I checked my face in my compact mirror for the fifth time, making sure my red lipstick didnt clash with my olive skin tone and green sundress. It thankfully didn't. I was so nervous. This was my first date in about 5 years, and I was afraid it showed. What would I even talk about? I only had about 3 topics under my belt, and 2 pertained to the weather.
The waiter at this fancy-ass restaurant checks on me for the 3rd time, using my empty water glass as an excuse. "Can I get a glass of wine? a chardonnay, please." I asked, giving the waiter an actual reason to come back.
Where the heck was this guy? Was I being stood up? My mind wandered into the worst-case scenario, almost all of them on this guy getting a glimpse of me and running the other way. Luckily that wasn't the case. Ben appeared as soon as the waiter dropped off my half-empty wine glass. He wore a plain white dress shirt and black pants, both slightly wrinkled. If I hadn't seen his picture on Instagram, I would have mistaken him for the staff here, who also wore the same colors. Thought, albeit the waiters looked slightly more put together. Besides his poor dressing sense, his light blonde hair looked like a mess, jumping from his head in random directions. On the other hand, his eyes were his best features, fierce and dark. A clumsy smile accompanied them, making his face look attractive in a slightly unconventional way.
"Charlotte?" He asked.
"Uh, yeah, Ben! Nice to meet you!" I got up to give him an awkward hug that lasted a few seconds too long, but I might have been at fault for that. It has been a while since I've hugged the opposite gender besides the occasional hugs Alex gave me when...well, whenever he felt like it. Shoot, I did not want to think about him right now.
When I finally let Ben out of my venus trap, we both took a seat, and I quickly took a sip of my wine, making the half-full glass almost empty.
"What kind of wine did you order?" He asked.
"Just a basic Chardonnay. Want to try?" Why did I ask that? Why would he want to do that? We just met. Why would he want your germs, Charlotte?
"Sure, it looks good!"
I slid my glass towards him, and he almost cleared my cup, leaving probably just the backwash. He then called over one of his brethren or our waiters and asked for 2 glasses of Chardonnay.
By the time I got to the bottom of this glass, I was feeling woozy. After having my breakfast stolen, I barely had time for lunch today. Alex needed me to review a statement he was sending to a tech magazine, so I only had a handful of peanuts and a bag of chips. Therefore, this wine was mixing fast with the small contents within my stomach.
"Your clothes?" I giggle, interrupting his explanation of why he was moving to Cali.
"What, you don't like it?"
"I like it," I badly lied. "but it just looks like the waiter's uniform, and you didn't think to iron it?" I giggled some more. I needed food, pronto. I had been here for the last 20 mins and still didn't have time to order food.
"Sorry, living out of my suitcase. I wasn't supposed to return to New York after quitting my job in Chicago. However, the firm in Cali is still getting set up, so we are working from home, so I figured I would stop by and check out New York for a bit. Plus, my brother lives here. So I am living at his apartment for the next 3 weeks till the place I am leasing is ready," He explained, thankfully, while he tried to flag a waiter down again.
"So you're only here for 3 weeks?" I slurred, not fully listening to anything he was saying.
"No, I am moving to a monthly rental in Brooklyn after 3 weeks!"
"Brooklyn! That's where I live," I practically yelled.
"I remember you telling me. Where?"
"I don't give out my address on first dates. What if you're a stalker or something?"
"Good point. I am in Williamsburg, but you can stalk me anytime!" He joked. I giggled. Food, where was the food? And why was it so hard to get it at this goddamn restaurant?
"I don't want to stalk you, but I want food." I desperately requested it.
"Shit, yea, I am trying to get the waiter's attention. Let me go to the host and ask what's going on." Ben got up and went from being the sloppy guy to my hero.
I finished whatever water I could find on the table and checked my phone out of mere habit. I should not have done that. 15 missed calls popped up on the screen. Why did I have to check?
I clicked one of the 15 notifications, and the screen showed it dialing "Alexander the Great."
"Where have you been?" Alex screamed into my ears. "I have been trying to get in touch with you for the last half an hour." He continued.
"I am out!" I yelled back.
"Well, get to the office. The vendor does not want to move forward with the partnership. They don't see many benefits of having a dating app partner with a restaurant."
"Did you mention that since they are available worldwide, we can help our couples have the same meals, which would help with their business?"
"I did. Still, the vendor thinks it doesn't make sense to invest resources into this. I don't want to talk about this over the phone. Get here as soon as you can. We need to work on a game plan to change their minds." He demanded.
I figured honesty was the best option. "Alex, I am a bit drunk right now. I don't know how helpful I'll be."
"Drunk. Why are you drinking on a Wednesday night?"
"Because it's my Wednesday night, I'll do what I want with it!"
"Eat some bread and sober up. Get to me in an hour, max!" He still demanded.
"Hey, the waiter should be coming in a few moments. They are busy." Ben said as he took his seat again.
"Thanks, Ben. I stole your water to help me sober up a bit." I replied, putting my hand over the microphone of my phone.
"Oh, sorry, are you on a call?"
"Yeah, it's work. Give me a few seconds. I'll get rid of him."
"I am off the clock. I'll help you with this tomorrow. Have a good night!" I quickly said and hung up, and for a normal man, that would be the end of it, but Alex was no such man. My phone began ringing and buzzing. First, he called as I ordered yet another glass of wine and a burger. Then it buzzed because Ben and I talked about our college experiences. He was a Marketing major and didn't remember studying much. That was the last bit of information I took in because my phone distracted Ben and me. Several times Ben asked me if I needed to go and take care of something at work. Finally, after I finished my third glass of wine– quicker than I normally would– I shut down my phone. I couldn't do it anymore.
Piece and quite finally bestowed this date. Ben and I got food and chatted about our families, he has a little niece born just last year, and he never knew he could love a person so much. He also let me know he wanted kids.
"Not sure if this is a first date conversation, but my niece changed my mind about kids. I want at least one kid now. Maybe...and this is a crazy idea...even two kids!" He exaggerated a gasp.
"I know. I've been thinking about it more and more lately since my 30th is in a few weeks. I want kids, but my current lifestyle just doesn't allow it." I said.
"I get that. I am not saying I want kids now either, but I don't want to wait till I am too old to play with them or have me look like their grandpa instead of father." He laughed.
"That's a valid point and timeline," I agreed.
I wasn't sure if it was the wine or the conversation, but this man grew on me. Then our intriguing conversation was interrupted again by a phone ringing. I checked my phone out of habit, but thankfully it was still sleeping.
"Sorry," He said as he struggled to pull his phone out of his pocket. "Hello," He said once he got access to it.
"Oh, umm, yeah, sure. She is here." To my absolute shock, he handed me his phone.
"That's why you're drinking on a Wednesday night." And I knew he had an evil smirk by the way he spoke. "Ok, I'll give you another hour starting now. The date should be winding down, and I know for a fact you are not going home with him...."
"How did you get his number?" I interrupted him.
"Sugar," He simply said.
"How did you get...?"
"She is your emergency contact." He simply said.
"This is the limit, Alex; I told you I'll be available tomorrow."
"They want to video call tonight! I need you here because you have the details and attended the meeting with them today. You know more than me. If we lose this deal, we will lose 3 million dollars. 3 million! Do you have that kind of money? Sorry babe, but when you took this job, I told you I would require work and time out of you. Told you you were going to be my right-hand man. Office in an hour." Then he clicked the phone off. I was dumbfounded. This was definitely crossing so many boundaries, I knew it, but my dumbass still knew she would be traveling back to the office in an hour.
"Ben, I am so sorry I might have to leave early. There is a work issue." I apologetically said.
"That's no problem! You go."
"I still have some time. We can get one more glass of wine and talk a bit if you want?"
"I don't see why not!"
So we did. Ben tried red wine for the first time since he was young and said he hated it more this time. Once we finished. He called the waiter and had more luck this time since we were asking for the check. He was a perfect gentleman, paid for the meal even though I offered, and even called me an Uber, "Don't be ridiculous. You had too much wine to take public transportation."
While he was walking me to my uber, I had to break the news to him. "I had such a great time tonight Ben. Thank you, but as you can see, my life is very busy, and I just don't know if I'll be able to give you the attention you deserve."
"I had a great time too, but I get it. Look, I am around till March, and if you're ever bored, reach out. I would love to experience New York through a local's eyes!" He gave me a light kiss on my cheeks.
"Thanks for understanding, and I will try to take you up on that offer, though I am never bored, just always busy because I work for a devil!"
"Yikes, sounds like a nightmare."
"I am trying to wake up, trust me...ok, that sounds cheesy, but in my defense, I had 4 glasses of wine."
I said a final good night, got into my Uber, and waved at him one last time, hoping I would see him again, but it looked rather bleak. I could barely even make it through a date without getting interrupted.
I turned my phone on, a symbol of my surrender to work and Alex over a possible future relationship. Then, I scrolled through the billion messages from Alex and even Sugar. Still, when I reached the end of my notification, I saw a message from Ben.
"You quit yet?" Sent 2 mins ago. I smiled.