The Worst Date, War

I step out of the restaurant, the chilly air breaking the warm bubble from around me. I draw in a sharp breath, hoping it calms my frayed nerves. I look down at the slowly spreading Merlot stain on my shirt, another bought of anger surges through me. Not only did I have the absolute worst date of my life, but now one of my favorite shirts is ruined. I forage through my disastrous purse for some sort of napkin or cloth, but my luck is sorely lacking tonight. I growl lightly to myself, and tightly shut my eyes, hoping to gain some semblance of sanity. My parent's disappointed faces pop into my head, cracking me further. Another tragic date for my parents to blame on my lack of… well everything. I run the events of tonight back, trying to pinpoint where I went wrong.

“You have a very big stain on your shirt,” a deep, raspy voice calls. My eyes leap open, landing on a man with a very wide, but charming smile.

“Really, I didn’t notice!” I respond sharply, the sarcasm sharp. His smile widens if that’s possible, as his eyes rake down my body. “You’re seriously checking me out right now?” I huff, completely bewildered by his actions. His eyes meet mine again, and I notice how green they are, it kind of takes me back.

“Sorry, you’re just very,” he pauses and tilts his head slightly to the side. “Intriguing.” He finishes.

“Intriguing?” I reiterate, he nods in response. “Great,” a laugh escapes my lips. “Great, I just had the worst date of my life, possibly of anyone's life and now I’m getting sort of hit on by a stranger! Who pointed out my very obvious stain, might I add!” My laugh sounds choppy and distorted. The green-eyed stranger’s smile finally drops, as he watches my mental breakdown. I turn away from him, trying to save the last bit of dignity I have left. I just wanted to go home, and forget tonight ever happened!

“I could probably beat your worst date in history” He states. I turn to face him, my mouth open in shock.

“Your relentless, you know that” I exclaim, running my fingers through my hair.

“Ya, I’ve been told” He shrugs. “Come on I know I great taco truck down the street.” He points down the street, his eyebrow raised. I stare at him, taking in his disheveled hair and clothes. He looks like the wind has morphed him, but in a purposeful way. My gaze drops down to his finger, checking for a ring or any indication, there is none. I almost slap myself because I was contemplating going to get tacos with this man I just met outside the restaurant where I had the worst date!

“I don’t know you” I blurt, my cheeks burning. Why was his smile so alluring?!

“Did you know the guy you went out with?” He asks, my mouth falls open at his boldness.

“I... I don’t have to explain anything to you, I don’t even know your name” I exclaim. He chuckles lowly, and it vibrates through me, I try to keep my face neutral.


“Sam” He extends his hand. I stare at his outstretched hand, my head racing. I was definitely hungry, I ordered a salad that I never got finish. I look back up at his face, taking in his features. From his curly chestnut hair, big green eyes, sharp nose and jaw, and full lips. He suddenly tilts his head, his smile warm and inviting, and something inside of me screamed “shake his hand.”

I finally take his hand in mine and respond “Ella.”

“So is that a yes to the tacos then?” He asks, his eyes bright with amusement.

“Yes, but only because I’m starving and tacos are my favorite” I explain, shifting my purse higher on my shoulder.

“I’ll take it” he nods. He starts walking, and I follow closely behind. “So does this mean you want to hear my worse than yours, date story?” He turns to ask me.

“Well, it was part of the deal” I reply. I take a couple of steps forward, so we’re now walking side by side.

“Fine but I get to hear your story to then,” he arranges.

“Only if mine is worse” I debate while trying to tie my hair up.

He laughs quietly before answering, “deal.” He shoves his hands into his jacket pockets, craning his neck to left and right. “Well It was almost two years ago, and she was my girlfriend, at the time, we’d have been together about.. a little over a year I think,” he explains.

“I thought this was a first date kind of thing” I quip.

“Oh is that a requirement?” He arches his brows challengingly.

“Anyone ever tell you that you’re infuriating” I ask, my brows raised.

“A couple of times, ya” He laughs.

“As long as you know” I relent. I wrap my jacket tighter around me to hide the stain from prying eyes.


“Anyway, It was close to our anniversary so I planned this huge theme park date, she loved theme parks.” He adds, I nod. “It took three days of planning, and I recruited all of her friends and mine because theme parks are a lot of work if you didn’t know.” His smile sort of slips, as he continues. “Everything was all set up, and she had no idea, all she knew was that we were gonna go out for dinner or something. Anyway, I went to pick her up early, it was part of the surprise, and she had given me a key to her apartment for emergencies. Well anyway, long story short I walked in and she was having sex with my best friend” He finishes quickly. I stop walking, beyond shocked.

“Your best friend?” I squeak, he nods. “The one that was helping you plan the date?” I ask, he nods again. “No” I murmur.

“Ya, turns out they were sneaking around for most of our relationship.” He chuckles lightly, obviously self-deprecating.

“Oh god, that’s terrible, well they probably didn’t last” I try to console him, he laughs again.

“They’re getting married!” He says.

“Jeez” I mumble to myself. I look back up at him, and his face looks relaxed, with no hint of pain or regret. “How did you get over it?” I ask, then almost immediately regret it. “Sorry that’s super personal, you don’t have to answer” I add quickly.

“No, it’s fine. Well, it was hard obviously but then I realized that they were kind of meant to be together, and it wasn’t me or whatever.” He nods slowly almost to himself.

“That’s.. very mature of you Sam” I state, as we move to stand in the taco line.

“I know” He laughs.

“You don’t take anything too seriously do you?” I ask, he turns to me a soft look on his face.

“Life’s hard enough” He muses, I nod in agreement. “So verdict?” He asks.

“Yours is definitely worse” I agree, he smiles victoriously. “We’re competing over who’s life is shittier” I can’t help but laugh.

“Hey, it’s the first laugh I got out of you tonight” He shrugs. I can’t help the flush that burns over my body. We order quickly and move to one of the abandoned picnic tables a couple of feet away.

“So I think it’s only fair that you know how my date went” I mumble quietly, as we sit down.

“I thought that was only if yours was worse?” He smiles.

“Well I feel bad so, shut it” I command, he puts his hands up in mock surrender.

“Basically I was set up on a blind date, my parents set it up” I blush, he keeps his face normal, which I’m grateful for. “Well, he talked about model trains the whole time, which would be fine if I understood the appeal, which I don’t. I’m not sure I understand model trains at all.” He smiles at this. “Then I ordered a glass of Merlot, which I would never usually do but I wanted to seem sophisticated.” I groan quietly from embarrassment. “My clumsy ass tried to be intriguing.” I use his word from earlier, he grins again. “It didn’t work and I ended up spilling it all down my shirt, which you’ve obviously seen. Then I threw down some money and ran out of there.”

“Oh” is all he says, and I roll my eyes.

“You can laugh,” I tell him, and so he does. “The worst part is I actually like the wine, it could be a new favorite, but now I will never order it again” I cringe.

“You just ran out?” He asks, I nod. “That just made my night” He wipes at his eyes, I sigh loudly. He looks at me, and we both burst out laughing. I guess talking about it made me realize how funny it actually was. It also made me realize that it was never going to work with model train guy, it’s not what I want. I felt a small tingle work its way up my spine when I lock eyes with Sam.

“I hope tonight wasn’t a complete waste then,” he smiles, that stupidly intoxicating smile.

“Not completely,” I reply.

…

That night was the first of many with Sam. Turns out that night was most definitely not a waste of time. Now I order Merlot at every restaurant we go to. That stupid date doesn’t haunt me like I expected, it’s a funny story we tell everyone who asks how we met, a story we hope to tell our kids. My shirt with the horrendous Merlot stain, that I was so upset I’d have to throw out, well I didn’t. It hangs in our shared closet now, a marvelous walk down memory lane.