Ping-Pong!

The elevator doors opened, revealing the gorgeous view that awaited all visitors of the Grand Hotel’s rooftop plaza. Harry stepped out excited for what awaited him. On the Grand Hotel’s roof was an open-air restaurant and the location of Harry’s first date with Alice, a girl he met on an online dating app. He had been striking out a lot recently and was becoming increasingly less confident in himself with every bad date, but he still had high hopes that this one would work out. A former cheerleader turned model, Alice was exactly his type: athletic, sexy, and tall. How tall? He didn’t actually know; it wasn’t listed on her profile, but he assumed that meant she was tall and too embarrassed to post it.

Of course, she had great pictures on her page, though they all had a generic background of the sky with no other details. All his friends were skeptical. “Dude, these are obviously photoshopped. She’s just going to end up being a creep or a serial killer.” But Harry didn’t believe them. He couldn’t. How could he find happiness if he turned down every attractive girl that showed interest in him? “She’s too hot. There must be something wrong with her,” they’d say.

“So what?” he’d respond. “It’s worth a shot. Worst case: I’d have a funny story to tell later.” Harry went all out for this date: new suit, freshly polished shoes, hair trimmed and styled, and a clean shaven face. Alice had made the reservations as the Grand Hotel was apparently her signature spot. It was a bit classy for a first date, and a bit pricey for Harry’s salary, but he could respect the high standard she set and knew a good relationship was worth investing in.

Harry may have had no luck with dates, but he wasn’t too bad himself. He was handsome and always friendly. His job as a fisherman wasn’t the most glamourous, but it paid well enough. His biggest faults were his lack of confidence and his height; it was a constant struggle finding someone willing to give a 5’2’’ man a chance. Alice didn’t seem to mind, and tonight, that’s all that mattered.

The maître d' showed Harry to his table which only had one seat facing the edge of the roof. “Um, I think there’s been a mistake. This should be a table for two.”

“You’re with Ms. Greyson tonight, correct?” asked the maître d'. Harry nodded, surprised the staff seemed to know his date. “Then trust me sir, this is the correct table.” Harry decided not to question him further and looked out past the roof. His table was situated towards the side of the hotel facing a line of buildings that made up the block. The building immediately next to the Grand Hotel, what appeared to be an apartment building, was about half it’s height. Harry sat by himself for ten minutes with no sign of his date anywhere. He didn’t mind if she was late, but the suspicion that she had stood him up took root in his insecure mind. Relief washed over him as his phone buzzed with a message from Alice.

Sorry I’m late!!! B there soon

All cool take your time he responded.

Thx. As he got her reply, he felt a massive vibration surge through him. He thought it was his phone at first, but then he felt it again and again in a rhythmic pattern, accompanied by a distant booming sound. He looked up to the sky thinking it was thunder, but there wasn’t a cloud in sight. The vibrations got more and more intense until the entire restaurant started shaking. Restaurant patrons screamed and panicked, believing they were being hit by an earthquake. Harry covered his head with his arms, unsure how else to protect himself from the apparent quake. As the booming got closer, the rate decreased until it stopped. Harry looked up and turned around. A giant hand was grasping the front edge of the roof. Attached to it was a giant, barefoot woman in a red dress with a pair of black stilettos in her right hand. She was breathing heavy, trying to catch her breath as she leaned against the hotel.

Harry’s jaw was on the floor. There was no mistaking it; this giantess was Alice. She looked just like the photos he’d seen: same fit body, same brown eyes, and the same green hair tied up in a ponytail. She scanned the restaurant for her tiny date. At her size, it was hard telling one person apart from another, but after some searching, she found the guy that matched his profile pictures.

“Hey, Harry!” she shouted. Her voice was louder than a siren, causing many patrons to cover their ears. She put on her stilettos, crushing a few parked cars in the process and drilling two massive potholes into the street. Harry watched as she crossed her right leg over the adjacent apartment building and sat down on it like a chair. He could hear it creak and bend as it buckled under the weight of her ass. She planted her legs on either side of the hotel creating an arch over the front door with her stiletto. Because of her short skirt, some lucky hotel guests got a full view of her underwear from their rooms. “Sorry I’m late. You weren’t waiting too long, I hope?”

“No,” Harry pulled his jaw from the floor and made a smooth recovery, “it’s no big deal.” He had no idea what to say next. No amount of dating tips videos could prepare him for this. The two sat quietly trading glances and hoping the other would speak up. Alice repeatedly knocked her knees into either side of hotel to distract her from her nerves, not realizing how noticeable the impacts were to everyone in the building. The silence permeated until a waiter arrived to take their order.

“Good evening. May I start you off with a drink, sir?”

“Whiskey. The strongest you got.” Harry didn’t usually drink, especially on a first date, but he needed all the social lubricant he could get for this one.

“Alright. And are you ready to order?”

“Uh, sure,” he thought it was odd that the waiter only seemed to address him. “I’ll take the halibut.”

“Fantastic.” The waiter turned to the giantess. “I assume you will be having the usual, Ms. Greyson?”

“Yes please,” she said with a grin. The waiter raised his hand and signaled to the staff. A crew came running with multiple wine casks in hand and began pouring into an empty water tower. When they finished, Alice lifted the tower like a wine glass and took a sip.

“You must come here often,” said Harry.

“Yeah. It’s the only place nearby with a patio so high up. Laying down just to face your date sucks.”

“I can only imagine.” The pair were starting to feel more at ease around each other, though Harry still wasn’t sure how to address the 100ft tall elephant in the room. She must be used to it, right? he thought. Like, it’d be weirder if I just ignored the height difference. Though, I’d probably get sick of hearing about how tall I am from every person I meet. Harry spent so long thinking about what to say that Alice had to step in to pick up the conversation.

“So, you’re a fisherman, right? Do you fish out at the bay here?”

“Yeah, though I usually sail far out from the coast. There’s a good chance I caught the fish they serve here.” A hint of pride could be felt in his voice.

“That’s really cool,” she said with a smile. “I like to swim out by the bay, so maybe we’ll run into each other.”

“I hope not. You’ll scare all the fish away,” he quipped. He worried that his joke might have offended her, but her laughing calmed his anxieties. Some of the patrons were visibly annoyed by the giant woman’s volume and made rude comments under their breath. Harry tried his best to ignore them, and Alice seemed completely oblivious to their grievances. The irritated guests were also a minority, as the regulars and staff maintained their composure throughout the evening.

As the conversation livened up, the couple’s food arrived. A plate of halibut and fresh veggies was placed before Harry, but his attention was directed towards Alice’s meal. The waiters wheeled out a pyramid of strip steaks towering far above them. Alice was handed a long javelin to be used as a fork. Watching her eat, it looked like she was snacking on tiny samples with a toothpick. Pairs of waiters came with barrels of wine to refill her “glass.” After a while, Alice noticed that Harry hadn’t touched his food, being too fixated on her.

“So, what’s the verdict? Is it one you caught?”

“Huh?” It took a moment to snap out of his beguilement. “Oh yeah. It’s definitely one of mine.” He had no clue whether he caught it or not. She giggled at his faux assurance. Harry didn’t know what it was about Alice, but he felt much more confident around her. He was usually a nervous wreck, unable to get a coherent sentence out, but with her, he could say what he meant to without tripping himself up. Their conversation continued as they ate with the topic shifting to Alice’s work.

“Modeling’s been great. I’ve been getting a lot of gigs lately.” She scratched at her neck, hoping she didn’t sound too boastful. “I guess my size allows for more unique shots, and apparently there are a lot of people who are into giant woman. Ain’t that funny?” In all honesty, she hoped Harry was into her size. Most guys she dated seemed repulsed, emasculated, or inconvenienced by her. Even though she received a lot of support online, she could never find someone in the real world who didn’t treat her like a freak.

Harry wasn’t sure how to respond. He wanted to admit he was into her height. Going out with a 100ft tall woman was a wild dream come true. But he was afraid of coming off as some weirdo, someone who only liked her for fetishistic reasons when that wasn’t the case at all. After some time, he stopped thinking and went with his gut.

“Yeah, big ladies rock,” he blurted out with a thumbs up and a goofy grin. He looked stupid. He knew he looked stupid. He knew what he said was stupid. Alice burst out laughing. It was the first time a date had ever complimented her on her height. Her uproarious laughter shook the whole roof. She slapped her thigh sending shockwaves through the apartment building she was seated on. The building’s structural integrity weakened considerably, but by some miracle it stayed standing.

The couple really hit it off from there. They discussed their hobbies. While they each had very different interests, they were open to trying out new things together. Time passed quickly for the both of them, and before long the waiter returned with the check. He knew to hand it to Alice, but Harry insisted that he would cover it. She gestured to the waiter to let him see it, knowing that it would come back to her once he did. Harry took one look at the check, saw her meal would have cost him at least a month’s wages, and pushed the bill to her side of the table as nonchalantly as he could.

With the sun fully past the horizon, their date was wrapping up. “Do you have a ride? I can walk you home if you’d like,” offered Alice. Harry’s apartment was a thirty minute walk from the hotel, but he figured she could cross that distance in five minutes. He took her up on her offer and climbed into her hand. She got up off her seat and perched him on her shoulder. “Hold on tight. I’ll walk slow, but it might get bumpy.” She walked through the street towards Harry’s apartment, her stilettos cratering the road beneath her. Cars veered around her feet as she passed by. In no time at all, she reached their destination and lowered Harry to his building’s rooftop.

“Thanks, Alice. Tonight was really fun. We should…” Alice bent down and kissed him, covering his entire body in lip gloss. She rose back quickly, covering her blushing face with her hands.

            “I’m so sorry. That was too forward of me. I’m really, really, sorry.” She tried to rub off the lip gloss with her finger, but she just smeared it more across his body. “Dates don’t usually go this well for me, so I kinda got caught up in the moment, and…”

            “It’s cool,” he interrupted. “We should do this again sometime.”

            “Yeah! Absolutely. Just let me know. Whenever’s good. Buh-bye.” She waved and walked back through the city, giddy over how well her night went. Each step sent a rumbling through the city, but Harry couldn’t feel it over the intense beating of his heart.