Twice Loved

Story Sent in by Rita:

PlentyOfFish brought Russell into my life. He was good-looking and capable of abstract thought, which is a surprising find on that site. In one of his last messages before we met up, he asked me if I liked teddies.

Our conversations had not once broached sexuality. It was with that mindset that I asked him, "As in teddy bears?"

He didn't reply in his email, the last one before our meeting. When we did meet, in a mall food court, he handed me a white box with a bow. I hadn't expected a gift and was flattered, at first.

After we walked around a bit, before we were supposed to go to dinner, we sat down at a fountain and he asked me to open the box. I did. It was a sheer white teddy (the undergarment, not the bear).

I'm not the type to just sit and smile, so I called him on it: "This isn't an appropriate gift for a first date."

To my surprise, he seemed genuinely apologetic. He took it back and said, "I'm so sorry. I meant it as a compliment."

Deciding to believe him, I reassured him that it wasn't a big deal; it was only more of a fourth or fifth date gift, depending on how things went of course.

He asked me, "Want to come with me to return it? I got it right across the street and I don't want to carry it around."

"...okay."

He led me across the street to a thrift store. A thrift store. He had bought me a second-hand teddy!

I waited until we were out of there to spare him embarrassment and then said, "You bought me a used teddy? Are you serious?"

He said, "I figured you'd wash it before wearing it. You seem like a person who'd do that."

I was so grossed out that I made up an excuse before we even made it to dinner and ended the date.