It’s 9:05. I’m seated alone in a dimly lit restaurant, I Left My Heart in San Francisco playing softly from a live band. My food has been sitting in front of me for minutes now, barely touched, as I sip my drink and try not to think too much. Then, a tall, black-haired man in a suit appears, a bit rushed.
“Hello, sorry I’m late,” he says, standing beside the table. He extends his hand.
I’m a bit startled by his sudden presence and need to confirm something.
“Are you… Hiromi?”
He nods, and I almost immediately shake his already outstretched hand. “May I sit?” he asks.
“Yeah, of course,” I reply. “But didn’t you mention you couldn’t make it?”
“Well, I did,” he answers. “But I finished earlier than I expected. What did you order? It looks good. I should get something too.” He glances around, then raises his hand when he spots a waitress passing by. “May I see the menu, please?”
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We talked for a good hour and a half. He told me after we matched on the dating app that he was a lawyer, and it turned out to be true. I didn’t expect much from a man on a dating app, but to my surprise, he was well-mannered, neat, and respectful, almost as if he were holding a part of himself back.
I assumed he had come straight from work, yet his suit was still sharp and his hair perfectly in place. The only thing that gave him away were the dark circles under his eyes and the visible exhaustion on his face, but I think that only made him more attractive.
At the end of dinner, he paid for both of our meals, even though he had already sent me money earlier to apologise for almost cancelling the date. He was rather stubborn about it and insisted I keep the money to buy something for myself.
“Can I drive you home, or would you prefer if I call you a taxi?”
“I mean… yeah, sure. I’ll take the first option,” I said with a small smile.
He returned the smile, then led me to his car and opened the door for me.
The city felt quieter on the way home. He spoke about a second date casually, and somehow, I said yes without hesitation.
