“I take it your date went well last night?"
“Four times better than I hoped," she says with a wink.
“That'slovely," I laugh.
I put a little more effort into my ensemble for tonight's date, knowing the guy most likely lives a higher class lifestyle. I don't want to look like a schmuck next to him. Instead, I've opted for the hussy-looking type ofescort. I tug on my dress while taking a seat on the sofa to wait for Mr. Late. I wonder if the dress is too short for a first date. I consider going to change into pants, but there's a knock on the door as soon as I stand up.
I grab my clutch, hoping to avoid inviting him into the apartment for small talk or awkward conversation between Layla and the two of us. I open the door, finding the man I saw in the photo on Layla's site, but he's about two inches shorter than I am. I won‘t judge anyone based on their height, but I'm only five-foot-two, and—I shouldn't be thinking these thoughts. He could be a very nice man.
He has flowers.That's different. “Wow, thank you. These are beautiful."
“I'm Mitch," he says, offering me his hand to shake.
“Madelyn, it's nice to meet you. Let me place these in a vase, and we can get going," I tell him. Despite avoiding the invite inside, I don't have a choice now that these flowers need to go into water. Otherwise, I'll seem like a careless bitch. Flowers never make it more than a day with me because I forget about them, which is the same reason I've never considered owning a pet of any sort, even a fish.
“Nice place you got here," Mitch says, staying in the doorway which I appreciate. I'm surprised Layla hasn't come out of her bedroom to interact, but I'm sure there's a reason.
“Oh, thanks!" I say while filling the vase up with water. “I've been here about four years now."
“This is a great area of town. You must be able to hear the screams at Fenway, huh?"
“Yeah, sometimes in the summer when the windows are open." I get the flowers settled and jog back to the door. “All set."
“I made reservations at a small Italian restaurant down the street. I hope that's okay?" Okay, so this date is going way better than the one last night, and it's only been two minutes. I hope everything continues to flow this smoothly for the rest of time we have to spend together.
“Sure, that sounds great."
I'm surprised when he starts talking about his job almost as soon as the door to my apartment closes. I'd rather hear him talk than freak out over silence and figuring out what to say. I hate when it's my job to fill the empty air with words. “I guess I've been living under a rock. I didn't realize how time-consuming it would be to start a career as an attorney. Funny enough, I thought passing the bar exam would be the hardest part."
“Well, I admire you for hanging in there. I'm sure it's a great career."
“You said you work in advertising right?" No, but my profile must have said that. Thank you, Layla.
“Yes, I started a job at a new advertising company last week, as a matter of fact."
“Any fun promotions going on?" he asks.
“Um, well, I am in the process of coordinating a campaign for toilet paper." I press my lips together with the shame of my accomplishments since graduating from college with a degree in advertising.
“Ouch," he says with a short laugh.
“On the contrary,it's not an ‘ouch.' This toilet paper is for rich people—I didn't know there was such a thing."
“Ah," he says, unenthused. I mean, I'm talking about toilet paper. He's talking about a successful law career.
“What kind of law do you focus on?"Is that how people ask?
“I'm a small business attorney, so I spend a lot of time helping the underdogs win battles against the industry dominators or the mean dogs." Is he trying to be funny? I'm not sure if I should laugh.
“Oh, I see." Okay, so I don't think we can see eye to eye in a non-physical sense either.
“Here we are," he says, reaching for the door. I've never been here beforebecause it doesn't appear inviting, but in Boston, sometimes the smallest holes in the wall can have the best food. So, there's hope.
It's dim-lit, tiny, and there can't be more than twenty tables throughout the entire restaurant, but the staff are in fine culinary attire.
Mitch checks us into our reservation, and we are brought to our seats right away.
“So, have you had a lot of dates through matchmeup.com?" Mitch asks.
