ChapterFive
Evan
Evan’s leg bounced as he waited for his name to be called. It was his second blind date, and it had only been two days since the disastrous first one.
Luke had avoided him for the last two days, no doubt knowing how the date went and that Evan was pissed. Or he’d just disappeared again, as he sometimes did to deal with family stuff.
He’d only told Jake about how terribly the date had gone, and only had because Lauren and Kayla had become friends and he figured Kayla would tell her anyway. Everyone else would find out later at poker.
He really hoped that tonight would go better. It was much busier than it had been on Thursday, and he wouldn’t recover the embarrassment if he had to endure another date being escorted out. Granted, no one would know it was him and his date, but it would be humiliating all the same.
Kayla hadn’t even been willing to tell him who had set him up on this date. With any luck it would be Jake’s turn. Since he was settled in a relationship, he’d probably have a better pick.
When his name was called, he stood and walked to the curtain. He had to admit that Jake was right, and it was slightly less weird this time, since he knew what to expect as far as the darkness.
“Your date is already at the table, sir.”
Evan recognized the voice as the same server from last time. “I hope for both our sakes that this one is better than my first one.”
“Indeed,” was the only reply the man gave him as they approached the table.
His date, B, had opted into the chat feature on the app but had never replied to him. Likely busy and this date was short notice, so he’d brushed it off as a timing issue and had just been happy she’d at least been willing to chat.
Evan took his seat and waited for the server to leave before speaking to his date. “Hello. I’m E, you must be B?” It was a lame introduction but it was something to start from.
She giggled, and he was immediately turned off. It was one of those forced giggles that some women thought was cute but was more like nails on a chalkboard to most people.
“I am. This is such a strange experience.” More giggles.
Maybe she was just nervous, he tried to convince himself. “It’s definitely different. Did you have a good day today?” Small talk wasn’t fun, but he couldn’t think of a better way to get the conversation going.
“Oh, I didn’t do much, just some shopping and brunch with friends. And getting ready for this date, of course.” Again with the giggling.
“That sounds like a good time. My day was a little bit of work and then a few other things I had to get done before getting ready.”
“What do you do for work?” she asked.
“I’m in consulting.” He was intentionally vague. “What about yourself?”
“Work? I don’t do that,” she scoffed. “My parents have me on a generous allowance, so I don’t have to work.”
“Oh, umm, how do you spend your time?” He prayed for volunteer work, or anything of substance.
“Mostly shopping and hanging out with my friends. I attend some parties that my father has and sometimes help set those up and tell everyone where to put things. I’m really good at that.”
He rubbed his beard and tried not to sigh so she wouldn’t hear him.
“Your food has arrived,” the server said.
Plates were set in front of them alongside drinks. The server again made sure they could find everything before leaving them to their privacy again.
As he reached for his fork, something touched his leg. He jerked back but didn’t say anything.
They continued the small talk, nothing of any substance, for a few minutes until something touched his leg again.
“Are you interested in taking me out for drinks after?” B asked, forcing her voice to be sultry.
“I don’t think I’m up for drinks tonight. Sorry.”