Love Match

"Amelia was very social and had been since birth, or so her friends later wrote me in emails. She was working for her Dad by then, having dropped out after we got married. When the restrictions hit the third week of March 2020, his business was not deemed 'essential' and had to be closed. He, his wife, and daughter raged at the unfairness of his business being closed while big box stores were left open, blaming the decision on politics rather than public safety.

"Understand, politically he and his wife were just right of Adolph Hitler, and that rubbed off on their daughter, especially after she went to work for them. In fact, Larry, her dad, was practically a disciple of Alex Jones, and often quoted InfoWars and Breitbart in stating his opinions. He was a conspiracy theorist, a denier, and a disclaimer. Emily wasn't much better.

Amelia would start in on his latest crazy BS with me, and I would get online and show her reputable sources that disproved whatever craziness Larry was spouting.

"After a while, she quit telling me stuff like that. I assumed it meant she had wised up; apparently, it meant she wasn't interested in the truth, if it inconvenienced the cockamamie BS she, her family, and her new online friends 'believed,' without even a shred of factual data to back it up!

"I was working and/or doing my school work online from home, and I convinced Amelia to enroll in a couple of online courses, hoping she'd use the time to restart her undergrad work. I spent six to eight hours per day in my office, and she was at the dining table about the same amount of time. Little did I know she wasn't taking classes, but was participating in chat rooms with other conspiracists, disclaimers, and deniers.

"All of this came out when I went through her computer much later, of course. Had I been checking up on her - which would have been easy - I'd have seen the direction she was headed... and I've have seen her start chatting with Darian Huxley on Reddit or one of the sub-Reddit sites they were using. Of course, I trusted my wife, and I felt it was wrong to spy on her, so I had no idea... until she was on a ventilator with advanced COVID! Then I started looking, and what I found was disgusting!

"Darian hustled her from the start! He played on her anger at the 'unfair treatment' of her father by the government, and added conspiracy bullshit and fake medical advice from unqualified and unreliable sources. One of his favorites was quoting 45 from back in February saying 'even if you got it, it wouldn't be worse than a cold.'

"By mid-March 45 was declaring a national emergency and closing things down, but they clung to his denials, saying it was well known that he was forced to pretend it was real or the 'elite that actually run the world' would have him and his family killed.

"Darian told her that he and his friends were shooting the bird to the government by hosting parties at an estate just west of Bee Cave, and she was welcome to come have some fun with likeminded people.

"I had no idea this was all going on, but she started insisting 'we need to get out of this damn apartment and do something, go somewhere'. At that time in early April, we weren't supposed to travel except in an emergency or to get food, but she wanted to 'go see some of my old friends who live out in the country where they don't have all these police-state regulations!'

"Knowing none of her friends would be masked, and there would be dancing and drinking rather than social distancing, I refused. She got mad and called me all kind of names, then left to go to her parents 'to cool off!'

"When she was hospitalized and dying, her parents admitted they encouraged her to go to the party that night and have some fun, confident the whole 'China flu' was a conspiracy to defeat Trump in the next election, not a dangerous disease.

"Anyway, she went, she danced, she drank, she took drugs, and she didn't answer her phone or let anyone know where she was for ten days. I was frantic! Her parents wouldn't tell me where she was, and the cops said she was old enough to make her own decisions, so no missing person report was taken.

"When she did return - to her parent's house, not our apartment - she had lost more than fifteen pounds, and she was skinny before she went to the party! She also had a bad sore throat, a bad cough, and was running fever. They gave her some over-the-counter medication the fake doctors recommended, but she got worse.

"Of course, I knew none of this! They told me she had left me because she was tired of being married to such as pussy, and kept her at their house. When her fever went over 102 and she was having trouble breathing, they finally got worried enough to take her to the ER.

"She had COVID-19! She was hospitalized, they were required to quarantine, and they both came down with it. Emily almost died on the same day their only child died, but her dad's was more like a bad case of flu."

Scott picked up his beer and took a long drink, angrily wiped a tear from his eye, and looked back at his distraught audience. He knew the worst was yet to come, and forged ahead - hoping it wouldn't all but kill him again, and destroy his relationships with the only people that made it feel good to be alive.

"Amelia was on a ventilator and was in and out of consciousness for several days, getting steadily worse. I couldn't go see her, and she couldn't talk on the phone with the tube down her throat! But she was able to me a few times when she was conscious.

"Mostly she apologized for 'the terrible things I did' without telling me what those thing were, but as the lights began to dim she apologized for not believing me and making fun of me. And she asked for forgiveness.

"I lied and told her I did forgive her, and I hoped to see her in heaven. But when her parents told me their part and asked for forgiveness after her memorial service, I told them they could go straight to hell! They cried and begged, but I turned and walked away, leaving them holding the urn with her ashes.

"This was weeks later, after they finally released her body, but my anguish was not a scintilla less! It's better today, but just talking about it makes me want to go kill both of them, and Darian!

"Oh, yeah - I left that little factoid out, didn't I? You see, Darian's online meeting with her wasn't chance - the crazy bastard was cyberstalking me, and found her on Facebook! He began stalking her, and learned about her political leanings from a Reddit site.

"But no, that's not all! Here's the kicker! He KNEW the guy who owned the house had Covid, or at least all the symptoms, and they had the parties anyway! He's the one who infected and killed Amelia!

"The injustice was that Darian never caught it, even though he spent the better part of a week porking my wife and videoing it! I know, because he sent me a copy just before her memorial service! And he wasn't the only one porking her - so were the owner, three unknown men, and two women! She was so strung out on whatever they were giving her she barely moved, but she never said no either!

"Do I forgive Darian, the other men, the women?

Well, I don't have to forgive the owner - he's already dead! Died of Covid three days before Amelia.

But the others? I hope with every fiber of my being that they caught it and died, or will catch one of the new strands and die suffering like she did!"

Scott quietly added, "So when I say I'm damaged, I guess you now understand what I mean..."

More vehemently, he concluded, "One last thing - you have the right to believe any crazy-assed thing you want to believe, but DO NOT EVER CONFRONT ME WITH THAT SHIT!"

A little embarrassed now, he sighed deeply. Looking toward his parents and Sabrina, he said, "And now you know why I'm so reluctant to give in and move here! I have a lot left to work out."

It was dead silent. Although everyone looked devastated, no one was even crying - they just looked overwhelmed and very, very sad.

"Any questions? This is your one and only chance."

He waited a moment, but no one spoke up. "Okay. Well, thanks for coming and sitting through my diatribe. Now I wish I'd just kept it inside."

"No!" Sarah yelled. "Don't you dare say that! I've known and loved you like a brother for more than five years, and I've never loved you as much as I do right now, Scott! What's more, I know everyone here feels the same way!" Sarah gestured toward her family, who unanimously nodded in quiet agreement.

"It took A LOT of courage for you to share your story with us tonight, and my love and respect for you has never been greater!"

When Sarah began talking, Scott turned his body to face her. As she concluded, he felt hands slide around his chest and a body snuggle up to him from behind. Sarah spoked quietly into is ear. "I've only known you for five days, but I've loved you from the moment I turned and saw you watching me on that parking lot. You may not believe in love at first sight, but I promise that is exactly what happened to me.

"That's an awful story, Baby, but knowing it doesn't change the fact that I love you. It doesn't make me love you less, or feel afraid of you. It makes me want to hold you and kiss you and make the bad memories go away. I just want to make new, happy memories with you, until what happened is just a distant, faded wisp.

"Our interfering parents have their hearts in the right place, even though I know you think we're trying to railroad you into something you're not ready for. No, Baby, they want to get you out of that toxic cocoon you've built around yourself. They want you to be here, among real friends, not acquaintances; around people who love you, and will always love you.

"And I want you here because I love you and I know my love will not only help you heal, it will make you love me too! Please, Baby, give us a chance - give me a chance. Move here, with the people that love and adore you, and give yourself a chance!

"You know you want to put the past behind you and get about living again," she said. Then she nipped his ear lobe with her teeth and assumed a more playful tone. "I saw that in everything we did all weekend, but especially in the cabin and on the river.

"If it helps, everyone in this room is vaccinated and boosted, and I don't think any of us even know who Alex Jones is!"

She turned him around, pulled him against her, and solemnly promised, "And I swear before God and these witnesses, if you let me into your heart, I'll never give you a reason to regret it!"

****

It was September 17 and summer was ending next week, so they had one last swimming party at the River Cabin. It was their nuclear group of friends - Ken, Melissa, Cody, and Sarah - so it was a relaxing and enjoyable weekend. Scott culminated the affair Sunday afternoon by taking a knee in front of his bikini-clad girlfriend and making her his fiancé.

That night he learned that she had moves she hadn't shared and elevations of temperatures hotter than the summer sun, and she assured him there was much more she was saving for her husband!

On Monday, Scott bought the house. He hired movers to take everything from his apartment and move it into his new home, and set the house up with the assistance of his friends and family. He also received plenty of assistance from his mother, his fiancé, and her mother in choosing the furnishings and decor.

He let them decide most everything, reserving for himself the choice of a strong four-poster bed with a deep mattress for the master suite, and a comfortable loveseat recliner for two, with drink holders, for the media room.

Sabrina was a good as her word, and their honeymoon to New Zealand, where it was now summer, was truly surreal. She really did save moves, tricks, and elevated temperatures for her husband, who learned that Summer Lovin' is amazing in any hemisphere!