A Suprise of a Date

Rosie 

I took a few deep breaths, attempting to calm my nerves before I entered the bar. I hated blind dates. My anxiety when entering restaurants and bars alone and standing there looking like a moron while I tried to find my friends was high enough but entering alone and not knowing who exactly I was looking for made me even more jittery. I could barely stand still and my right foot kept tapping on the pavement edge. I took out my vape pen, hoping the nicotine might calm my nerves. A slight breeze made me shiver and I realised my thin jacket was not the best protection against the weather. A couple passed me and walked through the door, allowing some of the heat from inside to warm me up. As I checked my watch, a handsome man walked by, smiled at me and then went into the bar. I took a deep breath, reapplied my pink lipstick, straightened my strapless blue dress and walked through the doors.

Alex

I sat in my Uber thinking about all the ways this date could go wrong. I had no idea who I was meeting just that she would be in a blue dress. I had chosen something casual to wear but was now doubting if I should have changed my jeans to trousers as we pulled up the elegant bar. I thanked the driver and got out. I saw a pretty woman outside the bar smoking in a blue dress and wondered if that was her. Not wanting to embarrass myself I chose not to ask her and walked into the bar. 

Rosie 

The inside was beautiful. The high glass ceiling let soft rays of sunlight through and the walls were covered in stylish posters of old movies. I walked up to the bar unsure of what to do and ordered a drink. I sat down next to a woman in a burgundy shirt and made sure there was an empty barstool on the other side to me. I messaged my mystery date to let them know I was here and at the bar and then I sat and waited.

Alex

The bar was gorgeous and tasteful. There were black and white posters on the wall of films that had come out decades ago. I walked towards the bar looking for a woman in a blue dress but found none so assumed she was late. I sat down and ordered a drink, texting my date to know where I was and that I was in a burgundy shirt. 

Rosie

As I set my phone down, my phone buzzed with a text. It was from my date saying they were here and wearing a burgundy shirt. The woman next to me was wearing a burgundy shirt. No. It can’t be. My best friend set me up with a girl. 

Alex

‘I’m here and at the bar :)’ the text message said. I looked up and my eyes grew wide as the girl in the blue dress from outside was sitting next to me with a look of surprise and confusion on her face. 

Rosie

“Uhm, hi. I’m Rosie.” I stuck my hand out like a loser and stared at the woman in front of me. She had light brown eyes and dark brown hair, hair that was cut short on her left side and the longer hair had been flipped to the right side. Her eyelashes were long, like really long, and a tattoo peaked out from the top of her unbuttoned shirt. She took my hand with a confused look and replied, “hi, I’m Alex.” We let go of each other's hands and awkwardly stared at each other. “So how do you know Rachel?” I asked, my attempt at an icebreaker. 

“I work with her. How about you?”

“Me and Rachel met at university and she’s been my best friend ever since.” I responded with a smile.

“Oh, that’s cool. What university did you go to?”

“Nottingham!”

“Cool.” Alex ordered another drink to cover up the awkward silence.

“So what do you work as?” I asked, I was wondering when I’d run out of questions. 

“I’m the social media director, so I’m in charge of everything that goes onto any social media platform basically.”

“Oh, that must be fun, to get paid to be on social media all day.” 

“It’s a bit more than that but yeah I guess so,” she took another sip of her drink.

“What are you drinking?” I was seriously running out of questions and this girl was not helping.

“It’s an old fashioned. Mainly just whiskey.”

“Oh, I can’t drink whiskey, I’m more of a gin girl myself.” And that's all it took, the mention of alcohol and we were recounting old adventures we had while drunk and saying which types of liquor had scarred us and we could never drink again. We moved onto holidays then and dream destinations and then our hopes and dreams, what our ideal job would be like? Where would we love to live? Cats or dogs? And then Alex told me about how she came out.

“So how about you? What’s your coming out story like?” She asked me.

“Uhm, I don’t really have one. You’re actually the first girl I’ve ever been on a date with. I only recently kind of figured out that I liked girls too.” I fiddled with the top of my gin glass, unable to look her in the eyes as if I had just revealed some shameful secret.

“Oh wow, I’m flattered I guess. Can I ask how you knew?” Alex looked at me with such a calm expression with none of the anger or hurt I was expecting that I told her the truth before I could stop myself.

“I got dared to kiss this girl at a house party a week ago and I did and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about the kiss and what it means and the fact that I really liked it and how girl’s lips are so much softer than guys and-” Alex was looking at me weirdly, “I know it’s stupid and it sounds like I’m back at high school trying to figure out what it all means but I’m just really confused I guess.”

“No, I get that. My ex didn’t realise she was bisexual until she had a friends with benefits thing with one of her gay friends.” 

“Oh wow!” I had forgotten that not everyone knew who they liked from such a young age and there were still people out there just as confused as me. I smiled at the thought that I wasn’t alone in my journey and caught Alex staring at my lips. Before I could properly think about it I leaned in. 

Alex

“Uhm, hi. I’m Rosie. The girl in the blue dress had gotten over her shock a lot quicker than I had and put her hand out like this was an interview or something.

“Hi, I’m Alex.” I shook her hand and then there was an awkward silence. I took the time to properly look at her; she had hazel eyes and her winged eyeliner was perfect. She had wavy brown hair that fell below her shoulders and a smile that lit up a room. Her makeup accentuated her cheekbones and eyeliner made up her green eyes stand out that much more. 

“So how do you know Rachel?” Rosie asked me.

“I work with her. How about you?” I replied, glad she had started the conversation. 

“Me and Rachel met at university and she’s been my best friend ever since.” She smiled and her beautiful green eyes lit up with old memories.

“Oh, that’s cool. What university did you go to?” I asked but already knowing the answer as Rachel had her old Nottingham things on her desk.   

“Nottingham!” 

“Cool.” I ordered another drink to cover up the awkward silence I had created. 

“So what do you work as?” She asked and I was grateful once again that she was trying to keep the conversation going. 

“I’m the social media director, so I’m in charge of everything that goes onto any social media platform basically.”

“Oh, that must be fun, to get paid to be on social media all day.” 

“It’s a bit more than that but yeah I guess so,” I took another sip of my drink to stop myself from explaining how I was not paid to browse through social media all day like most people assumed but had so much more work to do with analysing and monitoring trends and the like. 

“What are you drinking?” She said while looking at my drink and I brought myself back to the present and away from the thought spiral I was currently having. 

“It’s an old fashioned. Mainly just whiskey.” I replied, doubting she’d know what an old fashioned was. 

“Oh, I can’t drink whiskey, I’m more of a gin girl myself.” She responded with and suddenly we were talking about our university days and what trouble we got onto and all we had to blame was the alcohol. From there we talked about holidaying in Bali and moving to California and how different it would be to live in, compared to where we lived now. She wanted to be an artist and spend a year in Paris. I found out so much about her that I would never have guessed when I first saw her. We started talking about family, she was super close to hers but after I came out to my parents, we kind of drifted and now that I had bought it up, I told her how exactly I came out to them. 

“So how about you? What’s your coming out story like?” I asked her.

“Uhm, I don’t really have one. You’re actually the first girl I’ve ever been on a date with. I only recently kind of figured out that I liked girls too.” She fiddled with the top of her gin glass, and refused to look me in the eyes as if she had just revealed some shameful truth.

“Oh wow, I’m flattered I guess. Can I ask how you knew?” I questioned, genuinely curious as to how she had only just realised. Not that it was a bad thing, better late than never right? But how did one go through nearly a quarter of their life and not question their sexuality even once! 

“I got dared to kiss this girl at a house party a week ago and I did and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about the kiss and what it means and the fact that I really liked it and how girl’s lips are so much softer than guys and- I know it’s stupid and it sounds like I’m back at high school trying to figure out what it all means but I’m just really confused I guess.” She took a deep breath. 

I blinked once, twice, trying to absorb all the information that had just come my way at light speed. “No, I get that. My ex didn’t realise she was bisexual until she had a friends with benefits thing with one of her gay friends.” I knew how she felt. Even though I had known since I was 11, so many people out there had no clue and I had to admit it kind of made me happy knowing that there were still people in the world realising new things about themselves everyday. I was so busy still mentally trying to slow down everything she said that I barely heard her say “wow”. I looked up to say something after realising I had been staring at her lips but she had started to move in and I went what the heck and met her in the middle.