What Are You Going to Eat?

Jenna's phone dinged with a text notification; it was from Chris.

"I got a here a little early, so I got us a table. When you walk in look to the right. I'm at the corner table. Can't wait to meet you."

Jenna caught her breath. She hated first dates. She too arrived

early but she was not ready to go in yet. She still needed to prepare herself before stepping out of her car. She gave herself one last look in the rearview mirror. She did not wear a lot of makeup day to day but added a little more to her face when she was on a date. She liked how her brown eyes stood out more when she added eye

liner to her top lid as well as the bottom. She reapplied her lip gloss, popped a piece a gum in her mouth and responded to Chris’ text.

 “Just parked. See you soon!  : )” She opened her car door and mumbled under her breath, “here we go again.”

Jenna had been on several first dates recently. More than she would like to admit. She hated dating but it is pretty much impossible to find a husband if she did not go on dates. She missed the days of her friends having a cookout or a gathering where she could meet other singles in those types of settings. No pressure settings. But now, at 35, she was the only single friend in their group.  

She had dated in her twenties and even had a serious boyfriend that at one time thought could be the one. But she ended up focused on her career and he had different plans. She was very thankful for her successful career. It allowed her to travel and buy a house, a nice car. But she wanted more. She did not want to be the only single person at the dinner parties anymore. She did not want to go to movies by herself. She did not want her plus one to wedding invitations be her married best friend Val. Although, she could not imagine anyone else being as fun as Val as a plus one.

So she found herself on Bumble, Hinge, Upward, Tinder - the list goes on with a variety of sites. But no matter how different the site was, you still found the same fill in the blanks: Name - Jenna, Age – 35, Height - 5'4", Weight – let’s just skip that one for now, Political Views – probably best to skip that as well. One question Jenna did not skip was ‘What are you looking for?’ and the answer was Marriage.

Jenna was convinced that the fact she was honest and put that she was looking for marriage excluded over half the men on the apps she subscribed to. This probably was not a true statement of the men she was connecting with but it made her feel better about the dating pool available to her.

Which brings us to back to Chris. Chris, 41. Height – 6’1”. Weight – 195. Political Views – also skipped. What are you looking for? Don’t Know Yet. His profile photos were of him at various locations and gave Jenna the feeling he liked to travel. One thing she loved to do and had done a lot of. There were also images of him hiking, him on a boat fishing, in the gym, and at dinner with friends being silly.

When Jenna reviewed a profile, she always thought to herself that it was a good sign if he had friends in the photos. Red Flag: no friends in pics or if he does not talk about having plans with friends.

She swiped right and BOOM, connected. Jenna and Chris chatted about where they were from, hobbies, the normal first how do you dos in online dating. Jenna did not really start to be open to the thought of meeting him in person until they connected over their love for hockey. But not just any hockey but their fandom for the Carolina Hurricanes. They were both watching the Canes game on TV about the 3^rd day since they matched. Going back and forth as if they were watching the game together. By the end of the week Chris had asked for her number so he could call her and take the conversation off the dating app messaging system and into real life.

When he called her they laughed and talked for hours and when he asked her out to dinner for Saturday night. The answer was an easy and ecstatic yes. They had decided on a new place in town, Harry’s.  It was new to the downtown area and Jenna had heard great things about it and was planning on trying it out herself but was grateful this would be one meal she would not do alone. Even if the fireworks she felt on the phone did not transfer to in person, she was glad to have one less thing on her want list she would do alone. She really hoped this date would turn out to be a good one. She could not imagine it wouldn't be. She thought Chris was great, funny, honest, confident, and from what she could tell from his pictures, very handsome.

“Oh” Jenna said and stopped walking. Stepped off to the side and pulled up her app to look at his pictures one more time to refresh her memory of exactly what he looked like. She wanted to make sure she did not walk up to the wrong table or worse, was getting catfished…..again. OK. She began walking back down the sidewalk.

She adjusted her dress, checking her makeup in her phone camera, looking at her reflection in the shop windows as she passed by them. Jenna thought to herself, this is about as good as it gets. She had long brown hair that she straightened and pinned up in a bobby pin showing off her pearl earrings that matched her pearl drop necklace. She wore her favorite red dress that she knew she would be most comfortable in and knowing that red was a good color for her. Jenna had just returned from the beach on a girls trip so her skin was a nice bronzed color that made her feel even more confident. With each step closer she could feel her anxiety rise. She reminded herself to breath and smile. It was just a first date.

She saw the hanging sign – Harry’s – grabbed the handle and walked in.  

"Hello" Jenna said with a smile to the hostess as she looked to the right. There he was, wearing a baby blue polo shirt with a light colored stripe and khakis.

Jenna pointed in Chris’ direction and said to the hostess “ I see my friend.” She walked in his direction. Chris looked up at her and smiled.

Chris’ smile made her stomach jump. He was even more handsome in person and the blue shirt made his eyes shine.

He stood up and came in for the hug. This was a good sign. She sat down. He sat down. The waitress walked up and took their drink orders and went over the menu options and said she would give them a few minutes and walked away.

Almost simultaneously Chris and Jenna breathed a sigh of relief and said “What are you going to eat?” They laughed and then Chris and Jenna spent the next 2 hours laughing throughout their entire meal.