The first date

Sarah quickly prepped herself before the big date. She spoke to this new gentleman on the dating website she frequented. He seemed, nice, funny, successful, and his pictures looked pretty great, too. No ab shots, no fish pictures. She finished her day at the office, delving through clients and witnesses for the next trial she had on board.

This guy, Brandon, was an engineer. A chemical engineer, making fancy chemotherapy treatments for patients. It seemed so interesting, and so rewarding! He spent his time reading, going on trips, writing, playing music, everything! He seemed so driven, so creative, so nice. Sarah wrote a bit, keeping up a blog on healthy foods and decoration ideas, posting daily about her different crafts and works, while she wasn’t attempting to win cases. She went to the gym, ate well, did whatever she could to fulfill her life. She was excited to meet Brandon, who seemed so similar. He loved eating interesting meals and delicacies, trying out new restaurants, new things as a whole! It all seemed so exciting.    

Am I ready? She thought. Carefully looking in the mirror, she looked bomb, and she knew it. She wore an elegant summer dress, ocean blue and lemon yellow, dropping to her ankle. Her light freckles danced across her face and perky nose, along with her long wavy black hair. She couldn’t wait to see him in person, they had been talking for a couple of weeks. He was tall, Six two, black hair like hers, with chestnut brown eyes.

She glanced at her watch - 7:25. No! She thought. She had to meet Brandon at 7:30 at the coffee shop down the street. It was mid-summer, a sunny twenty five degrees outside. As she skipped out of her high-rise apartment, she almost tumbled on the stairs outside.

She bolted down the street, barely making it to the coffee shop in time. She glanced around, not seeing Brandon anywhere. I guess he’s late, Sarah thought. She walked to a table, and was about to sit down before she saw a man across the shop wave at her. He was short, but a little taller than her. A little broad, not fit but not overweight, with sandy brown hair and a thick beard. Why is he waving at me? She thought.

“Sarah!” He called in a gruff tone.

She walked over slowly, glancing around, confused. “Um, do I know you? I’m sorry, I don’t remember.”

“It’s me, Brandon!” He said.

What? It looked nothing like him. Brandon was fit, black haired and definitely no beard. “You look very different than your pictures.” Sarah said suspiciously.

“Yeah, I know. I didn’t mean to hide it, kinda self-conscious and all. Can you forgive me?” He asked. His blue eyes looked hopefully at her.

Sure, that’s okay I guess. I may not continue this, but I might as well stay and talk. It’s not his looks, but the fact that he lied before we even met. I was completely honest in my profile. “Sure, I came here for coffee, didn’t I?” Sarah sat down, and ordered her coffee from the waitress. 1 sugar, 2 milk, always. No cinnamon or pumpkin spice, she didn’t need any of that ridiculous kid stuff. He got a green tea, no milk or sugar or anything.

Brandon was more charming than she expected, he talked about his job, his hobbies, especially two that she didn’t hear about before. He was really into writing and illustrating comics, as well as designing characters for various stories. He had a blog as well, “Epiclydraun” - about all his reviews and characters he designs. He mentioned he was considering leaving and trying his hand at having a hobby as his work.

She talked about her job as a lawyer, some of the nefarious characters she had to deal with over her career thus far. She had only been in the line of work for a few years, but racked up a lot of experience in that time. He seemed very interested in her hobbies, her blog, her comings and goings. He seemed so kind, and very funny. Not too fierce with his humour, and seemed quite confident in his hobbies, but less so about his engineering. I wonder why?

After a time she checked her watch - 9:30! She had been so wrapped up in conversation for so long, she needed to get home and get ready for bed, she worked at 8 the next morning. “I’m sorry Brandon, I have to go. I had such a fun time!” Sarah exclaimed.

“I’m sorry Sarah, that isn’t...actually my name.” Not his name? Another lie? “It’s Craig.”

“I’m Brandon.” A deeper, hoarse voice said.

She looked to her left, seeing the man in the picture before her. Her eyes widened, unsure of what to think. What the hell? “What’s going on here?” She asked.

“I can’t trust people to be as they are online, so I set this up, with a coworker of mine. Thanks Craig.” He paused, smiling. “I’m sorry that I had to do it, but you know. Would you forgive me and maybe we can have a second - or I suppose first date?” He asked with a honeyed tone and a wide smile.

Excuse me? Who do you think I am? She thought. She looked to Craig, who had a sullen look on his face. He clearly did the other a favour, but felt bad about what happened. He seemed to have so much fun just chatting with her. “Absolutely not.” She said boldly.

“What?” Brandon was taken aback.

“You heard me. You set me up on a fake date because you didn’t trust me? How should I trust you?” She quickly grabbed her bag, “Get bent.” She couldn’t believe what happened. Such a dishonest person so boldly asks something like that? Sarah swung the door open, but before she left, she had one last thing to say. “Oh yeah, of the two of you, I would definitely date Craig. He’s passionate and nice, and clearly feels some form of remorse, unlike you.” She left without saying another word.

She stormed back to her apartment, throwing her purse on her couch and sat down leisurely. Ridiculous. Talked to a guy for two weeks, and that happened. She turned on her laptop, typing her daily blog post out. She talked about the food she ate that day, and ended on her experience with the coffee shop. 

She found herself checking the blog “Epiclydraun”, where various artists were commenting on all the characters on the website. They were all really cool, swords, lightning, neat outfits and reviews on all sorts of comics and movies - it seemed to be quite the popular site. At the bottom it read - created by Craig Nanedis. She found herself messaging the creator, telling him about an experience that day, and mentioning it was more fun than she expected.