Crickets (31 Blind Dates Anthology) (Date 5 of 31)

Crickets

Crickets | Blind Date 5 of 31

Suzi needs a date. Well actually, based on the bet she just made with her two bestfriends, she needs thirty-one dates. Thirty one blind dates to be exact. This time, Suzi meets a blind date for lunch at a hip restaurant, but someone else catches her eye.

This one-shot is part of the 31 Blind Dates anthology from more than two dozen Wattpad writers including members of the Stars program, published authors, Ambassadors and Wattys winners. At the end of each story, you will find the link to the next chapter in the collection. Special thanks to rskovach for putting this all together.

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Crickets

She was stunning. It poured out of her in an effervescence that crested and snapped with every step. She made Suzi want to take up writing poetry to put her into words. It didn't matter that that's a cliché, because there was no time for thinking. Suzi could only feel the thump of her heart in her head. The way this woman carried herself into the room and toward Suzi turned that trough of vacant tables in that overhyped restaurant with the threadbare menus into something that not even those planted five-star Yelp reviews could bullshit. Something real. Something timeless. An instant familiarity.

Of course, it wouldn't be the first time her eyesight narrowed into tunnel vision, sending her balance spinning and hands gripping the sides of the tabletop. Good thing Suzi remained seated at the table. She'd been fooled before by the intoxicant of instant attraction. But something felt different in that shared glance, as if they'd known each other for longer than either had been alive.

"Hello. Are you Suzi?" the woman said as she cleared the last few feet to Suzi's table. They faced each other alone in that part of the restaurant.

Suzi chose not to speak. She just nodded with a dry throat. Reaching for the obligatory glass of water on the table was out of the question. A spill within the first five seconds of meeting each other was not worth the risk. A blind date like this was almost too good to be true.

Perhaps because it was too good to be true.

"Great. Ryan just checked in at the front. I'll bring him back. I'll be your server today," the woman said.

On other blind dates her friend, Taren, set up for her, Suzi didn't feel as surprised as she did in that moment. That's the difference between a somewhat-dateable-maybe-mutual friend date, and a blind date. The latter didn't carry the kind of expectations that commonly accompanied a Taren-built date. It could feel like dating two people at the same time when Suzi knew her friend would be texting for updates.

These blind dates dispensed lately like lottery tickets. And as any good gambler knows, it's best not to bet more than you can afford to lose. In Suzi's case, all she had to lose was the time until she felt like leaving her date with the bill for lunch.

Lunch. Not dinner. Kept the stakes low.

By the look of things, that bill would also be low. Ryan sauntered in with the scenery-chewing ambiance of a wet washcloth hitting the floor.

"Hey, I, uh, I, you're Sarah, right? I'm Ryan," Ryan said as he sat down. He made a fashionable attempt at dressing hobo chic, but it came across as straight hobo. Were there more light behind his eyes, the deadpan in his voice might've carried an ASMR-grade baritone. But there wasn't anything ASMR about the tuba lodged in his throat.

On a normal blind date, Suzi would do both of them a favor and cut it off right there. However, the server who originally notified Suzi about Ryan's arrival was a good enough reason to stay put and find amusement in whatever form it may take.