When my best friend Mia told me she wanted to set me up with her boyfriend’s friend, I hesitated. Blind dates weren’t really my thing. But Mia was insistent. “You’ll love him,” she said. “He’s polite, smart, stable — a total gentleman.”
Against my better judgment, I agreed. His name was Eric. From the first message, he came off as confident but not pushy — the kind of guy who used complete sentences and asked thoughtful questions instead of sending one-word replies. After a week of chatting, he suggested dinner at a nice Italian place downtown.
The night started out perfectly. Eric showed up early, holding a bouquet of roses and wearing a crisp button-down. “These are for you,” he said with a practiced smile that somehow felt genuine. Inside, he pulled out my chair, complimented my dress, and even gave me a small personalized keychain — my initial engraved on polished metal.
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