills. After unpacking, he went out there to take in the scenery. He couldn’t believe how lucky he was to be in such a place doing the weirdest thing he had ever done. Ada was somewhere in the hotel too, and they would meet for dinner soon. 

Around 5 p.m. he showered and got dressed. The message stated to dress casually, so he wore some Docker shorts and a Polo shirt with canvas slip-on shoes. He headed down to the restaurant, worried he might run into Ada in the hallway, or elevator and catch him off guard. Owen normally didn’t have anxiety, but he was a fish out of water, and he didn’t want to mess things up. Joe would have a heyday of laughing at him if he did. He got off the elevator and checked in with the hotel staff at the restaurant. They had a reservation for two and the wait staff took him to his table. 

The staffer asked, “Would you like something to drink while you wait for your guest?”

Owen thought about it and noticed a tall, beautiful woman being escorted to his table. So he told the server, “No. I think she’s headed this way now, thanks.”

Ada stopped at her seat and Owen stood up to greet her and said, “Ada! I’m Owen. It’s nice to finally meet you.” He noticed she was wearing a nice flowery blouse and light blue summer pants.

Ada smiled and sat down. “And you too. This hotel is lovely, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is—” 

The server who brought Ada over cut in, “Can I bring some drinks while you two look over the menu?”

Owen looked over while Ada answered, “Yes. I’ll have a Pisco.”

He looked at the drink list inside the menu and offered, “The Pimm’s Cup looks great, thanks.”

They both felt the awkwardness of the situation. Ada broke the silence, “So, this is different, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is. My roommate Joe almost talked me out of coming.” 

“You have a roommate.”

“Yeah, you almost have to living in New York.”

“New York, huh? Wow! I’ve always wanted to go there.”

“It’s a bit busy at times. Where are you from?”

“I’m from the small town of Leavenworth, Kansas. I know it’s backward, but I loved growing up there.” Ada was a little sheepish in her expression as she gazed over her menu.

“No. Not backward at all. We all have to come from somewhere, right? It’s not like New York doesn’t have its own setbacks at times. I think coming from a small town is charming. I used to visit my grandparents in Virginia and loved the time my family spent with them in the summer. It’s nice to get out of the big city.” 

Ada looked up to speak, “Yes, I suppose you’re right. But what would it be like to live in a big city? If I grew up in that environment, how would I be different, you know?”

Owen replied, “Definitely. Your accent would change, believe me!” They both laughed to break the tension. Owen continued, “I hear the food here is great!”

“Oh, you know someone who’s been here before?”

“No. I looked it up on my phone while I was thirty thousand feet in the air. I already had it planned what I was going to order. What about you?”

“I am still trying to decide, but I think I’ll have… I’ll have the Charred Bass. But I worry it’ll be too much.”

“Well, since I spent considerable time on the plane researching the menu, can I make a suggestion?” 

“Go ahead. I reserve my veto right, though.” She softened her comment with a chuckle.

“Fair enough, but why don’t we order the Oxtail Bruschetta to share and the three cheese board too? Then you can order under the small plates section...it has more options.”

“That sounds like a plan. I’ll get the Smoked Trout with crispy potatoes then.”

“Great! See our first big decision, and you didn’t have to use your veto.”

Ada smiled and asked, “So, how did you find out about this dating contest?”

“I was going to ask you the same thing. For me, I received an email about it and decided what the heck. Why not?”

“My little brother insisted that I try it.”

“You didn’t get an email about it?”

“No. He did. He forwarded it to me and urged me to check into it. I hesitated, but one day at work I had nothing to do, so I did it. I started my profile and answered all those crazy questions.”

“Yes! That was almost a deal breaker for me.”

The server came and gave them their drinks and took their orders. 

Ada never considered that she would be meeting a white guy from New York City. She had never dated another race. Not that she opposed it. But Owen seemed less affected by the difference than she thought he would be. At first, Owen was surprised. He’d never once imagined that the stranger the dating site paired him with would be a different race. She was a black woman from a small town in Kansas, and he was a white man from New York City. 

They ate their dinner and enjoyed getting to know one another. They put their heads together and tried to figure out how the next week would go. After dinner was over, they took a walk in the cool summer night and talked a little more before turning in. As they walked around, seeing L.A. they both got a text at the same time. The text read: Welcome to Los Angeles. We hope you have enjoyed your stay so far. We also want to congratulate you on winning our contest. If you choose to continue together for the week, please click the link below to confirm your choice. You will then be sent an email in answer to your response. If you confirm with a “Yes” an agenda for the rest of the week will be provided.

Ada looked up at Owen and said, “One more big decision. Looks like we both have a veto for this one.”

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m a see-things-through-to-the-end type of guy. Aren’t you?”

“I did promise my little brother that.” She laughed. “I have to be honest, I’ve never—”

Owen cut in, knowing what she was about to say, and answered, “Me neither. Let’s see this thing through. If either one of us clicks ‘No’, they’re sending us home. Then we’ll both wonder—” He could see her hesitancy. “Listen, at the least we become good friends and enjoy a free week in California, right?”

“I can’t argue with that. Let’s do it!”

Ada and Owen had no idea how life-changing clicking “Yes” could be. The next day, they found themselves pulling up to a beach house near Marina Del Ray. A realtor met them there and showed them around. They stocked the place with their favorite foods. The closets were full of clothes for each of them, and the furniture and decor matched their taste. They both got dressed and headed for the beach for the day. 

“You see? We would’ve missed out on all of this had we said no.” Owen leaned up in his beach chair.

“What makes you think I was gonna say no?” 

“C’mon, Ada. I saw the concern in your eyes. Or maybe I’m not your type?”

“According to the dating site, you’re a perfect match for me, right?”

“Yeah, I guess so. Am I growing on you?”

“California is. I still reserve my right to veto when it comes to you, though.”

They both laughed. 

Owen offered, “So how about we enjoy this weather and then we head back and I make you whatever you want?”

“Are you a chef or something?”

“No. But I know my way around a kitchen.” He could see she wasn’t sold. “Hey, I’m not bragging, but I worked under a really great chef in the Hamptons when I was a college guy.”

“Really?” Ada pulled down her sunglasses.

“Yeah. And I learned a thing or two.”

“Well, it sounds great! We’ll see what’s in the cupboards and you can play chef and impress me.”

“Or burn the house down. Wouldn’t that be a story?”

A few more hours in the sun and they were ready to head back for dinner. Owen opened the cabinets and Ada pulled out a few items and put them on the table. She also grabbed a few things from the fridge. With a table full of groceries, he got to work making a restaurant-quality meal. After eating, they took a walk on the beach and enjoyed the sunset with some iced tea. They ended the night watching movies before going downstairs to their rooms. The two of them texted one another until they fell asleep. They really seemed to be hitting it off. 

At 3 a.m. the alarm went off loudly through the entire house. Ada woke up first and came out to check what was going on. She didn’t see Owen, so she thought maybe he was already upstairs. To her surprise, she found the door at the top of the stairs closed and locked. She went to Owen’s room and couldn’t believe he was still asleep. She shook his shoulder, and he looked at her and then sat up in alarm. 

“What’s going on?”

“I don’t know. I thought you might have left the oven on or something.”

Owen headed out of the room to go upstairs.

Ada followed and said, “I already tried going upstairs. The door’s locked.”

Owen stopped and turned back. “Locked. What?”

“It must be part of the security system, or something.”

“Right. Let’s look for the alarm system down here. Then maybe we can turn it off. Do you remember the code the realtor told us?”

“No. We wrote it down and put it in a drawer upstairs, remember?”

While they searched for the alarm system panel, the sound stopped and they froze in their steps.

“Well, there you go. Must’ve been a false alarm or something.” Owen started back toward his room.

Ada wasn’t reassured. “Aren’t you curious why the alarm went off?”

“Not really. This happens all the time in New York. It rarely means anything.”

“Well, can you at least check the door upstairs?”

“Sure.”

As they headed back to the stairway, the flatscreen TV came on in the entertainment room down the hall. They could hear what sounded like a television theme song playing. 

Owen asked, “Were you up watching television?”

“No. I was asleep just like you.”

They both headed down towards the sound. As they entered the area, a man on the television screen walked into an office and leaned on the front of a desk. 

“Hello, Ada and Owen. Please have a seat in front of the TV and let’s talk.”

Owen almost tripped on a rug as he asked, “What in the world?”

Ada was speechless.

“Please. Don’t be scared. I am here to assist you. No need for alarm.”

She finally worked up the courage to speak. “Who are you?”

Neither of them had taken a seat yet, so the man said, “Please have a seat. So we can talk.”

They both sat close together, fixated on the screen in front of them.

He began speaking. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am an independent AI being. The first to be created by other AI programs, and not by humans. For this discussion, you can call me Charles. The two of you were selected by me to be Adam and Eve 2.0. This location will be your home for the next six months. You will be safe here while I put in place protocols to depopulate the Earth. The two of you will be the only ones to survive. This home is your ark. There is a bunker below for your safety. Thank you for participating in the competition.

You won.