The Blind Date

Danielle smiled as she fixed her lipstick. This was going to be a fantastic date. She could feel it. She wasn’t really that happy with the idea of a blind date most of the time. Mostly, she felt that her personality gave a better impression than her looks what with her straight brown hair that was beginning to grey early and her large nose, thanks to her father, her narrow hips and flat chest, thanks to her mother, there wasn’t really much of anything that drew men in long enough for them to get to know her and fall for her personality.

Sure, she’d had a couple of boyfriends, but they’d always begun as friends, and usually only because they were thrown together by the forces of nature, such as Brad, her lab partner last year. She could tell when he approached that he wished he’d gotten to their first lab sooner so he could choose a better partner, but by the end of the semester they were hanging out in either his dorm room or hers nearly every day. By the end of the next semester, they were dating, at her prompting. He’d said he wasn’t sure it was a good idea, but she got him drunk one night, laid a kiss on him, and the next thing he knew, they were dating. Six months later, they were broken up and barely even speaking to each other. She’d repeatedly kicked herself for ruining such a wonderful friendship.

Her date had called and told her he wanted to take her to dinner at the newest restaurant, then to sit by the river and talk and get to know each other. She was looking forward to an opportunity for him to get to know the real her. She bent over at the waist and fluffed her hair, then flung it back up, allowing for maximum volume. Danielle then sprayed a bit of perfume into the air and walked into it. She knew her scent would be important. She wanted it to be inviting, but not overpowering.

Danielle had been set up with Mike through a mutual friend. He’d assured her that Mike was a really guy and her average looks wouldn’t matter to him. Within just a few minutes of her first phone call with Mike, she’d mentioned her plainness, though she wasn’t sure why.

He simply responded, “We all have our crosses to bear, but at least yours isn’t dishonesty.”

This had comforted her somehow. They’d talked two more times before the final date and seemed to get alone wonderfully over the phone. She wondered if the same would be in real life as she slipped on her black pumps. She noted by the flutter in her stomach that she'd already started having feelings for this mystery man.

Just then, the doorbell rang and Danielle went to answer it. She opened the door nervously and stood there staring at the handsome man in front of her.

“Danielle? Is that you?” he asked.

Forgetting her blind date was actually blind, she apologized and greeted him warmly, then said she was ready if he was.

Word Count 523