Sadly, another Hinge date.
This post will probably be fairly short.
It seems to be the way that most guys when you start chatting will want to meet for a drink quite quickly. They like to gauge if they’re interested or not sooner rather than later.
I agree! But sometimes with my job (and two other jobs) it can be difficult for me to arrange something so last minute.
Graham* was actually very understanding about that fact. We arranged a drink on an evening we could both do and he agreed we would just chat over message until then.
He was a man of few words.
Trying to get a flowing conversation out of him proved more difficult than I had hoped. I’m someone who probably talks more than is necessary but he seemed to be the complete opposite.
He was very friendly but not particularly chatty. He did say he was looking forward to our date though.
On the day of, I messaged him early afternoon to check we were still good for the time and place.
He did not reply.
It got to the time I had to leave and still no reply.
I wondered if maybe something had come up at work. He was cagey about giving too many details about his work but I knew it was something military, so thought maybe something had unexpectedly come up.
I decided to message again with my phone number and told him to message me on that if he was running late because it would come through my car audio.
My gut was saying he was not going to show. But I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and go anyway.
Just in case.
I drove the half an hour waiting for a message to come through.
Nothing.
I arrived at the small village pub and waited still for a message.
Nothing.
I went inside and walked around. There were three families and a couple all sat at tables having dinner. I sat at the bar and ordered a drink. The feeling of nerves and anxiety started to rise inside of me.
My god, this guy was not going to show.
I looked around and instantly knew that every person in that pub knew exactly what was happening to me.
I was being stood up.
My phone still had no new messages.
That’s it. I finished my drink, got up and walked straight out of that pub.
As I climbed back into my car, I felt a rush of embarrassment. I felt humiliated.
The engine started and I decided to make a detour via the drive through.
My evening resulted in a full skincare regime, a burger, a sleepy herbal tea and an early night.
Two days later and still nothing from him.
Fully stood up.
He never showed. He never even had the decency to send a message or apologise.
Now, yes I have considered the possibility that something has happened that meant he couldn’t message. Maybe he still will message at some point to apologise.
For now, I’ll always have the wonderful memory of sitting alone in the pub knowing that I should have trusted my gut all along.
Because she was right.
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