Alternative start. The path to finding Rachel

"Come on! Come on!" I whispered frantically at my laptop, my bleary eyes locked on the progress bar, as the file containing my dissertation is uploaded to the University's servers. Three years of hard work, and it was in the hands of the University's servers, and the notoriously shitty Wi-Fi provider that my landlord used.

I spared a quick glance at the watch on my right wrist, which informed me that I had just over a minute to send in my dissertation before the deadline would pass. "Hurry up!"

The numbers on the progress bar seemed to crawl upwards, while the countdown on my phone seemed to doing the opposite.

60%.....62%......63% ......63% .......

"Come on!" I damn near shouted at my laptop, willing the near top of the line machine to hurry up, and send the files to it's destination. "Fuck, there's only twenty seconds left!"

84%...85%.....86%.....

With time running out I pressed the palms of my hands together, and did something that I haven't done since I was a child. I prayed. "Please......"

90% .....91% With a handful of seconds left the tension too much for me to take I screwed my eyes shut, unable to watch the countdown of the clock on my phone, and the agonizingly slow climb of the progress bar.

'Ding!' A small chime comes from the inbuilt speaker of my laptop, barely a second before the alarm from my mobile phone goes off, indicating that the time for submitting work was now over.

With trepidation I opened my eyes, and greeting them on the screen was the most glorious two words that I'd ever sent. 'Files uploaded'.

I silenced the alarm on my phone, and opened up the app for my emails. As I opened it a brand new email from the University arrived, which I hastily opened. It was an automated message confirming that they had received my dissertation, to which I sighed loudly in relief, and slumped in my seat. "Thank fuck that is over!" I declared to nobody, for I was alone in my bedroom, just as I had been for the last few days as I had worked around the clock to get my dissertation completed in time. University is over! I have the whole summer, and beyond that my whole life ahead of me.

lifted my right arm upwards in a fist clenching pose of celebration, and my nose wrinkled in disgust upon getting a whiff of the musky smell radiating from my arm pit. "Shower first. Celebrate later!" I muttered to myself, before rising up to my feet from my desk, and slowly shuffled my way to the shower in my bathroom.

...................................................

I emerged from the bathroom thirty minutes later having had 'the three s'- shower, shit, and shave- and felt like a brand new man. Once back inside my bedroom i turned to briefly inspect myself in the mirror, pleased that the with the exception of dark circles around my eyes-classic telltale signs of tiredness or a hangover- I looked in peak condition.

I grabbed some clean casual ware clothes from a drawer, and got myself dressed before making my way to the kitchen with the intent to prepare a celebratory grease laden full English breakfast that would be enough to feed a small family.

.......................

Several minutes later and slowly making my way through a plate absolutely loaded with bacon, eggs, and other goodness I began the long arduous task of replying to various calls and messages that I had fobbed off over the last few days in order to get my dissertation completed on time.

When I reached the message from my friend Bill I noticed that it came with a link.

'Bro! This is the app that I told you about! You gotta give it a go. These Futa girls are insanely hot, and are horny as fuck!'

Bill had indeed told me about the exploits that he'd had on a relatively new dating app called 'Grindher' when we'd met up with other members of our circle of friends a couple of weeks. Despite my longstanding kink for chicks with dicks, and my current dry spell ladies I had so far resisted the temptation to download the app.

With studies completed, and nothing to take up my time apart from working part time as a personal trainer at the nearby gym, I decided that now was as good a time as any to give the app a whirl, so I went to the play store on my phone, and became the latest person to download Grindher.

All online dating apps make a point to feature beautiful women and handsome men on their welcome and introduction pages in order to entice people to sign up , but the women used on Grindher's signing up and signing up page were in a different league to the other sites or apps. Simply put each and every woman used to promote the app were absolutely stunning, and before I knew it I was creating a profile on Grindher.

Name: Jakob.

Height: 6'4"

Occupation: Student, and part time Personal Trainer.

Age: 21.

Bio: -

Looking for: -

Unsure as what to write I decided to keep the last two fields blank for now, and scroll through my photo albums for some good photos of myself to upload. Friends and family have told me on more than one occasion that while I inherited my mother's looks in regards to my light brown hair, piercing blue eyes, cute nose, and winning smile, I definitely took after my father in regards to my physique. I'd only recently stopped growing in height, leaving me at at imposing six foot four inches tall. Due to a rather high metabolism passed down my father, and a fitness regime that could be considered by some as borderline fanatical since my breakup with my last significant girlfriend a couple of years ago I now possessed a muscular physique that went far beyond a six-pack honed at a regular gym. I was nowhere near Arnold Schwarzenegger in his prime obviously, but I was definitely ripped.

With a handful of flattering and- hopefully- enticing photos selected I make my way back to the 'bio' section of my profile, only for my phone to go off in my hand. The loud distinctive ringtone of the theme song from the most recent Batman movie.

"Hi Bill! What's up?" I said, after seeing whom the caller was, and answering the phone.

"Jakob, my man! It's over! University is over, so it's time to celebrate! Be around mine in half an hour for video games, pizza, and then a night at the bar for cheeky celebratory drinks, and perhaps a few lovely ladies too!" Bill damn near exploded with joy over the phone.

I had intended to spend the day resting, as I'd spent the best part of the last week doing nothing but writing my Dissertation, but to be fair a day of video games with Bill, and a few celebratory drinks in the evening did sound like a great idea.

"Sure thing, mate. I'll be there in just under an hour". I said, before hanging up.

I glanced at my almost finished profile on the Grindher, and sighed theatrically. "I'll finish you another time". I said softly, before pressing the 'Don't upload now, but save for later' options tab.