The date- An original short story by giantbear

It has been quite a while since Liza had been out on a date. She was married for so long and ever since Richard left her she has been alone.  She didn't want to put up with another man's nonsense after all that he put her through. They got married at such a young age, and they never really explored life, but they were happy. Or so she thought. After a few years she caught him cheating on her, but she forgave him. Later on when it happened again, she did not have it in her heart to forgive him again.  She filed for divorce, and he literally just disappeared from her life.  

It has been three years and up to now she has not heard one single word from him again. Every month like clockwise, she received her alimony check in the mail, but that was it. No other contact other than that, and she didn't really care what happened to him anymore.  She hoped he was happy with all his floozies.  

They never had children, so in the beginning it was hard to be alone, but she had gotten used to it and now she quite enjoyed her freedom.  She went out with her friends several times a week for breakfast or lunch and that was enough for her.  She was happy on her own.  She wrote a blog several times a week and that kept her quite busy.  The rest of the time, she loved her life of leisure.  

Three weeks ago her one friend Tamlin started nagging her about going out on a date with some guy. At first she just refused, but later realized that it wouldn't hurt to go on one date. You never know, this man might become a good friend, and no harm in that.  

It was by accident that she was free on Valentine's day, and Tamlin arranged the date for her.  She didn't even ask what the man's name was, but apparently he was going to wear a black shirt, with a red rose in his pocket.  She laughed when she heard that, and agreed to meet him at a restaurant near to her house. Tamlin made all the arrangements and even booked her for a hair appointment, so that she could impress the guy. 

Liza decided to go all in, to humor herself.  After she dressed in her little black number with her long blond hair hanging loose over her shoulders, she stood in front of the mirror and laughed at herself for being so stupid.  He should be impressed she thought.  She has not put in much effort with her hair and make up for a while now, but this was quite a change.  She took one more turn and grabbed her car keys.  She was quite excited about this date even if she didn't want to admit it to herself. 

She drove to the restaurant and found a parking right in front.  That would be an easy escape and she could avoid him walking her to her car and possibly avoid that first kiss.

She locked the car and walked up to the door.  She peeked in through the window to see if he was there yet, but she did not see anyone wearing a black shirt or even carrying a red rose. She walked in and announced herself to the maitre d of the restaurant and she showed her to a table in the corner.  She ordered a drink and just started relaxing when she saw a man walking in wearing a black shirt.  

She couldn't make out the color his hair, but even from afar she could see that he was very handsome.  He reminded her quite a bit of Richard.  She didn't want to make it look suspicious, so she turned away looking out the window.  She only turned back when she could feel him standing right beside her. 

She looked up and had the shock of her life when she realized that it was none other than Richard her ex-husband, standing right there in front of her. 

He stood there with a shocked face, and she burst out laughing.  Richard looked quite annoyed, and she downed the rest of her drink to get over the initial shock, before grabbing her handbag to walk out of the restaurant.  She had nothing to say to him, and she did not want to listen to all his soppy stories. 

"Thanks for the drink." she said, winked, and then walked straight past him and out the door. 

She made a mental note not to listen to any of her friends again. She drove to the nearest diner and ordered a takeaway milkshake, hamburger and fries. 

There was a new movie showing tonight on television, and she couldn't wait to go home and watch it.     

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