As I sat down on the empty seat, I noticed the clean cutleries on the table. He hasn’t ordered anything except a pot of hot tea, which by now was presumably lukewarm brown water.

“Have you ordered anything?” I asked, trying to reaffirm my assumption.

“Not yet.” He replied while handing me the menu on the table with a hint of smile.

I didn’t sense any negative feelings from him at all. He wasn’t mad or slightly annoyed that he had waited for nearly two hours. And the more we talked, I started to feel that he wasn’t as bad as I had previously thought. His jokes were lame, but I found it funny at the same time. He was knowledgeable and insightful with weird facts about random things, yet he was curious enough to engage the conversation towards me.

After a fun and long conversation, he suddenly apologized and confessed for not picking me up. His reasoning behind it was because he didn’t want to spend the extra time in the car with a bad date. To avoid the awkward ride home, and regretting they ever made the decision to meet each other in the first place.

Which kind of made sense. I remembered the dreaded ride home after a date gone bad. It wasn’t something I want to experience all over again either. I rather walk home in the pouring rain with my heels than being stuck in that situation. Smart move Mr. K.

Though this made me wonder why he confessed to me. I didn’t even bring up the topic.

And then he said, “I’ll pick you up next time. It’s a promise.”

Smooth.

The next thing you know we had finished our meal.

“Do you want dessert?” He offered.

Remembering this is only our first date and not wanting to look fat and greedy, I politely declined.

“Okay. Let me get the bill.”, he said.

“Let me pay for my own meal.” I insisted, trying to be polite.

“No, it’s okay. I’ve got it covered.” He replied.

We did the whole haggling over the bill that you would on a first date. I wanted to test his resolve. Sometimes after once or twice of insisting to pay, the guy would buckle and split the bill. The whole ‘the guy pays’ were usually for show. But he was persistent. Maybe there is a gentleman inside him after all.

I am still unsure about my feelings towards him. But after this first date, I do have some positive thoughts. There’s something about his charm that made me feel at ease. Maybe it’s his innocent smile or his way of maneuvering the conversation. In short, he seemed pretty experienced talking to girls. Mr. Smooth-talker. I better not let my guard down. I wondered if I will go on a second date with him? He did offer to pick me up.

At the same time, I had also befriended another guy. Let’s just call him Mr. B. As a matter of fact, I felt more connected to Mr. B than him as I had known Mr. B longer.