I had been eager to see Susanna again. Our first "meeting" was after work on a Tuesday, at Boca in Brandon. She works downtown, and offered to go home, "freshen up" and come back to downtown, and tempting as it was to not have to drive to Brandon, accepting that seemed like a dick move. So I picked Boca, because it was near her. That first meeting went very well, so I asked for a second "date" and she agreed to dinner on the upcoming Friday.

I'm a fan of Ocean Prime at International Mall. The food and cocktails are great. If you just show up at the bar, you would be lucky to get a table, and probably have to wait for a high top. I prefer the bar, because it has a piano player. The trick is to make the reservation on Open Table a few days in advance. The restaurant always calls to confirm, and that's when I say I want a booth in the bar. So far ,they have always accommodated. The booths are fairly large, semi-circular facing the bar, which makes for fun people-watching. Even though they can probably fit six people, I have never had an issue getting one for two. All set for Friday at 7:00 PM.

Friday, 5:00 PM "We still good?" I text her. "Absolutely, on my way home to get ready, I'm looking forward to seeing you again ☺️ ☺️ ☺️ ." she replies. I always like to arrive early for my solo Manhattan, so I shower up and start to get ready myself. She will drive herself there. It's our first "real" date, we don't know each other yet. If I were a woman, I would never get in a car with a man, until at least the fourth or fifth date, so I do not offer to pick her up.

Friday, 5:45 PM "Hey, I hate to do this last minute, but I am feeling depressed and I won't be going out tonight." she texts. Umm...weird, she was three smileys happy 45 minutes ago. But whatever, "Okay, some other time then?" I reply, as though I am not annoyed at all. I get no response.

Friday, 6:00 PM. Now what? All I was missing was the spritz of YSL, and I was going to be heading out the door! I think for a second, remembering how I hated the bar scene by myself. How much worse would that be, sitting by myself in a six person booth? Fuck it, I'll just walk down the block to Cafe Dufrain. It has a decent vibe, mostly locals; Melissa the bartender is nice, and she can make a decent Manhattan.

Saturday Noonish. "I am soooo sorry, I just had some issues last night, and I would not have been good company." she texts. I'm still a little confused, but our first meeting seemed to go so well... "No worries... I understand." I reply, even though I don't understand at all. "Try again?" she texts. Hmm, well I am not chancing another Friday night with this one, until I figure out what is going on. "How about lunch downtown Monday?" I respond, knowing she works downtown, and it would only require a scooter ride on my part to get there. "Perfect" she texts. I reply "Say 11:45, you pick a place near you?" No reply.

Monday, 9:00 AM. "Are we still on for lunch?" I text. She responds, "Absolutely, see you there!". Umm, "Where?" I reply. "Lol, how about Freshen, it's easy?" she responds. "Okay, see you at 11:45" I text. "Let me know when you're almost there, and I'll come down." she says. I'm thinking, I will fucking be there at 11:45, but I reply, "Okay 👍"

Monday, 11:35 AM. "Hey I'm almost there." I text, even though I was already there, because I am always early. "Okay, I just have to finish a couple of more papers and I'll be right there." She responds. Huh?

Monday, Noon. "I'm on my way" she texts. No explanation or apology for knowing I have been standing there, for what she thinks is 15 minutes, but was actually 25.

I see her walking down the street towards me and she waves. I wave back, and a minute later she is saying, "I was trying to get a few things done before the holiday." "Oh cool, so you are off now?" I say. "I will probably go back after lunch, I don't really have anything pressing." she says. I'm thinking, but getting some papers done while I was waiting was urgent?

I am noticing that she is not as pretty as I remember... I obviously did not get my Manhattan. I think I am just annoyed with the whole thing. She clearly has some issues, or loose screws. I suspected that, before I came to lunch. So I am now seeing her without my rose colored glasses. Getting through lunch felt like a chore, but I'm not the guy who is just going to walk out, and leave her sitting there. However, it's obvious that this path has come to an end.

Lunch concludes. I can't remember now, what she even talked about. "So, we should do this again." she says with a smile. I say, "Yes...maybe..." as I give her a real-life thumbs-up, and start looking for a scooter to ride back to my apartment. It starts to rain.