Genie’s Wish

Based On a True(ish) Story

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away – all the way to the West Coast of the good old U. S. of A., where all the fruits and nuts and crazy celebrities lived – one man was about to have his life changed forever.

Muwahahahah!

No, wait, sorry. I can see how that “muwahahah” – traditionally how evil villains laugh – can be misleading. His life was indeed about to change forever. But in a good way. A very, very good way.

Some might not agree. Some might say he’s worse off now. But I don’t think so. Don’t be so quick to judge. He’s so much happier now. So much… living his secret wish, albeit in an unexpected way.

Who am I talking about? Let me tell you about Henry.

Henry was a computer programmer. Sounds boring, right? If you’re tech-savvy, he mostly wrote C# — that’s pronounced “see sharp” if you didn’t know. Not “C hashtag” or “C pound” or “C number sign,” although I wouldn’t blame you if you thought that. C-sharp is an object-oriented programming language. It can be used for a lot of things. In Henry’s case, he used it to program video games!

Ah, his job suddenly doesn’t sound so boring anymore, does it? Looks can be deceiving. Always dig a little deeper. Remember that. Nothing is ever as it seems at the surface.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Anyway, Henry worked for SciFantastica Games, a small independent game developer, that mostly made interactive stories, role-playing games, simulations, city managers, and games like that. Thankfully, no “freemium” games. For whatever reason – wisely or unwisely – they decided to steer clear of those free-to-play, but must pay-to-win type phone app games.

And Henry was one of several programmers. He took the artwork from the artists and the story text from the writers, and created the code that brought it all to life in a fun, colorful, interactive playful game. Games that included themes, characters, and tropes from the science-fiction, fantasy, and transformation genres.

Henry loved his job. He wanted to make video games ever since he was a kid and played Super Mario World on the Super Nintendo. For a brief stint in college, he tried political science, but that was definitely not his cup of tea, so he went back to computer science, where he learned about object-oriented programming and C#.

But as much as Henry loved his job – that was about all he loved in life. Working as a game programmer took up a lot of his time. He commonly worked 10, 12, sometimes even 14 hour days at the office. Technically, his boss only required that he work the standard 8 hour shift, but there were deadlines to be met, he loved the work he did, and extra time put in allowed him to add nice little touches and finishing polishing to the game, that wouldn’t have made it in otherwise.

As for his social life? What social life? Henry had exactly 182 friends on Facebook. A total of 213 on Instagram. Only 71 on Twitter, but he rarely used Twitter. Most of these “friends” where either old classmates from high school or college that wanted to stay in touch, old friends from Ohio where he grew up, or other programmers and designers he found online and became virtual friends with. Often when he wasn’t sure how to code a specific problem, he’d contact them for suggestions.

But local, in-person friends? People he might go see a movie with, grab a drink or share a meal, or just hang out at one of California’s many sunny and warm beaches? Three. He had 3 local friends.

Two of which he met at his current job at SciFantastica Games.

One was a girl he secretly liked. Except it was totally obvious to her. And before he could even ask her out, she made sure to say what a great “friend” he was to her – and how much he felt like a “brother” to her.

Yeah. We’ve all been there.

Henry tried online dating. That was an experience all in itself.

He was constantly updating, changing, refining his profile. Sometimes he tried to be witty, funny, and creative. Other times he was brief and to the point. Some profiles were honest, raw, and vulnerable – showing the whole picture, sharing both his good and bad attributes. Other profiles only focused on the good stuff – maybe even exaggerated a little on how much he “loved to travel” or how long his last relationship was. Technically, his last relationship was a whole week. But he didn’t count her. Before her, he dated a girl for 10 months. He rounded it up to “about a year or so,” just so he didn’t seem totally lame and undesirable.

Most of the girls he contacted on dating sites never even bothered to reply. A few did, but half those “conversations” died off quickly. Some girls simply disappeared in mid conversation, never to communicate again. Others were so boring, had no life at all, and terrible communication skills in general, that he simply didn’t know how to keep the emails going. They never asked about him, or only asked simple “yes or no” type close-ended questions. They gave similar, brief, non-conversation-starting answers on their end, too.

Had people forgotten how to talk to each other?

How to show interest in another human being?

How to ask open-ended questions, get to know someone, see who they were beyond just a handful of carefully selected photos and a short, curated profile?

Once in a while, eventually, some of those conversations actually led to meeting up in person for coffee or lunch. Henry loved meeting new people. And after all that work just to get to this point, he was super excited and optimistic that maybe this girl, maybe possibly, could be “the one.”

She wasn’t.

He was lucky if it lasted more than one date.

He was lucky if, after that first date, she didn’t text him to say, “You seem like a really nice guy, but there’s no chemistry. Sorry.”

Henry wasn’t about to give up on finding love. Love was what made life meaningful. Love was what made the world beautiful. Love was what made life worth living.

He wanted to find love. He had to find love.

He knew somewhere out there was a girl for him.

She was probably online looking for him right now too. Feeling frustrated and disappointed at all the terrible bad dates she was going on. He knew his soulmate was out there somewhere.

He had to believe that.

He couldn’t give up hope.

Otherwise… otherwise… all he’d have was his work.

And as fun as making games was, he wanted more.

He wanted a girlfriend.

She didn’t have to be “the one.” Eventually, yes, he wanted to find and marry his soulmate. And have kids of his own someday. But he’d settle for just a decent girlfriend right now. Even if it was only temporary.

Somebody to call after he got home from work. Somebody to go out on dates with. Somebody to bring home… and… have a little “fun” with.

But month after month, nothing but dead ends and “sorry, no chemistry” first dates. And those months slowly grew into years.

And those years had stretched into more than a decade.

Henry was now in his mid 30s. He hadn’t had a “real” girlfriend since college. They were together after graduation, but soon she received a job offer at a law firm in Washington state. One too good to turn down. And Henry had just started working at SciFantastica Games down in San Diego, California. He couldn’t afford to leave and “hope” to find work up in Washington. So they tried doing it long distance.

But after a while, that wasn’t working out, and they officially called it off.

Truth be told, Henry suspected she was already seeing someone up there, before they even officially broke up. Just a nagging feeling. This new guy kept showing up in a lot of her pictures on social media. She said they were “just friends,” but the photos hinted at something more. Not surprisingly, after they broke up, less than 2 weeks later, she updated her status to “in a relationship” with that new guy.

And here’s the kicker.

I bet you didn’t see this coming.

Henry, at age 34, was still a virgin.

Well, “virgin,” if you don’t count oral sex. If you do, then technically he wasn’t a virgin. But his wee-wee never touched the insides of a girl’s woo-woo, so he still considered himself a virgin.

Why, you ask? How did an average-looking, reasonably-intelligent, gainfully employed man reach the age of 34 still as a virgin?

If you suspected religion was behind it, you’d be partially right. Both Henry and his ex, who’s name isn’t even worth mentioning at this point (that cheating bitch), grew up in conservative Christian families. They actually met on campus through the Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship club.

It was one of the things that initially bonded them together when they met in college. They were both “saving themselves” for marriage. It made dating much easier. Much simpler. Much safer. No risk of sexually transmitted infections. No risk of unplanned pregnancy. No needing to drop out of college early to get a full-time job to support that unplanned baby…

They still kissed and made out. And fooled around. Got really close to having actual sex a few different times. They satisfied that “temptation” by giving each other oral sex, which they both rationalized didn’t technically count. They both thought they’d eventually probably marry each other, some day. But then she started getting distant. He got busy at his new job. She transferred to Washington. And, well, you know the rest.

All his “relationships” since were either too brief (rarely getting past the first or second date), or online and long-distance (which made getting laid a little “hard.”) For several years there, he simply gave up trying. Lost all hope. Just focused on his career for a while.

It was just easier for him that way.

Less painful to think about.

Besides, he had high speed internet at home. He knew how to find porn. He could take care of himself most nights.

Sure, deep down, he wished he could be with a real woman.

It would be so much better.

He assumed.

It had to be better than whatever sock he was using.

But he really didn’t know. He used his imagination. He remembered what his ex’s pussy felt like, when he was fingering her or teasing it with his tongue. He tried to imagine, tried to visualize, what that felt like wrapped around his dick.

He also watched romantic comedies. He read erotica. Even found some kinky captioned pics online that helped feed his fantasies. Between that and an endless supply of porn on the other side of his keyboard, it was the next best thing to having a girlfriend in real life. To having an actual, physical, real lover.

He tried to tell himself it was maybe actually better this way. With a real girlfriend, he’d only be able to sleep with her when she was “in the mood” and/or not on her period. He’d also have to spend a lot of money wining and dining her. And, based on his experience with his ex, girls sometimes took a long time to reach climax. When she pleasured him, it was all over and he was done within minutes. Sometimes less. But when it was his turn to pleasure her… gosh, it seemed to go on forever.

She was always “so close,” but rarely ever came. Maybe he just wasn’t very good. He really wasn’t entirely sure he was doing it right.

But anyway, at home alone, right now, when it was just him… he only had himself to please. And when he was done, he was all done. He could close his laptop and go to sleep. The end.

Still… deep down, he wished he could be with a real woman.

Or multiple women.

After waiting so long… He didn’t care as much about “marriage” or whether or not some 2,000-year-old religion believed it was a “sin” or not. Clearly the Bible was not written for modern times. Back when it was written, people were lucky to live past 35. And often, he learned, back then a girl was married off shortly after getting her first period.

So expecting people to wait until their 20s, 30s, or even later in life to finally “get married” in order to have sex… was simply out of touch and out of date, he now believed. Safe sex, responsible sex, waiting until you’re both ready? Absolutely.

But not until marriage? Maybe not….

So anyway, Henry had some vacation time coming up. He felt he was in a rut. Stuck in a good, but not great, life. He had a nice apartment. He lived in San Diego, one of the most beautiful parts of the country. He had 3 local, in-person friends. That was something, right? He made good money. But… something was missing.

His heart felt empty.

He wanted love.

He wanted sex.

He wanted a girlfriend.

Or maybe, if he were completely honest with himself, he wanted several girlfriends. Now older and wiser, and no longer believing the same religious dogma he once subscribed to, he felt like he missed out on a lot of love, romance, fun, and pleasure in his high school and college years. And the subsequent years after that.

All those missed opportunities. Girlfriends who wanted to go further, but nope, he was “saving” himself.

For what?

Where was his wife? The one his pastor said God had promised him, for being a good faithful believer and not giving in to temptation? Henry began to wonder… would he ever get married?

…Did he even want to, anymore?

Sure, he did. Some day. With the right girl. He eventually wanted kids. He wanted to feel like he was part of a family, a tribe, a community where he was special and belonged. Where he wasn’t always so… alone… all the time.

But for now, he’d settle for just a hot girl to bang three or four times a day, every day, for a while just to get all this backed up and pent up sexual frustration out of his system.

More than once he considered hiring a prostitute. Las Vegas was only about 5 hours away. Maybe he could take a vacation there.

Maybe he should.

To get past this. Get over this. Just to finally have sex, and be able to move forward in life. Stop dwelling on the past. Stop worrying about yet another year going by, never having had sex. He didn’t want to be a 40-year-old virgin. He didn’t want to be a 34-year-old virgin.

Maybe Vegas was the answer.

He could use his vacation time. Do a little gambling. See a few shows. And have a legal, licensed, beautiful hooker come to his hotel room… and be the fantasy he never got to enjoy before.

Previously, he rejected the idea of a prostitute. He’d waited this long, he figured, so he wanted his first time to be “real” – with someone he loved. Or at least someone he knew and liked and would see again afterwards. But he was getting older. And more desperate. And maybe hiring a girl wasn’t such a bad idea, nor as shameful or dirty as he previously thought, and it would help take off the pressure and urgency to rush to “find someone” now.

After he finally lost his virginity, he could just relax, he reasoned. Take things slow. No rush. No pressure. No desperation. Maybe that’s why it wasn’t working with any of those online dates. He was trying too hard. And maybe this was the solution.

Get it out of his system. Off his mind. So he could let a real relationship blossom naturally. No pressure or expectations or anxious needs. Just… casual dating, until it grew into something more.

Yeah. He had some vacation time coming up. Maybe a little trip to Vegas was exactly what he needed.

He was at the office. Waiting on some new art assets from the designer. He had some time to kill. So he went online, looked up nice hotels along The Strip, and booked a room.

He then sent an email to his boss, officially requesting the time off. Maybe he should’ve done that first. Whatever. The boss replied about fifteen minutes later, saying his vacation was approved. Woohoo!

Las Vegas, here Henry comes…

Muwahahahah!

Little did Henry know how this vacation would change his life, forever, in more ways than one. All because of just one little mistake, that he didn’t even realize he made.

The room he booked was in a hotel called “The Second Chance Hotel and Casino.” It was listed first in his Google search.

His mistake? Not checking Yelp or any other sites for reviews. If he had, he would’ve discovered something very unusual about this hotel:

It didn’t actually exist.

There was no record of it anywhere. No proof it existed.

He was blissfully ignorant to this fact.

But had he known… had he checked… his life might’ve gone a very different direction.