"You think that’s the worst that could happen?"

The next day, after learning Connor had been fired, a colleague, wanting to comfort him, had invited him to meet up. They sat together in a coffee shop, by the window, during her lunch break. He cradled his Canadiano nervously, as she stared at him with concern in her eyes. Clearly she had thought of something he hadn’t, which was impressive considering the horrors his brain could come up with.

Connor nodded slowly, looking confused. “What could be worse?”

"You’ve never actually watched a dating show, have you?"

She then listed all the possible worst-case scenarios. To summarise: he could end up becoming a laughingstock worldwide.

"If that’s the case, I already am," Connor said, referring to the persistently viral video. His colleague caught on immediately.

"No, no. That just made you a hot topic.”

She suddenly lowered her voice and shifted the subject. “Oh, by the way, remember I told you my friend was interested in you?”

Connor recalled the message she had sent him when the video first blew up.

"Yeah. I’m not interested."

"That’s too bad. He’s the one ordering a coffee right over there,” she whispered, glancing momentarily toward the man at the counter.

Connor followed her gaze without thinking and nearly jumped when the man, having just finished his order, looked straight at him. There was no real reason to be startled, yet it felt like being caught doing something wrong.

The man looked surprised too, but when Connor’s colleague waved cheerfully, he returned the greeting and started walking over.

"Hey, how have you been?"

"I’m good. I’m just grabbing a coffee with my friend Connor here," she said, with a knowing glance Connor’s way.

“…Hey.” Connor greeted him reluctantly.

The man pulled up a chair and sat with them. Connor felt a twinge of unease. Why was he sitting with them? He braced himself for this new guy to bring up the video and try to hit on him. He tried to avoid looking at the guy too much, still, he could see he was a handsome. Very tidy, very well dressed, very well put together. This was a man who looked after his skin and ironed his shirts.

Surprisingly, the man said nothing about Connor’s internet fame. He just chatted briefly with Connor’s colleague, mentioning that his studio was nearby and he often came here for coffee. Connor silently decided never to come back to this café again. When the man’s drink was ready, he said goodbye and left.

He hadn’t hit on Connor at all. He unconsciously breathed out, letting the tension leave his body. Most men who were interested in him were a lot more direct about it.

When his colleague asked, “So? Still not interested after seeing him in person?” a sharp answer didn’t come quite as quickly this time. Instead, Connor said, “he seems like a decent guy, but I’m still not interested.”

“Shame. I suppose it’s no big deal though. You’re going on that dating show anyway,” she replied.

Her words yanked Connor back to reality. He ruffled his hair in frustration. In just a few days, filming would begin.