First Date With Bill

(I’m on a first date with a guy I met through friends. We’re having dinner and drinks in a bar I frequent a lot. He even commented on how the wait staff greeted me by my first name when we arrived, thinking it was funny! It’s come to the end of the night and I’ve been having a great time so far.)

Me: “Thank you so much for a lovely evening! I’ve really enjoyed it.”

Date: “Me, too! We should do this again sometime.”

Me: *I take out my purse* “Sounds good! We should probably ask for the bill though. I hate to cut the evening short but I’ve got work tomorrow and need to catch the last bus home.”

Date: “Yeah… hey, I’ve got this! My treat!”

Me: “Are you sure? Thank you!”

(He goes up to the bar to pay because the restaurant is very busy and there are no servers available. I take that time to double check the bus times on my phone. When he comes back we leave the restaurant together and then go our separate ways. A few days later I’m back at the restaurant for lunch when the manager approaches me…)

Manager: “Hey, [My Name]! Can I talk to you really quickly?”

Me: “Yeah, sure, [Manager]. What’s up?”

Manager: “I just need you to settle up that bill from the other night! You forgot to pay on the way out.”

Me: “What bill?”

Manager: “The bill from your date! It’s all right; we all forget sometimes! How did your date go, by the way?”

(So it turned out the guy asked the bartender to put the bill ‘on her tab’… I tried to text him about it but he blocked my number immediately and then went on to tell our mutual friends the date was ‘a disaster.’ I haven’t seen or heard from him since, but apparently my friends don’t hang out with him anymore either.)