[ RF ] You are set up on a blind date with a person who you badly bullied for 10 years in school .

‘ Well at least it ’ s a nice joint ’ I try to think somewhat cheerfully to myself as I chip away at the peeling woodwork of the hard chair I ’ m currently sitting on as I distract myself with the other patrons of the small little restaurant I currently am residing in. 
 
 Behind me, a rather overly large and repugnant smelling gentleman in a sweat stained, faded yellow business shirt is attempting to entertain his wife and young son with the comings and goings of his downtown postal service. I feel his son is doing an excellent job of only looking mildly bored by his father ’ s less than interesting job, and I silently applaud him for doing a better job than I would have were I in his shoes. Hell, if I were in his shoes I would ’ ve knocked that smile face off of his father ’ s face and walked right on out of here, so what if you ’ re meant to respect your elders, they got ta be worth respecting first in my opinion. 
 
 I sigh deeply and star drumming my fingers on the arm of my now very chipped chair as I continue to subtly survey the other inhabitants of the tiny restaurant, I don ’ t want my ‘ blind date ’ thinking I ’ m some creep who openly ogles people in public, I have too much style for that, it ’ s something I am most definitely above. 
 
 “ Chris? ” says the female voice behind me, knocking me out of my thoughts 
 
 Inhaling deeply through my nose, I get up slowly and spin around, adjusting my jacket as I do so, always make a good impression and show them how confident you are, I remind myself, not that I need too, I am always confident and I make sure people know it 
 
 “ Lisa, ” I respond with a small smile and a slight raise of the eyebrow as I extend my hand out to the tall brunette in front of me. My smile gets warmer as she extends her own delicate hand in return. She ’ s average height, shoulder length brown hair and from what I can tell, a nice little booty in the blue dress she ’ s wearing. It ’ s knee length or something like that. 
 
 She cocks her head and looks slightly perplexedly at me, an unsure smile now gracing her face. I decide to put her at ease, blind dates may be stupid but what the hell, she ain ’ t half bad looks wise so might as well make the most of it. 
 
 “ It ’ s good to finally meet you, heard a lot about you, all good of course, ” I say, forcing some smooth warmth into my voice and adding a little laugh in at the end to put her at ease. 
 
 It doesn ’ t seem to work however as she continues to look at me oddly, now with a slight ‘ right ’ look on her face, “ I ’ ll bet, ” she finally says not moving from her spot, and I wonder what ’ s wrong with her, why hasn ’ t she moved? 
 
 “ Would you like to sit down? ” I prompt, taking my hand from hers and gesturing to the open seat behind me 
 
 “ Where did you grow up? ” she asks instead, ignoring the gesture 
 
 ‘ Alrite then, ’ I think to myself, let ’ s play this game, I ’ ll win anyway 
 
 “ Oregon, tiny little place near the border, you probably haven ’ t heard of it, moved away a few years back, ” I answer her, “ wanted to get out and see some other places. You ever been there? ” I finish, throwing the ball back in her court. It ’ s a tedious game but one I ’ m good at, get them talking and go from there. 
 
 “ I don ’ t think you ’ d believe me even if I told you, ” she eventually replies after yet another odd pause, a hint of irony in her voice. 
 
 ‘ Well ok then, ’ I think to myself, peering at her curiously now as I try to decide if it ’ s worth continuing on with this woman. She ’ s clearly playing some game of her own but is it worth it? The body is intriguing and close enough to what I like to be worth taking her back to my place and maybe even get to know better, but is the personality worth it? 
 
 As I ’ m considering all this she puts her hand up, “ look I ’ m just going to stop you there Chris Thornleigh, this isn ’ t ever going to happen, bye, ” and with that she turns and walks away, no indication why 
 
 I move to go after her, and then it hits me, how did she know my last name? Surely Dan wouldn ’ t have given it to her? The thought stops me for a moment, and in the back of mind something starts tapping away, a thought I can ’ t quite get. But I push it down and decide to follow her out. 
 
 “ Lisa, Lisa wait, what ’ s up? ” I ask running after her, fine, she ’ s playing hard I decide, I ’ ll let her think I ’ m chasing and following along and then boom flip it on her head, metaphorically of course, not literally, I try to avoid doing that these days. 
 
 “ Don ’ t even bother, ” comes the sharp voice as I round the entrance of the restaurant, causing me to pull up short before I go crashing into her. 
 
 “ What?! ” I demand of her, looking at her angrily, screw potential she ’ s starting to annoy me, and I can feel the anger building at the base of my skull. 
 
 “ Not. Gon na. Happen, ” she says pointedly, glaring at me the whole time. “ So go back to whatever little apartment you ’ re living out of, ” she finishes before turning and walking away from me, again. And I can ’ t believe it, she is walking away from me, again. 
 
 Spinning, I pull out my phone and angrily look up Dan ’ s number, he is gon na cop an earful for setting me up with such a psycho, ain ’ t no way I ’ m going easy on him at the gym tomorrow, he is going to be sore when I am done with him I think satisfyingly as I stomp home. 

