Full Body Chills - Unlucky In Love

Episode Date: October 14, 2021

A story of hopeless romantic lured by her desires down a path of demise.Unlucky In LoveWritten by Sugani WignarajahYou can read the original story at http://fullbodychillspodcast.com/ Looking for more chills? Follow Full Body Chills on Instagram @fullbodychillspod. Full Body Chills is an audiochuck production. Instagram: @audiochuckTwitter: @audiochuckFacebook: /audiochuckllcTikTok: @audiochuck

This episode was produced with audio effects in full surround sound. For the best experience, we kindly recommend you listen with headphones. Hi, listeners. I'm Marlene Martinez, and I have a story I want to tell you. A story of a hopeless romantic, lured by her desires down a path of demise. So gather around and listen close. There are those who've got it all. Money, looks, talent. And then there's everyone else.

The people just living to get by. The normal guy or girl with the normal life. Your average Joes. That's where I live. Dead and center. The normal of the normal. It's where I've always lived, no matter how hard I tried. Growing up, I'd spend hours studying, but my grades were nothing more than okay.

So the best I could do was get into an okay college, which finally landed me a job that was, you guessed it, just okay. At work, I'd be the first one in, last one out, dedicated. But for every promotion, I was passed up for someone else. Even among my friends, I wasn't anyone special. No one's BFF and far from the life of the party. But I got used to all that. Sure, I would still fantasize. I'd wonder how it would feel working your dream job or even sitting at a

bar and having a drink sent over just because someone liked the way I looked. But that never happens. No one looks at me with my dead straight brown hair and round baggy eyes thinking, wow, she looks amazing. It will probably come as no surprise that my love life wasn't that great. My high school boyfriend, Leo, was an absolute dick. A lot of cheating and lying. I kept forgiving him and going back, and it spiraled from there. There was Sam, the druggie, who kept stealing money out of my purse. Craig, the violent drunk.

And Mike, the no-job narcissist. My friends would tell me repeatedly that I was too forgiving a doormat. But after the fifth or sixth bad boyfriend, the pity well dried up. Then they just left me to my miserable life choices. I hopped from one bad relationship to the next until I was almost 30.

Until I met Aaron. Aaron would change my life. I was at this crappy bar celebrating a friend's birthday when I saw him. He was on a work night out, drinking awkwardly with colleagues he would rather not see outside of the office. He had the sweetest laugh, and the way his eyes would crinkle up when he smiled just hypnotized me. I was obsessed. Later that night, as we stood by the bar, he sparked a conversation, and like they say, the rest is history. All the years of being in the background, being average, being okay, was worth it.

I didn't care about it anymore. All I cared about was Aaron and Aaron's opinion of me. He thought I was charming and funny. He loved me. He told me so all the time. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with me, and I could see it. I dreamed of Aaron and I together forever. And it felt like my entire life I had been numb, like I had just been coasting until this moment.

And now I wasn't just existing, I was living. And it was amazing. Up until he cheated on me with his assistant and then everything changed. Everything was broken because Aaron didn't love me anymore. Because he loved her. I was on my knees begging him to stay. I can still see it, the look of pity in his eyes as he picked up his

bags and left. I would never see him again. I sat there craving for my numb, plain old life back. How could he let me believe that I could live anything more than my average life? I fell apart. I alienated my friends, avoided family, and slipped away into the company of cheap wine. It was hard coming out of that place, but I'm proud to say I did. I gathered whatever little bit of courage I had left and tried to start fresh. Eventually, I even downloaded a dating app. I got set up with an account, started swiping, and then a notification. Someone had liked me. Charles. And he wasn't too bad. Slightly overweight,

a little balding, but he had a great smile. And most of all, he liked me. This was it. Maybe my luck was changing. Finally, I was ready to live again. Our first date came around pretty quick. The whole day I was prepping and preening myself and with the help of a few YouTube tutorials, I was learning how to blow dry my hair and blend not two but three eyeshadows together. It looked good. I looked good. I was nervous as hell, but a part of me felt like this was it. My chance at a better life, a better boyfriend. My mind ran through a field of fanciful thoughts. Maybe this could be the one?

Was I meeting my future husband? But surprise, surprise, the date was a bust. The real Charles was at least 10 years older than his profile pic and left me just a little overdressed in his Star Wars t-shirt. The sleaze spent the entire evening talking only about himself and drooling over my chest. By the time our meal came, I had heard enough of his sly comments to guess his intentions. He was looking for a one-night stand. I meant nothing to him and never would.

Why did I think he'd be any different? While the betrayal bubbled inside of me, I kept a pretty face. If I couldn't get an honest date, then at least I'd make the most out of whatever this was. The next morning as I strolled into work, a notification rang from my phone. I had another match. I was ready to delete the app after last night's disaster, but then I thought, maybe I'll give it one last chance. Fine, last night's date had been a bust, but maybe this new guy could be the one.

Yeah, I know what you're thinking. I'm an idiot. But I just couldn't give up. At least I was better now. Now I don't let people take advantage of me. Now I don't let those people back in my life. I make sure of it. That second date was a bust too.

Is everyone just out for themselves? Is it all one night stands and sex these days? Fine if so, but don't tell me you're looking for a relationship and be like that, right? Whatever, like I said, I just make sure I cut contact with these kinds of people and then keep trying. Which brings me to tonight. I'm sitting alone in some dingy pub trying to get the barman's attention. It's 20 minutes until I finally get a glass of Pinot Grigio in my hands. I guess even dressed up, I'm still invisible.

It was date number one with match number, I forget. But I had high hopes for this one. A six-foot accountant who loved dogs and had great brown hair that fell perfectly across his head. But he was late. After failing to get the barman's attention for a second time, I just waited there and started scrolling through my phone. I skimmed through the headlines, something about a celeb divorce, an affair, political scandal, blah, blah, blah. But then there was a headline that made me sit up straight.

Dating app murderer strikes again. Nervously, I clicked the title and started reading through all the grisly details about how a murderer was preying on victims through this dating app and how the police had no leads. I read about the victims and how they died. The first had been found with their skull smashed in and the next was found dead in a car park. The car park victim, or Charlie, as friends called them, was described as popular and funny. Someone who had recently entered the dating app world and was nervous.

I read on. As far as police could tell, there didn't seem to be a clear MO. Some of the victims died from blunt force trauma. Others were strangled by some kind of rope. Should I have been scared? What if I was too trusting? Based on a few reports, police had a working description of their suspect. They had brownish hair and were attractive,

or at least charming in a way that they could isolate their victim. Just then, my six-foot accountant walked into the bar. For once, my date looked just as they advertised on their profile. I threw my phone away, quickly forgetting about the dating murderer or whatever. He apologized for being late and then went to order drinks at the bar. He was served immediately. There was a petite blonde across the room

who kept eyeing him. I got a bit of satisfaction knowing he was on a date with me. Plain, average me. And he was just looking at me, right? I thought I could see him looking at her, but no. He was here, on a date with me. I was the one he was interested in. My mind did that thing again where it wanders to all those dreamy thoughts. Our wedding day and future kids, thinking it'll be like how it was with Aaron before he broke my trust. Aaron, who was the first one to let me feel special and wanted, feeling like someone was

interested in what I had to say and how I looked, feeling like someone loved me. I was caught off guard as my date leaned in close, his whiskey breath hot against my neck. Let's get out of here, he whispered. What? No, no, I must have misheard. He wasn't like the others. We were only here for 20 minutes. This was supposed to be our date, the beginning of our relationship. He wanted to get to know me. But as I met his eyes, I saw what he truly wanted. Sex, a one-night stand, just to use me and dispose me. I mustered a smile. Sure. Let's go, Aaron. Crap. This wasn't Aaron. He looked at me, puzzled.

Sorry, I exclaimed. Too much wine. I meant Danny. I giggled a little, hoping he wouldn't notice. He didn't. Why would he? It's not like he cared. As I put on my coat and followed outside, I wondered when he'd make his move.

Would he wait until we got back to his place? Or would he pounce on me the first chance he got? The thought of car park Charlie flashed across my mind, but I shook it away. Feelings of fear and anxiousness were welling up inside me. But there was something else, too. The adrenaline. My heart was racing now. It came whenever the guy initiated a one-night stand. Yeah, I guess at a certain level, I enjoyed it. Even though the next morning, I felt like rubbish and guilty. But right now, in this moment,

I loved it. I craved it. Ready? He asked. I nodded with a smile. I slipped my phone into my purse and slowly caressed the thin nylon rope hidden inside. Would it happen in the car? Or at his place?

I guess it didn't matter. Either way, he was going to pay for treating me this way. For lying and breaking my trust. For being just like the others. He had no intention of seeing me again. And that was okay. Because I make sure to cut people like him out of my life. Forever. This series was produced by Ashley Flowers and David Flowers.

This episode was written by Sugani Wignaraja and read by Marlene Martinez. This story was modified slightly for audio retelling, but you can find the original in full on our website. Full Body Chills is an audio Chuck production. So what do you think, Chuck? Do you approve?