"Are you kidding?" I said.
"I know. She said she knew this guy from her work that she thought I would like... Sorry. I shouldn't be telling you this. You're probably here with someone."
"Ron. She told me the same thing," I said. She blinked a couple times.
"What?"
"Tiffany. She said the same thing to me. Blind date with a girl from her work." Her brows scrunched up as she looked at me.
"No, she didn't."
"I swear."
"No. Then that means..." She paused, and I didn't need her to finish to know what she was thinking.
"I thought for a minute I was being stood up," I said, trying to lighten the mood. Her face was still puzzled, and I didn't want that to turn into anger. Call me a dog, but fuck, I had her. I hadn't even had to try and she had just shown up. I wasn't going to just let her get away.
"This has to be a mistake," she said.
"It was Tiffany; she planned this every step of the way. Do you want to call her and ask?"
"Would you mind?"
"I mean, I've got a perfectly good table and it looks like she got both of us, so we might as well get a good meal out of it," I said. She looked unsure, like she was thinking about it and wasn't convincing herself that it was a good idea to stay.
"Could you give me a minute?" she asked. I nodded. She said she was using the ladies' room. I showed her where the table was and went to sit while she was gone.
I started feeling nervous. I wasn't worried that she would tell me to wait for her and then ditch. I just hadn't been ready to see her again. This, an awkward meeting where we were set up without knowing it, was the last way I would have picked to see her again.
I was happy to see her and wasn't going to lie, I was a hell of a lot more excited for this date now that I knew it was with her. But I wished I had gotten to choose, maybe ask her out myself, talk to her first about it because the last thing I wanted was to be sitting with Veronica and not be able to talk to her. She didn't take long in the bathroom.
I pulled her chair out for her and waited till she was sitting before I did again. Neither of us had to say anything because the server appeared and poured us both glasses of water and gave us menus. She fidgeted with the laminated booklet before putting
it down on the table.
"I'm sorry about tonight," she said.
"What?"
"You were obviously expecting someone different. I'm sorry Tiffany did this."
"You can't apologize for that. I was just about to leave when I saw you."
"What about now?"
"What about now?"
"Do you still want to leave?" She could have dropped an anvil on my head and it would have been more subtle.
"I want to buy you dinner," I said.
She sighed softly and ran her hands through her hair, leaning her elbows on the table. I was losing her. She was thinking about that door and walking out of it. When the server appeared again to take our orders, she picked her menu up, fumbling to skim through it fast enough to place an order while the guy was still waiting.
"You guys ready to order?" he asked. She apologized, looking at me desperately.
"I'll have the cannelloni," I said. "And, she'll have the baked gnocchi." She looked up from the menu, surprised. The man asked her whether that was what she wanted, and she nodded her head, thanking him.
"You ordered for me," she said once he had left the table.