Yeah, writing code isn’t quite the same, buddy, I thought and chuckled to myself. Rosie replied with a joke about writing code that I figured had probably come from Thomas. He then jabbed back by asking whether I wrote articles for The Wall Street Journal or for Playboy Magazine. I laughed again. Not bad dude. But if only you knew, I thought. Luckily Rosie hadn’t disclosed any specifics about my blog.
The conversation continued with more playful mockery and teasing. He seemed like a decent enough guy. He was a little bro-y, but that was okay, I could be a bit of a bro myself. Besides that he was funny and even a little clever. He sounded smart and for a second I found myself slightly interested by his persona. He had managed to lead a pretty fun and entertaining conversation, despite having to deal with Rosie’s uncanny sort of demeanor.
I found myself fixating on certain messages where he seemed particularly crafty. He sounded like a fun person to talk to and I wondered if he would maintain the same sense of clever confidence in person that he had shown online. The ones with strong online personalities and a weak physical presence were the worst. Then again, whatever personality he had put forth online was immediately more than any effort of mine. Any idea he had of my personality was fabricated. In all my days of writing a dating blog, I had never imagined I would be following a blueprint laid down by my sister.
My phone beeped loudly, startling me and reminding me that it was time to get ready. I took a deep breath and stood from my computer.
It was time to see how accurate this perfect match really was. Time to see if he was really as charming as he seemed online. I wasn’t usually the type that attracted gentlemen, but maybe Rosie was. After all, she had landed Thomas and he was a good guy. I could see myself being happy with a guy like Thomas. Evidently, she had done enough to make this guy interested in me, or interested enough to consider being interested in me. It was time to find out.
Trying to match an expectation set by my sister was going to be weird. Whatever blueprint she had laid had been with me in mind, but still, their conversation was littered with things I would never say. It was all based on things Rosie thought I would say. Whether or not he liked or disliked those things, they weren't going to be what showed up on our date tonight. I wasn’t going to fake a personality, even if it was supposed to be me in the first place.
Though I wondered how many times had I encountered someone with a million different faces. People who appeared to be one thing online, only to be completely different in real life. Too many to count, I thought. My readers would have known the answer to that.
Perhaps there had even been times when I had come across differently online than in person. Even though I tried to come across as real as possible, it was a natural problem with online dating and a certain level of variance could always be expected.
Even if Mr. Perfect Match had fallen in love with the character Rosie had created, he was going to get me. He was going to meet the girl that my sister had attempted to imitate. And if I couldn’t live up to her imitation and his fantasy, then that would be on him. He would have to learn that perfect matches aren’t the same in the real world as they are online.
I had already showered and was finishing the final touches of my make-up. It was kind of funny how my mind had wandered, I thought. I had spent the entire preparation process worrying about trying to live up to an online profile that I hadn’t even created. I was nervous about being the bad date instead of having one and I laughed. That’s new, I thought. I guess if you write about bad dates long enough you start to become one.
I buckled my shoes around my ankle. We had planned a dinner with a walk and I had selected a decent pair of black wedges without much of a heel that would be comfortable and sexy. The restaurant was slightly fancy, but I had been on enough dates that I no longer stressed over my outfit. I wore my favorite dark blue dress. It was just the right amount of classy without going overboard.
Dinner and a walk had been his idea and Rosie had happily agreed. He had also recommended the restaurant. At the very least a nice dinner would be enjoyable, as long as I wasn’t conned into paying extravagantly again. The walk would be something new. I wondered where he was planning on taking me, or if we were just going to walk around the restaurant. Either could be interesting.
A walk also means that I’ll have a lot of open space to run if things get really bad, I thought and almost laughed again as gathered my purse and stepped out the door.
Okay, Mr. Perfect Match. I'm ready for my date.
6
Here comes another great blog post, I thought, as I stood outside of the very nice restaurant and reevaluated my shoe choice. I frowned and hear Rosie's voice in my head. No, be nice. It might be great.
Given my dating history, I wasn't expecting much. The best I could really hope for was that I wouldn’t get stuck with the bill like last time. If that happened at this restaurant, I’d have to go to the poor house. Dove’s was one of the nicest places in town and a two-person meal would be the same amount as a quarter of my rent.
A well-dressed hostess greeted me as I entered. I was fairly sure that she made more as a waitress here than I did as a blogger.
“I’m meeting someone, but I’m not sure if he’s here yet,” I explained, as I took off my sunglasses and put them in my purse. “I can just wait at the bar.”
“Of course,” the woman said, as she turned and led me across the restaurant to a beautiful bar next to a giant window overlooking the ocean. “Enjoy your dinner.”
She pulled the chair out for me and I sat down. I checked my watch. We were at go time. If this guy was late like the other one, I wasn’t going to stick around.
Five minutes, that’s all this guy gets before I’m leaving, I promised myself.
“Good evening, ma’am. My name is Alandro.” A charming bartender grinned over the bar at me. “Can I start you off with something to drink?”
I’ll bet they charge for water here, I thought, glancing at the very expensive drink menu. Water with ice must cost even more.
“I think I’m okay for now,” I said. “I’m meeting someone and I’d rather just order when they get here.”
The waiter’s eyes lit up as he pointed across the restaurant. “Is that the man you’re meeting? He mentioned that he was meeting a pretty girl tonight and I assume he must have been talking about you.”
I smiled at the compliment and looked in the direction that the waiter was pointing. A handsome man in a black suit sat by himself at a table in the opposite corner. My jaw practically hit the floor when I saw him. He looked exactly like he did in the pictures on his dating profile, something that I was not accustomed to seeing.
“You know, that actually is the person I’m meeting,” I responded, as I stood up and followed the waiter to the other table. “Thank you.”
The man with dark hair and green eyes looked up from a menu as I approached. He looked familiar for some reason, and it wasn’t just because I had seen his photos on his dating profile. It felt like I had seen him other places too, but I just couldn’t quite put my finger on when or where.
Oh well, not important, I thought. I’ve met so many people with my dating blog. They all start looking familiar after awhile.