Don’t Be a Stranger
Fiction Friday
They met in a local French café. Slightly too romantic for the reunion of two old college friends and yet, it wasn’t totally off. They were older, more settled, more distinguished. This is where people their age would meet. He was the first to arrive and so he ordered brunch for two along with a bottle of champagne. Treating her to a posh French breakfast was the least he could do considering the massive favor he would ask her in return.
The moment Anne walked into the café, Daniel started to question his choices, both the café and the position he had intended for her. She was beaming at him, her arms open wide in an attempt to hug him.
“Aww, long time no see! How are you doing? Not too bad, as far as I can tell,” she pointed at the table, nodding as if this was the grandest gesture she had ever been exposed to. Poor Anne.
She was cute in her green floral dress and the black doc martens, a young 33-year-old. There are men, who are into her type. But she definitely didn’t look polished enough.
“I’m trying to be a good photographer,” he said bluntly.
“Oh, so I’ve seen on Facebook. Your pictures are absolutely amazing!”
“Well, they are not great-great. But I know what you mean. An amateur wouldn’t notice the difference.”
Anne chuckled nervously and took a sip from her champagne, which was really just sparkling wine. He would not come here a second time.
“I guess your equipment must cost a hell of a lot,” Anne wondered, puppy-like in her manner.
“In your message, you mentioned something about ‘dating for a living’? What’s that all about? You’ve always been a mysterious one, haven’t you.”
He chuckled at her flood of questions and imagined how he would retouch her skin, smooth the odd milia around her eyes, make her flawless.
“I work as a dating coach for millennial men, that’s correct. Unfortunately, my assistant got sick today. I know it’s very short notice, but I cannot think of anyone, who would be better suited for this position than you.” He cleared his throat and put on the smile that he had practiced in the mirror earlier.
“What do I have to do exactly? Trick men into thinking their chat up lines work?”
“Oh no, not at all!” He imagined how he would apply the clone stamp to smooth the area between her eyebrows. Having to explain his work to someone, who doesn’t understand his philosophy, was always tiring.
“They will learn a few techniques on how to approach women. You just have to encourage them with a little smile. That’s it. They just need to lose their fear of making the first step.”
“Okay, I think I can do that.” Anne shrugged and took a bite from her croissant. Apparently, this was everything she needed to know. No more questions asked. Then she pulled a silly face at the snotty toddler, who was smearing chocolate all over the table next to them, while his ignorant parents were just chewing away like idle cattle.
“Anyway, we can talk about the details later,” Daniel tried to brush off the rising feeling of irritation.
“They are just gorgeous at that age, aren’t they?” Anne turned to the parents.
“She’s quite a handful, alright,” the father laughed back.
Daniel could feel his jaw tense. He finished his now flat sparkling wine and forced a smile that did not reach his eyes, while Anne was speaking gibberish with the toddler. He wouldn’t have guessed that it was a girl. Why would they cut her hair that short and make her wear khaki coloured baggy pants? What was this place? Daniel had to get the conversation back on track.
“Anyway. Enough talking about me. What have you been up to lately?”
“I am a writer, actually,” Anne’s beaming smile was back. She clearly expected him to be intrigued.
“I have just won a prize for an essay that I wrote. It’s called ‘Don’t be a stranger’. It’s online if you want to read it.”
Daniel knew the piece. Anne had shared it on Facebook. It was a detailed account of a relationship that had gone downhill. He had cringed over every single paragraph. How some boorish clown made her feel like a little girl. How he turned on the TV straight after sex and how she was too afraid to speak up. Too much information.
“I skimmed it actually,” he replied. “I really pitied you.”
“Oh,” Anne fell silent.
“Would you excuse me for a second?” Daniel pointed at the empty champagne glass and then at the toilet sign. Anne’s cheeks were flushed and she excused him with a shy smile.
I’ve got everything under control, Daniel silently repeated his mantra as he inspected his freshly ironed shirt in the mirror. He had collected it from the dry-cleaners just before their date.
When he came back, Anne’s seat was empty. He thought it very inconsiderate of her to leave his belongings unattended. As he walked to his seat, the woman from the table next to them called his attention.
She had long stringy hair and no make-up. Worst of all, she had a two-year-old child attached to her large lactating breast. The little girl unlatched with a loud smacking noise sinking into her mother’s arms, leaving a shiny dark nipple exposed. Daniel looked away ostentatiously. He felt utterly appalled, despite the opposing signal that his groin was sending. Even when she called him, he didn’t dare to look.
“Hey, listen, your date has just left.” From the corner of his eye, he could see the woman’s head motioning towards the door. This was the worst mix of emotions Daniel had felt in a long time.
