Danielle and I decided to go to a small restaurant nearby for our first unofficial date. I was nervous and excited all at the same time. I hadn’t been on a real date with someone I was actually interested in since Tara and I split up and I felt unsure of myself which was a new feeling for me. I was rusty and at the end of the day, I was going out with a girl who was already in a relationship. A heterosexual one at that.

I figured if we went to eat right after work, our date wouldn’t seem so much like a date per say. I worked through my shift at Alexanders with no problems. I was happy and was smiling from ear to ear just thinking about my unofficial date with Danielle. What would she wear and what would I say? Would we have a lot in common or would we be complete opposites? What if she wasn’t even really interested and she was just trying to friendly with me? All of these thoughts ran through my head while I cleaned my section at work in between waiting on customers. Antonio reassured me that our informal date would go well and that we would probably have a lot in common. I hoped so.

Three thirty came fast and before I knew it, I was off and waiting for Danielle to meet me in the parking lot for lunch. Tony commented on the situation at hand and told me I looked nervous. “Bitch you look like you’re about to catch an anxiety attack. Are you ok?” he asked. “Yeah I’m fine. Just anxious I guess.” We sat there for a while and smoked a small piece of a joint Tony had left in his car. I was praying the ganja gods would help calm my nerves. Just as we put the joint out Danielle pulled up. She looked good. Tall, slim and fine just like I remembered. She had on jeans, a white v neck and a pair of aviator glasses that shielded her Asian infused eyes. If I wasn’t before I was now. Tony was tapping me on my arm. “Bitch. She looks good. Oh my god. Go girl. She looks like she’s about to come over here, pick you up, and do you in a against a wall.” I giggled and tried to get myself together before she came over to the car. She extended her arms to give me a hug and say hello before we got into her car. “Hey Olivia. How was work? Are you hungry?” I smiled and blushed a little. “Work was work and I’m absolutely starving.” Antonio stood there and watched us with a mischievous look on his face. “You ladies have fun. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do: Tony shouted as we walked off. He always found quirky ways to embarrass me.

Danielle and I drove down the street to a small Italian restaurant nearby. We chatted along the way and I told her more about my aspirations to be a publicist for a big company. She was a great listener which made me like her even more. She opened up my door as we entered the restaurant and we were taken to a table in the middle of the building. The restaurant was cute and had a wonderful array of wine, sangria and Italian margaritas. I ordered a margarita to help take the edge off. We ordered calamari and salads to start the festivities. Danielle seemed extremely interested in my love life. She asked quite a few questions about Tara and I. They actually kind of reminded me of one another which was a good thing and a bad thing. I wondered if the reason she was asking me so many questions about my ex girlfriend was because she wanted to know more about me or more about lesbian relationships.

About half way through the meal Danielle blurted out something that caught my attention and held it for the rest of the evening. “I kissed a girl once” she said. I damn near spit out my drink. “What? When? So you’ve been holding out on me?” I wanted to know everything. If she kissed a girl before did that mean that I had a chance with her too? I braced myself for her story about her ne time girl on girl encounter. “Well, a good friend of mine worked at a strip club as a waitress and she invited me to go out of town with them for a weekend with some guys that were their customers. We went out of town to Padre Island and a few if the dancers from the club came too. One of them was after me the whole weekend and kept saying that I was a lesbian and she was going to be my first. I laughed it off until I got drunk one night. I grabbed her and asked her if I could kiss her. She said yes and we made out for a little while. It didn’t mean anything though. I mean I liked it but it didn’t make me want to run off and leave my boyfriend. I actually felt bad about it afterwards because he was mad and she started stalking me. It was a mess.” The only thing I could say was “wow.”

We finished our lunch and made our way back to work where I left my car. She paid the entire bill which confused me even more. Weren’t “friends” supposed to go dutch at dinner and split the bill? I couldn’t stop thinking about what Danielle told me at lunch. I couldn’t wait to tell Antonio and get his perspective on the situation. If this girl didn’t have a boyfriend things would be perfect. We pulled up to Alexanders and said our goodbyes before parting ways to head home. She gave me a hug and I told her I would text her later on once I got home and got settled in. I got in my car feeling euphoric and full of vitality. That great feeling was followed by a bad one via text message from a good friend. What followed next was simply disturbing.