HIS GENTEEL

“This is a real problem for me. I don’t know how to tell her,” he sighs with both corners of the mouth pushing up.

“Just tell her what you told me. Be honest. You know, best policy and all that.”

“Nooo, but that’s too harsh. I cannot do that,” he boasted.

“Well, then just don’t answer her calls and text and that’s it. I mean, it’s not a big deal.”

“For you… but I am not like you. I’m not that kind of a person.” His smirk is starting to develop into a full smile.

“This kind of situations are never pleasant for anybody, but it’s inevitable, so you’ll have to get through it.” She grabbed the beer and gulped it.

“I just can’t reject anyone. It’s not in my nature,” he pauses to watch her light a cigarette. “I’m too nice.”

“Well, then I guess you will have to marry her.” She throws the lighter on the table.

He laughs. “Don’t be like that.”

“Like what?” she asked seriously. “I mean, you went out once. It’s not like its serious or whatever.”

“She thinks it is serious.”

“After one date?” she looks at him with wide eyes. “Well, then she is a lunatic and you need to run away from her.”

“If she wouldn’t use an old photo as her profile picture, I would at least know what she really looks like,” he whined.

“There you go, she catfished you,” she shrugged. “That’s a perfectly good reason not to return her calls.”

“She used a really old photo. In reality there was much more of her.”

“More to love! It’s luck you even recognized her. Wait, maybe it isn’t even her?! Maybe you talked to some random lonely chick! Ha ha!”

“Noo. Don’t be mean. She just didn’t use a current photo,” he bubbled.

“It is you who is upset by that,” she retorted.

“Noo. She should just use a more current photo. Nevertheless, she is a graphic designer, I thought she takes good pictures.”

“Wait! She is a graphic designer?”

“Yes,” he said with a never-ending grin.

“She obviously used photoshop.”

“Noo. She looked younger and she seemed like she gained some weight since then, so she must have used an old photo.”

“Yeah, that’s the point of photoshop.”

“Noo, she didn’t use it.”

“Oh, she is a graphic designer and her profile picture doesn’t look anything like her, but of course she couldn’t use photoshop.” Irony was palpable.

He laughs.

“Just ignore her and forget about it.” She firmly squashed the fag.

“But I’m just too nice, I cannot do that.”

She starred at him for a moment and then she took a deep breath. “Well, I told you that the best and most honest way is to tell her in the face or send her a nice, straightforward message. But if you can’t do THAT, then just ghost her. I mean, she doesn’t know where you live,” she laughs awkwardly and looks at her phone to check the time.

He stares back at her with a smirk. “She knows where I live.”

She looked puzzled. “Wait, didn’t you say you went out one time?”

“She came to my place.”

“The first time?”

“Yes.” He couldn’t hide his amusement.

“Oh, so despite the fact that when you saw her at the bar or wherever you met, and you didn’t find her curves desirable, and you STILL invited her to your place?”

“No, she just came to my place,” he giggled. “I gave her the address and she came over. I couldn’t send her home at the door.”

She leaned back on the chair and took a moment. “This girl is weird. I mean, everybody knows that number one rule of on-line dating is always meet a new person somewhere in public, so that if they turn out to be freaks or catfishes you can run away. And I am not just talking about girls.”

He is still just smiling.

‘Why did YOU invite her to your flat? You are weird too. Maybe you belong together,’ she grunted.

“You know I don’t like going to bars,” he grinned.

“Yeah, but for the first meeting you will have to. So that you can quickly bail out if something doesn’t appeal to you, before you get to know them well. So that you don’t get in a situation that you are right now. If you would meet at a bar, you would see that in person, she doesn’t get your blood pumping. You can still have a drink, maybe a nice chat and then say ciao, and everything would be very civil. No harm to anybody. When you meet at home it’s automatically way more awkward and things can get complicated quickly.”

“She came to me, I couldn’t just push her away, I am too nice,” he gloated.

“You shouldn't invite her straight to your place,” she rasped.

“But I don't like going out for drinks and she wanted to come,” he gushed.

“So, you fucked her?” she bleated.

“But she really wants a serious relationship, but I can’t be with her. She is not my type. She is not the girl I thought she would be. There is more of her then I thought it would be. But I also don’t want to hurt her, because she is actually quite a nice girl. I really don’t know what to do.” He looked at her with puppy eyes who want pets.

She blinked a few times to process the report. “Why is she so keen to have a serious relationship after just one date?”

His smile got wider. “It wasn’t just one time.”

“Hmm,” she crossed her arms. “I thought you said you just met her?”

“We did. I mean a couple of weeks ago, maybe less.”

“And in this couple of weeks she was at your place how many times?”

“I don’t know… A few. It doesn’t matter. I just don’t know how to break it to her that I don’t want a serious relationship. I never know how to do that. I am just too nice.”

She looked at him intensely. “You invite her to your home for the first date. You see her, I assume, almost every other night. You sleep with her, even though you never really liked her or at least find her semi-attractive. And now you are whining over the fact that she wants a serious relationship?” She paused and looked at the pedestrians. “You are right. There is nothing you can do, you are just too nice for her.”