Maria sat by the door impatiently, staring at the blank screen of her phone as if she could will it to ring. Her tight red dress rode up her thigh as her leg bounced compulsively. After what had seemed like an eternity, her phone lit up with the name of her date, Eric, who was now half an hour late (to a first date, no less). She picked up before the phone even had a chance to ring.
"Hello?"
"Melissa?"
"It's Maria," she replied, irritated.
"Oh, sorry babe... traffic's killing, Maria. Be there in no more than 15, ok?" said Eric in a flippant tone. Maria was feeling worse and worse about this date.
"Ummm, okay I guess." She was too shy to say anything more to this complete stranger. She waited for his response, but soon realized he had already hung up.
Growing angrier and angrier, she texted her friend Casey:
"SOS. This guy you're setting me up with is a total dick."
Casey replied quickly. "He's rough around the edges, but he's usually cool at work. Give him a chance, ok?"
Maria sighed, texted a quick "ok fine" back, and got up. She walked to her bathroom and stood in front of the mirror. Her makeup was still perfect, but she touched up her lipstick anyway. She'd picked a classic red lip color, and paired it with smokey grey eyeshadow. Her blonde hair was styled in big, bouncy curls that fell over her C cup breasts. Her red dress was low-cut but tasteful, and showed off her natural curves. Maria regretted having wore her lacy black bra and panties, because this date was clearly going to end quickly. What was she thinking? This was a first date, and she obviously wasn't going to get anywhere with this douche Eric. She resolved to change her outfit to something less revealing.
Just as she had started across her apartment to the bedroom, there was a knock at the door. She internally groaned and opened the door, steeling herself for the inevitable nightmare to come, but as soon as the door was open, she gasped.
The man standing in front of her was red hot. He was tall, with an athletic build, dark brooding eyes, olive skin, and wavy black hair. His tight gray t-shirt showed off his abs, and his black jeans left just enough to the imagination. He was rocking some chain necklaces in a big way, and his facial hair was too full to be called stubble, but still showed his defined jawline.
Eric grinned, clearly amused at Maria's apparent interest in him. "Heya Monica. You ready?"
"It's uh... it's Maria" she stuttered, regaining her composure. She crossed her arms.
He gave her a quick glance up and down. "Right, right. Ready?"
She rolled her eyes. "Sure, let's go."
One uncomfortable car ride later, Maria was a fly on the wall in the trashiest night club in town. She'd never been before tonight, and she wasn't changing her tune on the place now: everyone except her was completely sloshed, the lights were nauseating, and the music was loud and awful. Eric seemed like he was enjoying himself over at the bar, flirting with the hot young girl who was tending bar. Jealousy washed over Maria. It hadn't been 5 minutes at this club, and he was already over her. She tried to correct herself: why did she care about what this asshole was doing? Still, she couldn't help but frown as she watched him grab their drinks, wink at a nearby waitress, and saunter his way back to her.
"What's wrong, blondie?" He joked. "We're kinda here to dance, babe. What're you doing on the wall?" He flashed a smile, but it was clear he was growing frustrated.
"I'm not a big dancer." She huffed, adjusting the straps of her dress.
Eric was getting noticeably pissed now, his eyebrows knitting together. "You're not gonna be a tight-ass the whole time, are you? Casey told me you were cool."
"Excuse me?" she retorted, turning red.
"Look blondie, I'm not a huge fan of these set-ups in the first place," said Eric flippantly. "I don't even know why I let Casey talk me into this. I can get plenty of chicks on my own."
