The candlelight flickered across Number 31's face across the table. It was our first date, and the first date the Dating Department had ever set up, not to mention my own very first date.
Number 31, otherwise known as Paul, had decided that a sappy, cliché, and all around over used candle-lit dinner was the way to go.
Did I agree with his assessment?
Not so much.
Don't get me wrong, Paul was a pretty nice guy, he had picked me up at 7 o'clock exactly dressed in a button down shirt and tie, while I had been in a t-shirt and jeans. He had made no comment about my lack of formality, but took me to a mega-fancy restaurant with a smile.
So here we were. Sitting. In silence. Him all nice and fancy. Me in casual clothing. Eating dinner by candlelight.
Yep, it was torture.
“So, Riley, how did you get caught up in this whole Dating Department business in the first place?”
“Well...I--”
“Don't you dare tell him!” Amber's voice hissed in my ear through the earpiece she had placed there. “Repeat after me...”
“I was having some... troubles finding a date, I saw a flier for the Dating Department and figured, 'I've tried everything else, why not this'?”
He laughed. “I find a girl like you having trouble finding a date a little hard to believe.”
“Blush! Riley, blush, now!”
“How the heck do you expect me to blush on command?” I hissed into the earpiece.
“Pardon?” Paul tilted his head slightly.
“Er, uh... Orange Crush is my, er, favorite band?”
“Amber telling you what to do with that earpiece?”
“Yeah, how did you know?”
“Well, you were hissing at your shoulder, and it's kind of noticeable.” A slow smile spread across his face. “Tell her hi from me.”
“Paul says 'hi'.” I giggled into the earpiece.
“Uh.... hi, Paul....” Amber muttered. I could just picture her embarrassed face right about now.
“Dude, that was epic!” I laughed, taking the earpiece out and shoving it into my pocket, ignoring Amber's protests.
He bowed as well as he could from his sitting position. “I try.”
“You know, you seem like much more fun than this...place.”
“Haha, this wasn't my idea, it was Amber's, didn't she tell you?”
YOU ARE READING
The Dating Department
HumorAmber needs a summer job but knows nothing except how to land a guy. Riley needs a boyfriend but doesn't know how to get one. When Amber takes one of Riley's many jokes a little too seriously, Riley is thrown into 3 different relationships at once...
