I looked at my reflection in the glass door, and nervously brushed an imagined speck of lint from my shoulder.
My wife had left me almost a year ago, and my friends had finally convinced me to begin dating again.
We had been married almost fourteen years, and my dating skills were somewhat erroded .My friends introduced me to the world of Internet dating .
Meeting women on the computer was a bewildering blur of technology, which had to be learned . Talking to a monitor by typing into a keyboard was strange at best. Sifting out the truth from the lies was a full time occupation.
What is there about the internet that turns people into liars?
The first woman I met through date.com was a school teacher from New York City. Her posted photo was very attractive. She was 5′5, 120 pounds, long blonde hair, big blue eyes,and an attractive saucy personality. Her name was Sharene
We e mailed numerous times, and became quite familiar and comfortable discussing a wide range of topics, including sex and sexual preferences.
When we graduated to phone contact, her voice was soft and rich, and our conversations were far ranging and increasingly intimate.
I looked forward to meeting her face to face, but a series of familial and professional occurences on her part, conspired to postponed our much anticipated “new beginning”.
Most of the Summer passed before we were finally able to coordinate an initial meeting.
I drove into the City. We planned to meet for Sunday brunch at 1 pm.
She selected an out door Cafe on 33rd St, just off of 3rd Avenue.
I got there early, and anxiously paced the street, my stomach fluttering with excited anticipation. My eyes searched the distance , following the movement of every slender long haired blonde as they traversed the various streets surrounding my location.
Several months of e mails, phone conversations, and the exchange of a few photos, left me unsure of who or what to expect.
I looked at my watch, It was 1:15. I had been paceing the street for the better part of 40 minutes, and I was beginning to think that this had been a bad idea.
I walked back to the Cafe. There was a very attarctive blonde waiting just to the right of the front door.
“All right”, I thought to myself.” Worth the wait.”, I took a step towards her,but before I got close, a man who appeared to be her father , exited the Cafe, and gave her a hug , and soft kiss on the cheek.
Discouraged, I turned away, then felt a soft tap on my shoulder.
” Are you Charlie? You look just like your picture, but better.”
I turned, and my heart crashed. Standing before me was a woman, maybe 5′1, 200+ pounds. The hair was blonde, and black, and grey, and very frizzy. Her eyes were blue, but the right eye was higher than her left one, and her skin was ruddy, flaking, and blotchy.
“Sharene?” I asked, hesitantly. Hopeing against hope, that I was wrong.
Being a gentleman, and this being my first internet date, I took her to brunch.We exchanged polite conversation, then I beat a hasty retreat.
All the way home I kept shaking my head. “Who was this woman, and what happened to my attractive blonde friend/”
Maybe she was kidnaped by this woman’s brothers, so she could steal a date.