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Iris looked over as Caitlin came in, looking wind-blown and pink-cheeked. “Still chilly out there?”
“And windy,” Caitlin said, smoothing her hair down and undoing her coat. “Fall is definitely here.”
“How was last night?”
Caitlin started to answer, but Cisco popped up from his workstation like a curious gopher. “Last night? What’d you do last night?”
Iris blinked. Cisco didn’t know about this already? “Oh, she - ”
“Went to the ballet!” Caitlin almost yelled. “I went to the ballet.”
He wrinkled his nose. “Are you eighty?”
“It’s a historic and beautiful art form and if you would just give it a chance - ”
“Pfffft,” he said. “I got Netflix, I’m good.” He wandered off with his tablet, making notations on a design.
Iris raised her brows. “The ballet? Did you decide against coffee with the Tinder guy? Or did it go that well?”
“Shhhh,” Caitlin hissed, skittering around the workstation. “Not so loud!”
Iris frowned at her. “What’s going on?”
“I didn’t go to the ballet last night,” Caitlin said. “I just said that because I knew Cisco would lose all interest.”
“So, coffee with Tinder guy …”
“That happened.”
“And?”
“And it was … nice, I guess.”
“Two questions,” Iris said. “One, does ‘nice’ mean you’ll see him again? And two, why don’t you want Cisco to know you had a date?”
“It’s not that I don’t want him to know,” Caitlin said. “I just - “ Her hands flailed a moment. “- haven’t told him yet.”
“You could have told him,” Iris pointed out. “About three minutes ago.”
Caitlin avoided her eyes. “I feel a little weird about it,” she said. “His breakup with Cynthia was so hard on him.”
“Yeah. In April. It’s now October. And what does that have to do with your love life? Cisco’s in a way better place now. He’s not going to be snarky and bitter because you’re getting some and he’s not.”
“We just had coffee!” Caitlin protested. “Nobody got anything except maybe a scone.”
Iris let out a little huh of breath. Even for Caitlin, she was being awfully prim about this. “Are you seriously on Tinder to find someone who wants to passionately hold hands?”
“Now you sound like Cisco,” Caitlin said.
“Speaking of,” Iris said.
“Look, I’ll tell him, okay? At some point. But until then, can you just not say anything?”
She held up her hands. “Okay, all right. But I can’t promise that Barry won’t figure it out and let it slip.”
Caitlin’s lips twitched, and they both burst into laughter. As long as it didn’t interfere with Flash business, Barry wouldn’t notice Caitlin was dating again even if she held a ticker-tape parade through the cortex for every guy she matched with.
Caitlin didn’t see the first guy again. She also didn’t see the second guy more than once. Or the third one, or the fourth one.
“No-go, again?” Iris asked as they grabbed morning coffee at Jitters. They went around an employee taking down the jack-o-lanterns and witches, and replacing them with turkeys and cornucopias.
Caitlin shrugged. “You remember what dating was like.”
Iris shuddered. “Oh, god, the flashbacks,” she muttered. “So are you waiting for someone to make it to the second date before you confess to Cisco?”
“Maybe. Yes.”
“Mmmm. Just be sure to mention it sometime before you get engaged, okay?”
“I’ll tell him,” Caitlin called over her shoulder as she went out the door into the crisp air.
“When?” Iris called back, following her.
“Eventually!”
But she hadn’t told him by Thanksgiving, or Christmas, or even New Year’s. When they lamented together how tough it was to be single at the holidays, Caitlin saw Iris raise a brow in her direction, and hastily changed the subject.
Anyway, no guy had gotten to a third date yet. She’d tried, really she had. A couple of times she’d thought there was enough of a spark that she’d accepted a second date. But there was always something missing.
She wasn’t sure what.
January brought the usual post-holiday doldrums, and this year, they hit especially hard. Caitlin did everything she could to increase her serotonin levels - brisk walks in the sunlight, romantic comedies watched from her couch with a fluffy blanket, getting her full eight hours of sleep as often as possible considering she was part of a superhero team. But the doldrums still dragged at her.
She ordered extra whipped cream for her mocha latte, but when it came, she dabbed her finger at the frothy peaks and didn’t drink.
“What are you doing here?”
She jerked her head up to gape at Cisco. He stood by her table, grinning at her. “Cisco,” she said blankly.
“Hey, stranger,” he said. “Does Jitters know you’re cheating on them?”
“I - uh - ” She looked behind him and relaxed when she didn’t see her latest Tinder match. She was a little early. So she just had to chat to Cisco for a moment and then rush him out of here before Alex arrived. “Someone recommended it to me, so I thought I’d try it out.”
“You went across town to check out another coffee shop?”
“Well, and there are … stores in the area … with sales … ” she mumbled. “What are you doing here?”
“Hitting one of those stores with the sales,” he said, hefting the bag he carried. “New phone time.”
“Wow,” she said. “Fun.”
“Plus some other toys,” he said, dropping his bag into the seat across from her. “Hey, you mind looking after that? I need some cappuccino. Be right back.”
“Um,” she said, watching him take his place in line.
Oh, hell.
For a cowardly moment, she contemplated running away. But not only would Cisco be puzzled and hurt, Alex would arrive soon, and would think she’d stood him up.
Okay. Okay. She could handle this. Alex wasn’t here yet, so when Cisco came back, all she had to say was, I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m actually here on a date. Can I talk to you tomorrow?
Yes, yes, that was good. She could handle that. He would get it. He’d definitely have some questions for her tomorrow, but -
“Caitlin,” said a voice, and for the second time in five minutes, she almost jumped out of her skin.
“Alex,” she said.
“You’re early,” he said.
“So are you,” she said, feeling inane. Oh no, no, no. She should have listened to Iris. She should have told Cisco that she was dating months ago, because he would have assumed that was why she was here. He would have discreetly melted out the door upon seeing Alex and sent her a text with his opinion later.
Now what was going to happen?
Alex glanced at the bag on the chair. “Doing a little shopping?”
“Ah, actually,” she said.
He pushed the bag over and settled into the chair. “So,” he said. “How’s it going?”
“Pretty good,” she said. “You?”
“It’s a nice sunny day today, I have a date with a pretty lady - ” He gave her a charming, yet somehow plastic smile. “I’m doing really well. So what kind of things did you get?” He leaned over, opening the bag. “Cute earrings? New shoes?”
“That bag,” she said. “It’s actually not - ”
“You’re in my spot, buddy,” Cisco said.
He’d returned from the coffee line, with a large chocolate-chip cookie in his hand.
Alex looked up slowly and disdainfully. “Excuse me?”
“You’re excused,” Cisco said, waving a hand at the door. “Begone.” He took a healthy bite and stood munching, looking cheerful and unmovable.
“Who are you?”
He swallowed cookie. “I’m the guy having a coffee with the nice lady, and you’re the guy who’s going to stop bothering her. Now.”
Alex got up, chest puffing out, feet squaring up. “Bothering - ?”
“Okay!” Catlin almost yelled. “Okay. Let’s clear some things up here, shall we? Alex, this is Cisco, a good friend of mine. Cisco, this is Alex, and we are having a date. It was very nice to run into you today. I’ll see you at work tomorrow, okay?”
Cisco’s eyes moved from Alex to her and then back again. His mouth closed. He swallowed. “My bad entirely,” he said. “Sorry about that.”
“It’s okay,” she said. “I didn’t tell you before.”
“Alex, buddy, you mind passing me my bag there?”
Alex scowled and made no move.
Caitlin reached over the table, managed to snag the handles with the tips of her fingers, and handed it to Cisco.
“Thanks,” he said. “Sorry again about the mix-up. You kids have fun, now.” His eyes lingered on Caitlin for a moment, looking confused and dismayed, and then he went up to the counter, where they’d just called his name. He said something quiet to the barista and got it transferred to a go-cup.
Alex straightened his shirt and sat back down. “I thought he’d never leave,” he said.
“Mmm,” Caitlin said, looking away from where Cisco was walking out the door. She pasted her familiar first-date smile on her face and reminded herself, as always, to give this one a chance. “Sorry about that,” she said. “So. What do you do?”
Cisco had texted her, just a quick note so she had his new phone number. No questions, no comments, just hey this is Cisco so you can add me back to your contacts
After saying goodbye to Alex - and ducking his attempt at a farewell hug - she drove back to her end of town. But instead of taking the right that would lead to her place, she kept going straight until she was outside of Cisco’s building. His car sat in its assigned parking space, but that didn’t mean a lot. He only used it to haul big things around these days. It could sit there for weeks on end.
She knocked at his front door and waited.
He opened it after a moment. He didn’t look completely surprised to see her. “Hey,” he said.
“Hi,” she said. “Could I come in? Just for a minute.”
“Yeah, sure.” He let her in and shut the door behind her. “Sorry I spoiled your date.”
“You didn’t,” she said.
“Well, you’re here. So it doesn’t seem like it went great after I made an ass of myself.”
“That wasn’t your fault,” she said. “He was a jerk to you, and after you left, he kept making these little comments about how many guys I had on my string. Even when I told him we’d run into each other by accident.”
“Well, fuck him, then,” Cisco said. “Or, you know, don’t.”
“Right. I don’t think I’ll see him again.”
“Good,” he said. “So how long has that been going on?”
“That was our first date,” she said.
“Yeah, no, I kind of got that. Coffee shop meet, in the afternoon, and you haven’t had that new relationship sparkle in your eye. I mean, how long have you been dating again? Was that your first dip back into the shark-infested waters?”
She shook her head. “I’ve been … out there for a few months.”
“How many months?” he said suspiciously.
She hung her head. “October.”
“October?” he said. “So that’s what you and Iris have been whispering about the whole winter.”
She nodded.
“And why you always seem to be busy whenever we have any time off?”
It was true she’d been turning Cisco down for hanging out quite a bit over the past few months. “I’m sorry.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I - I - ” She clutched her knees. “I felt weird about it.”
“Well, sure, after keeping it on the down low for the last three months.”
“I mean, at the beginning. I felt … I didn’t want to say anything. You were in such bad shape.”
“After Cynthia?”
She shrugged.
He leaned forward. “Yeah, I had it pretty rough there after my breakup. Didn’t want to hear about love in any form. But by October, I’m pretty sure I could have heard that my friend was dating without bursting into tears or trying to down a fifth of vodka.”
She met his eyes and thought, I didn’t want to admit that I was seeing other men.
Wait.
What?
Other men?
He frowned at her. “Caitlin, why was it a big deal?”
“It wasn’t,” she said quickly. “I was being stupid. And the longer I went without saying anything, the weirder it would have been. But I should have told you, and I’m sorry.”
His mouth twitched a little at the corners. “Forgiven,” he said. “I mean, in the context of us, this isn’t that big of a deal. Besides, uh - ” He gave her a sidelong look. “I’ve been hitting the apps myself.”
“You have? For how long?”
“About a month now?”
She raised her brows. “And you didn’t tell me?”
“I'm not putting all that much energy into it. I'm just swiping every now and then, seeing what's out there … “
She gave him a look.
“Okay!” he said, lifting his hands. “Okay. I felt weird too. We’re even.”
She thought Why would you feel weird? but didn’t ask. After all, she herself hadn’t known why for the past three months.
He got up and headed to the kitchen. “I’m making hot chocolate, you want?”
“Sure,” she said, listening him rustling around in the cupboards and getting milk and whipped cream out of the fridge. “You know, it would have been pretty funny if we’d found each other on there.”
The rustling paused for a moment. “Would’ve been a step up, is what it would have been. Is it me or is everyone on there terrible now?”
“Not terrible,” she said. “Just not … what I’m looking for.”
“What are you looking for?”
“I’m not even sure,” she said. “I just know I haven’t found it yet.”
The microwave beeped a few times and started to whirr, and he came back. “I can’t believe I missed three months of crazy stories. You know you have to make up for that.”
She tilted her head and shot him a grin. “There was the guy who had his horse in his profile.”
His eyes went wide. “I don’t know whether to hope that’s a euphemism or not.”
“No euphemism. Actual equine. A nice one, too. He owned it, or trained it, or something.”
He busted out laughing. “Tell me you matched.”
“We did, but then he sent me a picture of his, ah, euphemism.“
Cisco let out a giant snort of laughter.
Caitlin grinned. "Then I sent him the video of Bill Nye sticking a hot dog into a cup of molten lava. Then he unmatched me.”
He shook his head. “Some guys just can’t take a joke.”
Caitlin spent most of the evening at home turning her own stray thought over in her head. Other men, she’d said to herself. Not that she was seeing men, but other men.
Grammatically, it made sense. After all, Cisco was a man, and she was seeing men who weren’t him, so in that sense, they were other men.
But there was a loaded assumption behind the phrase seeing other men, and it kept Caitlin up half the night. Staring at her ceiling, she carefully thought through the ramifications of that assumption, working her way out onto it like it was a frozen pond she was testing for sturdiness.
She thought so long and hard into the night that she was bleary-eyed and sluggish the next day, sucking down the largest and strongest coffee that Jitters had to offer as she made her way into Star Labs and turned on the lights in her lab.
When she reached over to turn on her computer, her hand knocked an artfully folded piece of paper off her keyboard. When she picked it up, she found the front was a mock dating app profile, with Cisco’s brightly grinning face taking up most of the “screen.”
Cisco, 29, Central City
Hey there, I’m just getting back into dating after a breakup last year. I’m a fun, geeky guy looking for someone smart, nerdy, and cute as hell, who understands that we both have crazy lives. I'd love to have someone who's my best friend and my partner all in one.
She gaped at it.
A note at the bottom caught her eye. Swipe!
She hesitated, then put her finger on the paper and dragged it to the right. The paper unfolded. Behind it was a mock text screen, with a bright blue bubble saying, Awesome, you swiped right! Since we’ve had about a million gallons of coffee together, do you want to get dinner?
A slow smile began working its way across her face.
She folded the paper back together and then, curious, dragged her finger to the left. The paper unfolded in a different way.
It was another message screen, but this one said, You swiped left? Well, I’m sorry about that, but you’re still my BFF. Good luck out there and tell me if you ever need a Vibe special background check.
She smiled at it stupidly. Not only had he allowed for her rejection, he’d thought of the kindest possible response to it.
“So,” Cisco said from behind her. “What’d you swipe?”
She turned in her chair. “Right, of course.”
His face lit. “Yeah?”
She nodded. “I’d love to go to dinner.”
He grinned at her. “And this time I have an excuse to pull the 'she’s with me’ card if any randos try to hit on you.”
“Because I will indeed be with you.”
His grin got bigger. She smiled back.
She looked at the profile again. “This is so cute. When did you decide to do this?”
“About the time I realized how incredibly badly I wanted to kick Alex’s smarmy ass.” He came in and sat down across from her. “I thought about making an app to put on your phone, but that’s always such a thing. So I watched about six videos on paper engineering instead.”
She toyed with it, smiling. “You could have just asked.” She'd been psyching herself up to do just that.
“I could’ve,” he said, and cocked his head. “But that wouldn’t’ve been half so cute, now would it?”
“No,” she said, laughing. “Thanks for including the swipe left option.”
“I wanted you to know it was okay if you didn’t want to go out with me. That we’d still be friends.”
And thoughtfulness like that was why she’d swiped right. “I think I know what was missing with all those other men,” she said.
“What’s that?”
She reached out to take his hand. “None of them was you.”
The sun fell through the skylight, flooding the cortex with delicate light. It had finally warmed up, the last of the snow had melted, and flowers were popping up all over Central City. And the Flash had successfully defeated his latest arch-nemesis, with the help of his faithful friends at Star Labs.
Yep. Life was good.
Barry kicked back, contemplating lunch. “Hey, guys,” he called out to Cisco and Caitlin, who were just walking out the door together. “You going to eat?”
“Yep,” Cisco said, waving. “See ya later.”
“Hang on, I’ll go - ” The elevator shut and Barry blinked at it. “Huh.”
Iris held out her phone. “Here, babe, I’m ordering in from that new Chinese place. What do you want?”
Immediately distracted, he surveyed the menu before ordering the entire left side, and handed the phone back. “Wonder why they went out? Did they know you were ordering?”
“Yeah. Maybe they didn’t feel like Chinese,” Iris said, adding her own order and sending it off.
“They’ve been hanging out a lot lately,” he said. “You notice?”
Something seemed very funny to her. She grinned to herself as she plugged her phone into its charger. “Now that you mention it, they have.”
“He went to the ballet with her the other week, and she went to CentralCon with him last month …”
“Sounds like they’re having fun together.”
He glanced at one of the scanners, which was dead quiet. Apparently all the criminals were enjoying the spring sun, too. He’d get to eat lunch with his wife, he wasn’t going to turn that down.
Suddenly he laughed.
“What?”
“I just had the craziest thought. Wouldn’t it be so weird if they started dating?”
Iris stared at him for a moment.
“Like, each other,” he clarified.
She slowly shook her head.
“What?” he said. “I mean, I guess it could happen. They’re both single, right? What’s that face?”
“Just thinking, it’s a good thing you’re cute.”
“Aww, thanks,” Barry said. “You’re cute too. Wait. What did you mean by that?” He craned his neck to peer after her as she left the room. “Babe?”
FINIS