Seven Dates

Chapter Twenty-One

"Do you have anyone else?" Brent asks Ari. She shakes her head. No one at the table wants to talk about what happened with Vince. When I first admitted to them what happened, desperate apologies flew across the table at me. I don't think anyone expected my date to end with a run-in with the police.

Still, the cops were pretty nice to me and I ended up getting out of everything without a mark on my record. Thankfully they were familiar enough with Vince's antics that they were willing to believe that he manipulated a younger high school girl. Still, I shouldn't have let him trick me into paying for the date or trespassing.

I take a deep breath and stare across the table at my friends. They have kind of lost expressions, like they're not sure if they can procure another decent date for me. For a moment I wonder if I'm going to get away with just having to go on five dates.

"Wait, wait. I have a friend of a friend of a friend who I can call, I think. Give me a sec." Brent finally says. He doesn't sound very convincing. Still, he gets up from his seat at our table and heads outside, prepping to make his phone calls.

"A friend of a friend of a friend, he thinks," I repeat. No one says anything, so I speak up again. "So now the two of you are basically sending me out with total strangers?" I roll my eyes and Ari shrugs.

I'm a little concerned that they're not finding dates for me that they actually know well and trust, but I guess it's hard to come up with people.

Ari takes a long sip of her drink and then looks over at me. It seems like she's forcing a half-smile for me. I look down at the table.

"Strangers can be a good thing," she says.