— Avery —
Tori was right about Lauren being beautiful. She had perfect copper skin, perfect teeth, short hair cut into a perfect style, and one of my favorite things: perfect long legs. I spent most of our date fantasizing about them wrapped around my waist, because after less than fifteen minutes of knowing her, I knew sex was probably the only thing I would ever enjoy with her. Lauren was definitely easy on the eyes, but her personality left a lot to be desired.
Our dinner reservations were at a place that was upscale, but casual enough not to put an intimidating vibe over a first date. From the time we sat down at our table, I don’t think there were ten words out of her mouth that weren’t a complaint.
“Why is it so cold in here? My God, are they trying to freeze us out of here? This must be one of those places where they keep you uncomfortable with low temperatures, so you won’t linger, and they can push more people through here.”
I wasn’t cold at all, but maybe she was a cold natured person. I offered her my jacket, but she refused, stating that it probably smelled like ‘man’.
“Is everything okay?” I asked, noticing she kept fidgeting, shifting in her chair as if she was sitting on nails.
She looked at me with her eyebrows raised nearly to her hairline. “Seriously? You’re not uncomfortable in these rock hard chairs?”
“Uh…. no… mine is fine. Do you want to switch?”
“No, I don’t think so. The seat is probably hot from you being on it.”
“Maybe that will balance out the cold.”
I was joking, trying to break the fast-mounting tension, but she stared at me, completely serious, and said “No… I don’t think that will work.”
Relief flooded me as I watched the server approach. She smiled at both of us, asking what we wanted to drink. Lauren snapped out instructions that took a full minute too long for her to be ordering a damn glass of water with light ice. Alarm was written on the server’s face, but she tried valiantly to retain her smile as she addressed Lauren. When she turned to me, I gave her a warm smile, being as pleasant as I could to try to counterbalance my dining partner. She seemed relieved, and hurried away from the table with our drink orders.
“I wonder what her problem was,” Lauren said, her tone snide as she shifted in her chair.
And we’re both wondering the same damn thing about you.
“I have no idea.” The last thing I was about to do was start a tiff with this woman, so I busied myself with the menu.
“Ouch, what did they print these menus on, sandpaper? And how are we supposed to read them in such harsh light?”
Seriously?
I kept my mouth shut, until the waitress delivered our drinks — Lauren swore the girl put extra ice in hers because she’d asked for less, though her glass was maybe ? full— and took our orders. Deciding I should at least try to carry on a conversation with her, I tried to engage her about her job, but she was giving me one-word answers, so I gave up.
When our food arrived, she — unsurprisingly— did some complaining about that, but we ate largely at in silence. I shoveled my food down in ten minutes, then gestured to the server to bring the check. She wasn’t finished with her meal, but I wasn’t about to do this shit all night. If I was going to be spending my time with someone, of course I didn’t want someone who was such a pushover she allowed her personal comfort to be an afterthought, but I needed someone who had the ability to take things in stride, and remain positive. Lauren was not it with these petty ass complaints about everything.
“So… this obviously isn’t working, and I’m gonna go on and head out.”
She seemed shocked, her expression changing from one of mild displeasure she’d been wearing all damned night, to confusion. “What? Why?”