It's Not Working Out

I fiddle in my seat, adjusting my skirt to stop it from riding up. The smell of fresh coffee grinds wafting through the air soothes me slightly and I breathe them deep into my lungs hoping they can help more. I have never been on a date let alone a blind one. That is not to say I have never been in a relationship; only that none of those necessarily started with a date.

I glance down at my phone for something to do and notice that it is already 4:30 which is later than I usually like to drink coffee. I look around the café hoping to lock eyes with someone who is also looking for me, but the only person that looks back is an old man sitting two tables away. I give him a closed-mouth grin and go back to fiddling with my phone.

A strange feeling suddenly washes over the room, as though someone is staring straight at me. Surely enough when I look up I see someone matching the description of my date glancing at me with questioning eyes. I smile and nod at him and he begins to weave between tables to reach me. I stand up from my seat on shaky legs but wonder why I’m standing; do I hug him? Or shake his hand? Or should I have just stayed in my seat and let him make the first move? It’s too late to question it all now so I put my hand out to shake his and silently cringe when I see his puzzled expression.

I can’t believe I let Josh talk me into this. Blind dates have never proven to work out very well for me, plus I’m not even looking for anything right now. I sniff the shirt I’m wearing and decide I may need some body spray and a small dab of cologne. Once I feel respectable I check the time and head out the door. It’s already 4:20, 5 minutes later than the agreed meeting time. It’s a good thing the café we’re meeting at is only a 10-minute walk from my place, perks of living in the middle of town.

I swipe through tinder on my phone while I walk but get bored of this quickly so instead I look at the people passing me on the street. My stomach does a small backflip when I see a girl on the other side of the street walking her Labrador and do my best to muster a suggestive smile. Instead, I think it comes off creepier than I intended and she speeds up her pace.

I let out a brief huff of air as I see the café sign approaching on my right and consider turning around. I am 15 minutes late at this point, maybe she’s already left and I can save myself the $6 coffee. Maybe she will be different than the others, I think as I enter and immediately see her sitting across the room staring at her phone and fidgeting with her skirt. It is not too late; she hasn’t seen me yet. I could just turn around now and avoid the situation altogether. I take half a step back, keeping my eyes on her and almost lose my balance when we lock gazes. She nods slightly and I realise there is no backing out now. This poor girl.

I walk towards her, narrowly avoiding a familiar-looking elderly man whose seat isn’t pushed in nearly as far as it could be. I see her start to stand and assume we’re going to hug but instead she puts her hand out in a “put her there” kind of gesture and I’m taken aback. Well, I was definitely right about her not being like the others.

“Come here often?” I ask with a smirk. She laughs loudly then looks around in embarrassment as I scratch the back of my neck because I don’t know what to do with my hands.

“I haven’t been lately but I wouldn’t mind coming back” I hope he understands that I’m trying to get a second date out of this. He’s cute but in the way that you have to look at him for a while before you can see it.

We take our seats across from each other and sit in comfortable silence for a minute before browsing the menus. The longer neither of us says something the less comfortable the silence becomes. I can’t sit still and find myself moving my hand to my mouth then to my chin then back down to my side in a strange dance. We make eye contact as my hand settles back by my side and we both let out a collective nose exhale.

“I’ll be honest here; this is the first time I’ve been on a blind date. Actually, this is the first proper date I’ve been on ever” the second the words leave my mouth I realise how crazy I sound. I’m a 24-year-old woman, why would I tell him I haven’t been on a first date before? I mean it’s true but he doesn’t need to know that. He stays understandably silent but I can’t help to fill this strange quiet.

“So, what did you do today?” I hate small talk.

“I mostly just hung around my place” I hate small talk. I know I can be interesting but in this instance it isn’t happening for two reasons. 1. You can’t be funny when you’re talking about your day or the weather. And 2. I don’t see this going anywhere so I don’t care to make this date go longer than needed.

Out the corner of my eye I see the old man I nearly tripped over approaching our table. His smell hits my nose before he gets here and I look at her to see if she’s noticed our new date companion. Surely enough she looks nervous and starts shifting in her seat even more than she was before.

“Can we help you, sir?” I’m not sure why I feel so uncomfortable with this man standing so close to me but I try my best to calm myself. The older man moves closer to my side of the table and places a shaking hand on my shoulder.

He leans in close to my ear and whispers almost inaudibly, “I’ve seen him here with girls before. You should know that three of them are missing.”

My blood chills as I avoid looking back at my date. His steely gaze burns into the side of my head and I can’t help but risk a glance.

“What was that?” I tilt my chin up toward the elderly man who has now returned to his seat and all at once realise why he looks so familiar. He was here the day I took Sam home and again when I came here with Abigale.

“It was nothing, he just wanted to know where the bathroom was”

He must know, he’s been here so many times people probably ask him where the bathroom is. Plus, he’s just sitting there staring at me with his beady eyes clearly not needing the bathroom. I need to get her out of here before he arouses any more suspicion.

“Would you like to go for a walk? It’s a little stuffy in here” he’s starting to sweat but my veins are ice and all I can think is I need to leave. I need to run and hope he doesn’t follow.

“That would be great, let me just use the lady’s room first” I stand abruptly, bumping my knees straight into the table on the way up. I ignore the thumping pain and grab my purse on my way out. I’m sure he knows I’m not heading for the bathroom but hopefully he doesn’t make a move before I can reach my car.

I fumble for my key but realise with sinking terror that it isn’t in my bag. I whip around in a panic hoping I can go back and get the key and he’ll already be gone. Instead, my shoulder hits his chest straight on before I can even make it two steps. I didn’t realise when we awkwardly shook hands how tall this man really was. My head is at his chest height and his muscles wrap around my torso as though I am a mouse caught in a trap. He squeezes me unbearably tight and I feel as though the air in my lungs is being forcibly removed as I begin seeing spots in my vision. Before the world fades to black around me I see his twisted smile and his lips form the words “It wasn’t working out anyway”.