Day 1: First Date

As the minutes passed by, Misty impatiently drummed her fingers against the bar, growing more and more annoyed. What had happened to punctuality? Had everyone but her just thrown it out the window? Even the bartender gave her sympathetic looks each time he passed by her. She had tried to explain to him that she was waiting for someone, but nearly forty-five minutes later, even she no longer believed herself. Fifteen minutes in, she'd nearly walked out of the restaurant, but thankfully, the glass of wine she had been drinking had simmered down her irritation just enough for her to stay just a little longer. Then again, maybe it was her pride that refused to let her believe that she had been stood up. And on a blind date, too.

Nearly an hour after she was supposed to meet her blind date, Misty decided it was time for her to leave. Paying her tab, she made sure to leave the waiter a nice tip. As she stood up to leave, she heard the door of the restaurant swing open and the frantic voice of a man as he simultaneously tried to catch his breath. When she laid eyes on the man standing at the hostess station, her eyes narrowed in disdain, and she nearly lost her cool.

Aw, hell no.

OoO

As Ash spoke with the hostess, he fumbled with his tie, only getting it increasingly twisted around. "Hi, reservation for two. I think it's under Harrison…" he quickly explained, completely giving up on fixing his tie. He was already running extremely late, and his hair was still dripping wet from his last-second shower. There wasn't much a tied tie could do for his look now. "I know I'm late, but if there's any chance you still have a table left…That is if the person I'm supposed to meet hasn't left yet. Have they left yet?"

"Well, sir-"

"Ash!" he heard a voice shout from across the room. When he turned around, his eyes widened in surprise, but the woman's were narrowed in a way that made his skin crawl. No freaking way. This has got to be some weird coincidence. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Um…well, you see…" he chuckled nervously.

"You're an hour late!" she yelled, having no qualms about disrupting the peaceful atmosphere of the restaurant. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see some of the staff scrambling to find a manager. "You think this is some kind of joke? Did you forget to tell time again? I've been waiting here like some pathetic loser, all thanks to you!"

"Well, no one said you had to wait!" he shot back, only adding fuel to her anger. It took a few seconds for the meaning of her words to sink in. "Wait, what are you even talking about? I'm not here to meet you. I'm here to meet a blind date."

"I'm your date, you idiot! Brock set us up."

Oh. A look of realization passed over his face as he slowly connected the dots. Suddenly, though, he burst into laughter, unable to speak without first taking a massive gasp of air.

"What's so funny?" she demanded to know.

"You were going to wear that to our blind date?" he snorted, using his hand to cover his mouth in an attempt to stifle the laughter. Misty glanced down at her tight, strapless black dress that stopped about mid-thigh. Together with her black high heels, her legs appeared to be much longer than he remembered them being. Her cheeks and neck flushed pink as she glanced back up at him. "Misty, you look like a hooker."

Her face instantly turned red, and before he could say anything further, Misty stormed out of the restaurant, leaving a relieved waiter behind her. Apologizing and thanking the hostess for her time, Ash chased Misty out the door. Thanks to the high heels she was wearing, she hadn't gotten far, stopping only a few feet away from her car.
"Misty!" he called as he jogged over to her car. When she turned to face him again, he saw pure rage in her eyes. Maybe he'd overstepped just a little. "Misty, I'm sorry. That was uncalled for. I was just kidding. I promise I didn't actually mean that. In fact, you look very sexy. I like it."

Misty practically recoiled at Ash's words, scrunching her nose in disgust. "Fuck you."

Pulling her keys out of her purse, she unlocked the door, threw off her heels, and hopped into the driver's seat. Before she could shut the door, Ash stopped it with his hand. "Hey, now that was uncalled for," he frowned. "I was just trying to compliment you. No need to bite my head off, Mist. I thought we were friends."

"Well, it turns out you're wrong about a lot of things." Determined to leave, she pulled hard on the door handle, trying to overpower Ash's grip. "Now, if you would just let me leave, we can both be on our way and pretend this never happened."

"Okay, fine," he agreed. "But just so you know," he continued as he pulled out his phone. "I'll never forget this as long as I live."

Before Misty could react, Ash took a picture. Letting go of her door, he slammed it shut and ran off before she could catch him. Making it safely to his car, he unlocked his phone to view the picture, smiling at what he had captured.

Yep, this was definitely the best blind date he'd ever been on.