Other than the death scare that COVID-19 gave us all, it hooked us on several social media trends. I am someone who hates jumping on new trends, but something that caught my attention while the world was quarantined was the Clubhouse app. It is a social audio platform where users can enter “Rooms” and listen to (and participate in) conversations about specific topics. By 2021, this app probably had one of the highest numbers of active users, and of course, I was one of them.
One room I could never afford to miss in those days was Dhruvin Busa’s. He is a digital content creator from Mumbai who held an interesting real-life stories room on Clubhouse every day. Honestly, I never missed attending his room because, knowing that the stories were non-fictional, my curiosity would not let me skip any. It was always abuzz with people sharing appalling real-life ghost, paranormal, relationship, and evil magic stories. Now tell me, why wouldn’t I be interested? However, with so many scary, Tinder Swindler-like stories, I was a bit afraid to interact with users there.
With all this, however, came a time when users became friends, DMing each other and eventually making plans to meet. That is when I met a guy on the Clubhouse app, and after chatting for a few weeks, we decided to go on a date. He seemed exactly like what I longed for in a guy—polite, funny, smart, and overall charming after I saw his pictures. So when he asked me out for dinner, I thought, “Why not?”
The day finally came, and the evening was going smoothly. The place we chose to meet was quite cosy, with the restaurant giving off a warm and positive vibe. While we enjoyed our scrumptious meal, we got lost in a casual yet deep conversation. It felt like we were connecting, and I was excited about the possibility of this turning into something. Little did I know that later that night, I would be the one sharing a bizarre story with the Clubhouse community!
After filling our stomachs, we decided to take a walk to a nearby park. A few moments later, we found a bench and continued talking. That is when he suddenly brought up the idea of foot massages. At first, I thought he was just being playful, so I laughed it off. But he was serious. He asked if he could massage my feet right there, in the middle of the park. Feeling awkward but not wanting to seem rude, I hesitantly agreed.
What happened next was something I could never have imagined. As soon as he started, he leaned down and, out of nowhere, asked if he could lick my toes. I went numb for a second. Was he joking? I awkwardly laughed, hoping it was just a weird comment, but he was not laughing. He was dead serious.
That was when I realised how serious this could get and that he might demand something even weirder. I quickly pulled my feet back, feeling extremely uncomfortable. I told him, as politely as I could, that I was not into that kind of thing. He looked a little disappointed, but he did not stop there! He told me how attracted he felt to my feet and insisted on licking my toes. After this, I told him to stop right there in a slightly stern voice, and thankfully, he backed off, apologising if he made me uncomfortable, which, of course, he did!
I tried to keep the conversation light after that, but honestly, the date was over for me at that point.
Even though I know people can have weird fetishes, I never imagined I would find myself in such a situation on a date. It was one of those moments that made me realise how important it is to communicate boundaries early on. Needless to say, there was not a second date!