Date Is Suddenly On Fire

(I, female, am on a first date with a guy from an online dating site. My roommate, male, and I had signed up on the site at the same time, and have a habit of “safety calling” each other in the middle of dates to make sure everything is going all right. The location for this particular date happens to be about two blocks from where my roommate works as a firefighter. On my way to the restaurant, I turn off the ringer on my phone because my ex-boyfriend is being annoying and calling me, and I want to be in a better frame of mind than dealing with him when I go on this date. Fast-forward about two hours; Date and I are having a fabulous time.)

Waitress: “Um, are you [My Name]?”

Me: “Yes?”

Waitress: *holding out a cordless phone* “I have a [Roommate] on the phone here for you?” *she looks REALLY uncomfortable, like she wondered if that’s my boyfriend on the phone and am I cheating with this guy*

Me: *look of horror on my face* “Oh, no! I turned off my ringer! He’s probably been trying to–! Oh, my God!” *takes phone* “I am SO sorry!”

Roommate: “You’d better be. I haven’t met this guy, I’m on the island until tomorrow, and if you hadn’t answered the phone, you’d have a big red truck showing up at the restaurant. I was going to send the guys to do a welfare check.”

Me: “Thanks, [Roommate]. That wouldn’t have been embarrassing at all.”

Roommate: “Leave your ringer on next time? I was worried.”

Me: “Aww, everything’s going fine. I’ll call you when I’m back at home.” *hangs up, hands phone back to waitress* “So… yeah… that’s the roommate I was telling you about. The one who calls to check in with me on every date?”

Date: “I could hear something about a truck?”

Me: “Yeah… his fire-hall is just up the street, and if he hadn’t been able to get ahold of me, he would have asked them to do a welfare check. Here. At the restaurant.”

Date: “That would have been fun…”

(Cue laughter from both of us. We had a great time on that date, and on the next few, but we didn’t really click. However, the roommate and I have been together for years now, so everything worked out wonderfully in the end!)