She knew that online dating worked for a lot of people, but she was starting to think that it really just wasn’t right for her.
When the knock came at her door, Diana checked her earrings just one last time, then threw her hands up at herself and went to go answer.
Anthony was wearing a light blue button-down shirt with the top button undone. He was wearing khaki pants, and his hair was slightly damp, like he’d taken a quick shower before coming over here. The whole look was very handsome, even though it had the tiniest bit of dorkiness to it. She liked that slight tinge of nerdiness to him. He was an accountant and a single dad. It felt right.
Besides, it indicated that he had been telling the truth when he said his dating history was sparse, not that she’d doubted him. The whole thing made her feel just a little bit less nervous.
This was Anthony. She’d always gotten along well with Anthony, from the very first moment they’d met. It was going to be fine.
“Hi,” she said. She’d been staring, she realized suddenly. That wasn’t great.
“Hi,” he said back, a tiny, bashful expression on his face. “You, um. You look really nice.”
On instinct, Diana looked down at the floaty, cobalt blue dress she’d chosen for the evening. It was one of her favorites.
“Thank you,” she said. “You do too.”
There was a weird moment where they both seemed uncertain if they should speak or wait for the other one to talk. Then, Anthony cleared his throat.
“So, uh, I got us a reservation at the Captain’s Crest. I’ve never been there, but I’ve heard good things.”
“Oh, um, yeah,” Diana said, trying to cover up her instinctive wince. It wasn’t that Captain’s Crest was bad, after all. She’dhad lots of dinners there, and they’d all been pretty good. It was just… a little predictable.
Maybe Anthony picked up on her reluctance, because he seemed to grow a little more awkward, a little more uncertain, and Diana felt bad about being the one to make that happen.
It’s just nerves, she told herself.He’ll get better. We’ll both get better. I’m not giving up on this night just yet.
Anthony’s dating experience was way, way out of date, but he was pretty sure that this was not going well at all.
He was justreallynervous. He kept telling himself that he was going to shake it any minute now, but as the appetizers were brought to their table, he had not yet managed to loosen up.
He looked down at the herbed zucchini fritters with homemade yogurt sauce and tried to think of anything to say that didn’t make him look like a total goofball.
But ninety nine percent of his conversations over the past few years had been about accounting or kid stuff. Was it possible that he had literally forgotten how to speak to another adult if it wasn’t about parent teacher associations or snack rotations?
“I’m sorry,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m being… so awkward.”
He had hoped this would lighten the mood, and it did a tiny bit, but not enough.
Diana scrunched her nose, looking absolutely adorable. “Yeah, me too,” she said.
“I think it’s just nerves,” he said, just at the same moment as she said, “I’m kind of nervous.”
In another world, in a romantic comedy or something like that, this would have been the moment where they laughed,where all the tension broke and they laughed and things went fine from there on out.
Instead, it just stayed… off.
The worst part of it, Anthony decided as he ate his truly delicious filet of fish over a mixed summer vegetable medley, was that Diana was clearly trying to make things comfortable for them both. And he just couldn’t manage to meet her energy. He was trying. It just wasn’t working.
The dessert menu looked amazing, but Anthony was grateful when Diana said she didn’t want to eat anything more. They kept up their not quite comfortable conversation as Anthony drove her back to her house. He opened the door for her and walked her up to the door, trying to salvagesomethingof this uncomfortable evening.
She smiled at the gentlemanly gesture, so when he got to her front door, he made the colossally foolish mistake of trying to kiss the back of her hand.
He really thought it was a good idearightup until he actually did it. It would be romantic, he thought.
It wasn’t. It was super, super awkward.
“Oh,” Diana said.
