Love

This Was My First Post-pandemic Kiss

It was a mixture of excitement and adrenaline

I know it sounds crazy, but it’s true. After the pandemic started, I didn’t kiss anyone else. Crazy, isn’t it? But it wasn’t for lack of will, but for lack of opportunity.

With so many imminent dangers, I was frightened by everything that was happening in the world. So many people isolating themselves in their homes, so many people wearing masks, so many people looking for the best way to protect themselves from human contact — all of this was very terrifying, and even though I had a few flirtations on the phone list, I decided that the best option was to wait for things to “calm down.”

Those were tough times. I believe you must have been through it too, not being able to go out and not see anyone. Class meetings were virtual, love encounters were online, and hugs were given by emojis. It makes us feel lonely in many ways.

I think that’s when I decided to try dating apps to escape the boredom of the monotony of such a horrible pandemic.

That’s when I met Paul. He lived 80 km from me and we had never met before. I saw him on Tinder, liked his photos, and gave him a match. We started talking through the app, we were getting more and more intimate and soon he had my phone number. He would ask about my hobbies, my tastes, my dreams, etc. I slowly let go and talked more about myself, and I soon realized that we had a lot in common. He likes games, movies, books, and anime. He was smart, friendly, funny, and cheerful. All of these were important points to win me over.

After a few days of chatting outside of the dating app and from text messages (and a few calls), we couldn’t go without talking for a day. We started exchanging memes, funny videos, audio, photos — it was all so much fun. We have become friends, confidants, accomplices. We fell in love.

But there was a problem: we had never seen each other in person. We lived in the same city, but couldn’t meet because of the pandemic. We could only see each other through the screen of the phone, the zoom of the camera, and the sound of the voice. We wanted more, but we couldn’t have it.

There were long waiting times until one day finally the pandemic was brought under control. It wasn’t over yet, but now people could go back to doing their thing as they normally did — That’s when we set up our first date in August 2022 — Imagine how eager I was to meet Paul.

My heart was racing, my breath gasping, every time I looked in the mirror to see if my makeup was blurry or if I had any carrie on my tooth. I was nervous and anxious at the same time. I didn’t know what our reaction would be when we saw each other for the first time. What if he didn’t like me? What if I didn’t like him? What if there was no chemistry? What if there was? It was an explosion of emotions that even I can’t explain how it happened.

Our first date was in a park and I decided to arrive at least 15 minutes before the agreed time to make sure it was all real. I sat on a bench and waited for him while enjoying the view of the park. After some time someone calls my name and when I look back it was him.

He was gorgeous. More beautiful than in the photos. He wore a brown sweatshirt and a long white shirt, he was wearing sunglasses and his hair was silky and soft. It smelled really good. That was addictive.

We stared at each other for a few seconds and the question that didn’t leave my head was whether I hugged him or not. I was shy, nervous, and anxious. I didn’t know what to do. Then he stepped closer to me and asked if he could hug me, I nodded, and he pulled me close to his arms and I could finally feel the strength of his embrace, the yummy smell coming from his body, and the human warmth I hadn’t felt in a long time.

It was an explosion of feelings. I can’t quite explain everything that happened after that. I just know that we enjoyed that day really well, we did a lot of things together, we took a lot of pictures, we gave the ducks food — it was a lot of fun. For me, that moment was like “nirvana.”

Late in the afternoon, as we went to say goodbye, he gave me another hug — and finally gave me a kiss.

It was a feeling I hadn’t had in almost two years. I blushed, embarrassed, and at the same time excited. I didn’t know how to react. Then he asked me if we were going to have another date — You think I answered what? Of course I did, I wanted that more times lol.

We said our goodbyes and went home and the excitement didn’t keep me quiet all night. I felt like a child discovering my first love. It was so much fun.

Well, that was my first kiss post-pandemic. And just to top it off, today we are boyfriends. After about three months of hanging out together, he asked me out on a date for my birthday — It was a great gift. I’m happy with that.

Thanks for reading this far. Tell me your post-pandemic love story too :)