“Tanya said he was reserving the table under Devon.” Monica repeated to the hostess at the door. “I know I have the right restaurant because I checked with her several times, to be sure.”
“Miss. We don’t make reservations.” The hostess was calm and patient. Surprisingly the woman was still smiling even though Monica was sure she was being her most difficult guest of the night.
“Well, uh. Do you have anyone here who is waiting for someone to arrive? A man.”
The hostess glanced down at her map of tables and quietly consulted the waitress that had come over.
“Miss, come with me.” The waitress nodded, gesturing her further in. “Let’s look around really quick.”
Monica pulled back with a faint blush. “Oh I won’t recognize him. This is a blind date. He was supposed to make a reservation under his name so I’d be able to find him.”
Immediately the waitress stopped and peered over at her. “Well, we can do one of two things. We could go over to the area where we have our tables for two and see if we can sort this out by asking those men without a dinner companion if he is waiting for you or we can go over there and you can yell his name, see who looks.”
“Everyone would look.” She wrung her hands. “I’d look like a crazy person, then no one would fess up to a date with me.”
“So let’s go ask. I’ll stay with you.” She winked. “This way you could be meeting multiple potential future dates while looking for this Devon. Win-win.
Monica had already decided on giving this poor waitress a huge tip for being so patient and asking all these guys if she was their missing date. They were on the last guy, handsome in a rugged kind of way and Monica got a little excited.
“Sir, we seem to be having a problem that we need to sort out. I’m sorry to interrupt your evening.”
The man looked over them both. “It’s no problem. What can I help you with?”
Monica spoke up. “I’m supposed to be meeting someone here on a blind date and there was a miscommunication. Is your name Devon?”
“Unfortunately no. It’s Bryant. Though I wish you were my blind date. Mine is a half hour late.”
Her jaw dropped. “You’re on a blind date too?”
His wry smile had her heart twisting with an odd ache. “Supposed to be. I wish you luck finding your date.”
“You were my last chance. We’ve asked everyone else.” Her hands dropped to her side. “Sorry to bother you.”
As she turned to walk away another waitress came hurrying up with a huge smile on her face. “We’ve found Devon. He’s at the front.”
Hurrying over to the hostess stand, Monica smiled brightly. “Devon?”
“Yeah.” A man-child raised his hand from the corner. “That’s me. I heard I was supposed to go pick up some chick here?”
Monica shut her mouth to keep from letting it drop open.
“Let’s seat you at your table.”
“Sit?” He knocked his head back against the wall and groaned. “No one said anything about sitting down and eating. I’m not paying for some chick to eat.”
“No. It’s fine.” Monica interjected. “I can pay for my own dinner. You can run along home.”
“Eh if you’re paying, I’ll eat.”
“Oh I didn’t…” There was no point in saying more, Devon was already further in the restaurant and out of earshot.
The waitress grimaced, “I’ll show you to your table.” She leaned in to whisper. “And I’ll make sure to split the check.”
“Thank you.”
Once seated across from Devon, who had slouched back in his chair while he scoured the menu, Monica looked around. She spotted her fellow blind dater and waved when he caught her eye and rolled her eyes at her oblivious date. Bryant laughed and she ducked behind her menu.
The next time she glanced away she was startled to find his date across from him. However, once she saw her, Monica didn’t know how she hadn’t noticed her before. Bryant’s date was loud, as if she wanted the whole room to hear her.
“I know I was a teensy late but I don’t see the problem.” The woman whined.
When he didn’t respond fast enough the woman gave a shrieky sort of whine. As soon as the woman looked down at her phone, he looked over at her and gave her an eye roll of his own.
Looking back at her dud of a date she came up with a sudden idea. “Um Devon, I just realized that I was supposed to meet up with someone named Darren. They sound so similar that I was confused.”
He shrugged. “No big.”
“Don’t you need to meet up with the girl you were supposed to?”
Again he shrugged and Monica fought the urge to not smack him. “I can’t remember her name. So there’s not really any point.”
“I’ll be right back.”
Devon didn’t look up from his menu. “Uh huh.”
Taking a deep breath Monica walked over to Bryant and his date and cleared her throat. “Pardon me for interrupting.”
The woman interrupted. “I’ll have a strawberry lemonade.”
“Oh I didn’t come to take your order.” Monica smiled brightly. “I apologize for the inconvenience but there’s been a bit of a misunderstanding. You came on a blind date right?”
“Yeah. So?”
“Well it has come to our attention that we seated you at the wrong table. Who were you meeting?”
The woman flicked her hair back. “Brown hair. Kinda tall.”
Monica pointed over to Devon. “Your date is over there. He just arrived a few minutes looking for you.”
“Oh really? That makes sense. I am never late.” She got up and pranced over to where Devon was sitting. Devon perked up and pointed to the seat with a smile.
Monica slowly lowered herself down in the recently vacated chair. “I hope you don’t mind. You seemed almost as disappointed with your date as I was with mine. My name’s Monica. If you don’t mind, I’d love to be your new blind date.”
Bryant looked between her and his previous date and smiled. “Somehow you read my mind. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Monica.”
