Gold Digger

Hello and welcome to the 2020 Blogging from A to Z April Challenge! I’m writing one new meet-cute per day as part of my “Sacramento Love” theme. Read along as couples find themselves falling for folks in lucky locations across California’s capital city. In this time of social distancing, there’s no need to fear a little fictional fun, so get your romance fix here and enjoy!

P.S. Today’s story was inspired by Writer’s Block Coffee, who really are donating 100% of their sales today to Feeding America! They’re aiming to raise $1,000 for the hunger charity, so if you need to stock up on coffee (or just want to try something new), today’s the day.

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“Bitcoin,” he says, offering her a gold coin with inscriptions she’d never seen before.

“What’s that?” she asks, playing dumb.

He smiles. She smiles. The pitch begins.

“It’s a cryptocurrency. Encrypted currency. Like sending money on the internet, but better.”

“Better how?”

“Better like… you can make money in a game, and then turn it into money in real life.”

“What, like… all those bells in Animal Crossing?”

“Exactly. Cash out in reality. Stop buying fake furniture for imaginary animals and buy real furniture for your house.”

“So how does it work?”

“Darling, leave it all to me,” he says.

She sips her martini to hide her grin.

She’s finally found the perfect mark. Purely by coincidence, his name is, actually, Mark.

“I’ll take care of everything,” he says. “But first, let’s go see this suite of yours.”

He takes the drink from her hand and sets it on the bar, then pulls her from her perch.

She feigns wobbly legs. “I’m a little drunk,” she slurs.

“What room, sexy?” he whispers to her cubic zirconia earrings.

“606,” she whispers, handing over her keycard.

He steers her toward the elevator. She plays along, pretending not to mind his hand on her ass, giggling as they go. He’s clearly been here before, done this dance, taken advantage.

But so has she.

You may as well know: her name’s not really Nancy.