The Doors are Closing

For Freya, a 34-year-old bartender, life is all about checking. She checks, double-checks, and triple-checks if she remembered to lock all the doors, if the stove is off, if she left the tap on, or if her phone is accidentally calling someone right when she’s talking about them. She checks herself for cancer and ticks. And she tries—but not without a certain degree of ambivalence—to check out men.

Because unfortunately for Freya, she is also burdened with hope—a cursed feeling that makes her strive for things beyond her reach. But what are you supposed to do when what you hope for is also what you fear the most? And how do you write a Tinder bio when you’ve never really even dared to be yourself?