I’d just put a dime in some sort of vending machine to buy some sort of newspaper I was planning to write or make videos for. It cost just a penny, so my change; what should’ve been a nickel and four pennies but seemed like nine pennies; landed in the little coin dispenser.

A co-worker; a girl who looked like a cuter version of Joanna Jędrzejczyk; stood in front of me; the exit door to a bright sunny day was just a few feet ahead; grabbed the coins before I had a chance to. She did it playfully, with a smile, pretending to steal my money.

“If I had a chance to clean it,” I said, “I would’ve snatched it right out of your hand.” I was known as somewhat of a germaphobe; I usually wore gloves, cleaned a lot and do disinfect my coins in real life; but she didn’t really laugh. She just continued to smile at me in a flirty way.

If she wanted me sexually, the feeling was mutual. If it was romanced she desired, we could’ve worked that out too. She wasn’t exactly my type, but she fit the criteria of being light-skinned; she was Polish or something; thin and short enough. Her face was just okay.

2026 May 06