Work Text:
Matchmaker
By Patt
William was doing his usual routine that evening when he went online to chat in a room of retired people. He had met a woman in a private chat room that seemed really nice, but he didn't know what to do about it from there.
Rose: Hi Bill.
Bill: Hi Rose, how are you doing tonight?
Rose: I'm doing great. I had a fantastic day and evening, lost ten pounds so I feel like a million bucks.
William wondered how much weight had she needed to lose and then realized it didn't matter. She was a really nice person, that's what mattered.
Bill: I'm glad, so how much weight did you have to lose?
Rose: I only had to lose ten, so I've done it now. I feel great. Yay me.
Bill: Yay you.
Rose: Thank you. What are you up to tonight?
Bill: I had dinner at my son and son-in-laws tonight.
Rose: What an interesting choice of words to say your son is gay. I like that you're not embarrassed. That's good to know.
Bill: I used to be, but I got over it and now I spend time with them all the time. I was a jerk, but I grew.
Rose: How old are you, Bill?
Bill: I'm 70. Does that bother you?
Rose: Doesn't bother me in the least. I'm 65, and proud of it. I have some grandchildren. I spend a lot of time with them, but I look forward to our chats every night.
Bill: So do I. That's one reason I left my son's house so early tonight. I was hoping you would be on.
Rose: Some day I would like to meet you, Bill.
Bill: Some day I would like to meet you too. But for now, I seem happy with our chats. I'm not sure what that means. Maybe I'm afraid you won't like me in person.
Rose: Oh Bill, don't worry about it now. We've got lots of time to plan for it. The meeting, I mean.
Bill: Do you own your house, Rose?
Rose: Yes, and since we're both in a Cascade chat room, we know that we both live in Cascade. I live in the North part of town.
Bill: I do too. We probably see each other at the market every week and just don't know it.
Rose: I'll have to be extra nice to everyone I meet, just in case.
Bill: Do all of your children live in Cascade?
Rose: Yes, I have two boys and they are both married and live in different areas in town. How about you?
Bill: I have two boys too. They are both married, one of them to a man as you well know, and I have one grandchild from my youngest son.
Rose: I have two. They are wonderful aren't they? Grandchildren I mean.
Bill: I couldn't agree more. I was wondering if you wanted my email address to send me email.
Rose: I think we should take it slow and just use the private chat room for now. I like this. It gives me something to look forward to. But I have to tell you that you're the only senior in this group that has talked to me. They all want younger women. I think they need to be in a different chat room.
Bill: I myself, would like to find someone almost my age, rather then look for someone I wouldn't have anything in common with.
Rose: As I said before, I really like you, Bill.
Bill: And I like you too, Rose. What do you have planned for tomorrow?
Rose: I'm redoing one of my bedrooms in my house for when my family comes to visit. Home Depot, here I come.
Bill: I love Home Depot, it's one of my favorite places.
Rose: Do you ever walk through the different aisles and tell yourself how you're going to fix up a room in your house?
Bill: All the time. I might work on my spare room tomorrow. Heck, we might run into each other there.
Rose: We'll just have to be very nice to everyone we see.
Bill: I usually am anyhow.
Rose: Me too, I was kidding.
Bill: Well, Rose, I hate to cut this off, but I have to get up early tomorrow for a doctor's appointment. So I better get to bed.
Rose: Are you all right?
Bill: Fine, just a check up. I had an allergic reaction to artificial sweetener and it gave me chest pains. I just have to be sure everything is still all right.
Rose: That happened to me once. How funny is that?
Bill: We have a lot in common, Rose. I'll talk to you tomorrow.
Rose: Goodnight, Bill.
Bill: Goodnight, Rose.
~~~~~
William signed out of the chat room and closed down his computer. He hated to leave, but he was tired.
While he got ready for bed, he thought about calling Blair and asking him some questions, but didn't want to bother them in the evening. He would call Blair tomorrow in the afternoon and see if he could talk to him about how he would approach Rose to meet her in real life.
For now, it was time for bed. William climbed into bed and fell right to sleep.
~~~~~
William finished his appointment with the doctor and thought about running over to Blair and Jim's to see if Blair was home. So he did just that.
When he drove up to the parking lot, he could see Blair's volvo parked there, so knew he was home. Jim was working that day, so William knew it was safe to talk with just Blair.
He got out of the car and took the elevator upstairs and didn't even knock when the door opened and Blair said, "William, what are you doing here?"
"Am I interrupting anything?" William asked.
"No, I just finished mopping all of the floors in the house and was going to sit on the balcony while everything dries. Sit with me," Blair said heading to the little refrigerator they had on the balcony. "Can I get you a bottle of water?"
"That would be great, thank you," William answered.
Blair and William both sat on the extremely comfy patio furniture on the balcony and relaxed.
"So what is on your mind, William?" Blair asked smiling.
"I need some advice. I've been in the Cascade Seniors Chat room for some time now and have been having private chats with a woman named Rose. I would really like to meet her in real life, but she's not hearing of it. She said it's better to take things slow and get to know each other more. Do you agree?" William inquired.
"First of all, that's great that you're doing that. It's a way to meet people in the long run. Rose probably is shy and doesn't feel comfortable enough to meet you. Maybe she's overweight or not gorgeous. It's much easier to be very pretty online. Does she have a good personality?" Blair asked.
"She has a fantastic personality and she even knows about you and Jim. I mentioned that Jim was gay and she thought it was great that I accepted him. I did mention that I didn't always accept him the way he was. But she said the important thing was I accepted him now. I really, really like this woman. She's so upbeat about everything, it isn't even funny. I wanted to meet her in person so I could court her in the right way. Not just online," William explained.
"Do you post pictures in this chat room?" Blair wondered.
"No, it's just a plain chat room. I wish we could do pictures," William said.
"William, what if I help you set up a My Space account and that way she can see your pictures? You can put pictures of yourself, of us and whoever else you want to put in there. That way she can see what you look like and it won't be as scary," Blair suggested.
"No, I wish she would let me email her. That way I could put a picture in the email," William said.
"Okay, no My Space. You could do up a family page on my website. I've got lots of room if you'd like to do that, we can do it now. I can shoot some good pictures of you and post them on that page. That way all she's got to do is click on the link and she's at the page with pictures. No muss or fuss. How does that sound?" Blair countered.
"That sounds terrific, Blair. We could do it now?" William wondered.
"Sure, I'm not doing anything and it would be very simple and easy to throw together. We'll just call it Bill's Page and go from there," Blair said.
"I love this idea. Thank you for helping me, because I'm lost when it comes to the website business. Do you think the floors are dry enough?" William questioned.
Blair smiled and said, "The floors have been dry for a while. I was just enjoying the outdoors with good company."
William beamed with happiness that Blair liked him as much as he did. "Okay, I'm ready to get started then."
They went inside and Blair took some good shots of William for the page then he got a picture of himself and Jim and was going to use that, and he had one of Steven, Rachel and Hope that he could use too. Blair got down to business and opened up the website, named it Bill's Place and got busy putting the pictures of William on it and also the pictures of his family. When Blair was done, it was very basic, but just what William needed to send to Rose.
When it was all finished, Blair sent the link to William's email address and William was set.
"Thank you for helping me, Blair. I think once she sees me, she'll feel better about meeting me. What do you think?" William asked.
"I think she would be insane not to want to meet you. But if she doesn't, William, it means she wants to take it slow. There's nothing wrong with slow, right?"
"Well, I'm getting too old for slow," William answered, jokingly.
Blair laughed and said, "Just play it by ear, and let me know how it goes."
~~~~~
William could hardly wait for 7:00 that night to get there. That's when they met in the chat room and William hoped beyond hope that she would be there.
At 7:00 sharp, he signed in and found her already there waiting in the private chat room. William felt his heart beat pick up the pace when he saw her name alone. William knew he had to meet her.
William got into the private chat room and started up.
Bill: I have a url for you to go look at.
Rose: Okay.
William sent her the url and then waited patiently to hear what she thought of it.
Rose: William, you're so handsome. You don't look your age at all.
Bill: Thank you. I don't feel my age most of the time.
Rose: Sometimes it's hard not to feel our age.
Bill: I was hoping that seeing me, would make you feel more comfortable with meeting me some day. Not now, but someday.
Rose: Perhaps someday. I believe in taking these chat rooms very slowly.
Bill: Have you had a bad experience?
Rose: Haven't you?
Bill: No, this is my first time in the chat room.
Rose: Let me tell you this much. I'm not gorgeous. I'm not ugly either but I've very typical looking and nothing to write home about and the last man I met left me at the restaurant because he didn't want to be seen with me.
Bill: I can't believe that. This was after he had talked to you a long while?
Rose: No, I met him right after we met online. We never chatted like you and I do.
Bill: Perhaps, he should have taken things slower and gotten to know you.
Rose: I would like to meet you, Bill, but I'm afraid.
Bill: We'll take our time then.
Rose: How about tomorrow at `IHOP'?
Bill: What happened to slow?
Rose: I really like you, Bill and I hope you like me too.
Bill: I'll be wearing a blue shirt and be there at noon. How does that sound?
Rose: That sounds great. I'm going to be wearing blue also and I'll see you at noon. Now I need to go, so I can have my nervous breakdown.
Bill: Please stay and talk to me. I so look forward to the evenings with you, so let's not mess that up.
Rose: I like you so much.
Bill: I like you too.
Rose: So when I was at Home Depot, I looked around hoping that I would see someone that looked like the person I talked to every night. But I never saw anyone that friendly.
Bill: I forgot to go. I was hanging out with my son-in-law doing the picture page.
Rose: That's so nice that you did that for me. You were right, it did make things easier.
Bill: I'm so glad. Tomorrow after lunch we could go to Home Depot together if you wanted to. I love to shop there.
Rose: That would be great, because I never made up my mind about two things, I could use another opinion.
Bill: I would love to give mine. I always seem to have an opinion.
Rose: Bill, my son is here, so I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow at noon.
Bill: Goodnight, Rose. Have a good evening and we'll see you then.
~~~~~
William signed off and called Blair.
"Hi William, what's up?"
"Blair, we're meeting tomorrow at the `IHOP' by your house at noon. I'm a wreck. God, I hope she likes me," William said.
"She will, don't you worry about it. But I want you to call after the meeting, and tell me everything," Blair said quickly.
"I will. Don't tell anyone about the meeting, okay? I don't want anyone to laugh about it, if it backfires on me."
"Don't worry so much, William. I'll talk to you tomorrow. Can I tell Jim when he gets home?"
"Yes, you can tell Jim. But please don't come because it would only make me more nervous," William pleaded.
"I'll wait for your call tomorrow. Good luck," Blair said.
"Thank you for everything, Blair. You've the best. Talk to you tomorrow," William said before he hung up the phone.
~~~~~
It was noon at the `IHOP' and William was standing in the entry way waiting for Rose to show up. He was wearing his favorite blue shirt that the boys had given him for father's day and kept looking around to see if there was a single woman heading to the door from the parking lot.
A woman in a blue shirt walked up to William and said, "Bill?"
William was shocked. She was not at all what he was expecting. She was quite a bit overweight, but still lovely.
"Rose, it's good to meet you," William answered.
"It's good to meet you too. Would you like to have lunch now?" Rose asked hopefully.
"That would be perfect," William said wearing a big smile on his face.
The two of them ordered, ate and talked non-stop while they were doing it. They were having a wonderful time together. Rose couldn't believe how nice William was. William couldn't believe how much he had in common with Rose.
"Would you like to go to Home Depot from here?" William asked.
"That would be great, thank you Bill," Rose answered.
"Thank you for what?" William asked.
"Thank you for sticking the date out and not running. You have no idea how scared I was of this. It was so much easier on the computer," Rose explained.
"I know what you mean. I was worried about what you would think of me when you met me in person, but you seem okay with me. Will wonders never cease?" William teased.
They finished lunch, William paid and then they each drove over to the Home Depot and met at the door.
They walked up and down the aisles picking things out for their spare rooms and talked the entire time.
"I can't wait to tell Blair all about you," William said.
"Bill, is that your son-in-law?" Rose asked.
"Yes, he's a wonder, let me tell you. I can't wait for you to meet them both," William said.
"So you think we'll give this dating scene a try?" Rose asked nervously.
"Oh maybe I was being forward. I just figured we were dating. What about dinner tomorrow night, my house?" William asked.
"That sounds terrific. Thank you for being so kind, Bill. I did want to ask you, do you go by Bill all the time?" Rose wondered.
"No, my name is William and I usually answer to that, so I was trying for something new and something different while online," William said.
"I would like to call you William also. I love that name. It sounds so much nicer then Bill. So William, what do you think about dinner at my house on Friday?" Rose asked.
"I think it's a date. They went up to the front and paid for their purchases and walked out to the parking lot.
"I hate to see this day end," William said.
"That makes two of us. Would you like to come for dinner tonight?" Rose inquired.
"Yes, I would. Let me take everything home, put it away and get cleaned up and then I'll head over to your house. Where is your house anyhow?" William asked, realizing they never discussed where they lived.
"I live at 2030 Hickorywood Lane. Do you know where that is?" Rose questioned.
"Yes, it's about two blocks away from my house. I'll be there at 6:00, is that all right?" William asked.
"That would be more then all right. I'll see you at 6:00. Thank you for the nice day, William," Rose stated.
William leaned in to Rose and kissed her cheek. "Thank you for the nice day also. I had a wonderful time. See you in two hours."
They both got in their cars and drove away.
~~~~~
William no sooner got home and the phone was ringing. It was Blair calling.
"Hi Blair, how are you doing?" William asked.
"We're dying here, how did it go?"
"She's everything I could hope for in a person. She's so nice and sweet and pretty too. I'm having dinner with her tonight at her house. So I have to get ready to go. Thank you for all of the help, Blair," William said.
"You are most welcome. I hope we get to meet her soon," Blair suggested.
"Maybe for breakfast this weekend or something. We'll figure it out. Just give us a little alone time first," William said.
Blair laughed and said, "Gotcha."
William got off the phone and began to get ready. He was like a kid once again and he for one really liked it. Rose had given him his number if he needed it and he called her quickly.
"Hello?" Rose answered, nervously.
"Rose, I'm getting ready to go and wanted to know if you need me to pick anything up at the store on the way over," William offered.
"Oh, I thought you were calling to say you couldn't come," Rose said happily.
"You're stuck with me Rose. I really like you," William said.
"Thank you, William. I really like you too. If you're ready, you can come over and keep me company while I make dinner," Rose suggested.
"Good idea. I'll be there in a few minutes. But do you need me to pick anything up?" William asked one more time.
"Nope, but thank you for asking," Rose answered.
"I'll be there in about ten minutes," William said.
"Oh before I forget, my last name is Lee," Rose added.
"And mine is Ellison," William said before he said goodbye.
William hung up the phone and smiled. He really did like Rose. She was fantastic.
Rose got off the phone and called both of her sons and told them how great William was. They were both thrilled for her, but asked her to still be careful. She laughed because she felt super safe with this man, and hoped that she would feel like that for years to come.
The end