CHLOE BAKER'S LOST DATE

Chapter One: He's Late For Our Date

CHAPTER ONE

He was late. Late for our date.

Five minutes, seven, ten.

I sat at a table covered with a checkered tablecloth in the brunch place on Columbus Avenue where we'd agreed to meet, clutching my phone, waiting for an explanation for his tardiness.

Twelve minutes, sixteen, twenty.

I sipped slowly at the freshly squeezed orange juice I'd ordered and read the pun-filled menu for the tenth time, full of items like You're bacon me crazy and I like you a waffle lot. I smiled nervously at the waitress, a pretty Black woman who looked like she was in her early twenties and whose name tag said Janie. She was starting to look at me with pity. How many times had she seen someone stood up by a blind date?

Judging from her expression, I wasn't the first.

What was the reasonable cutoff time for me to leave? Half an hour, right? Any longer would be ridiculous.

I crossed my legs nervously under the table, tapping my light-gray Vans against the tiled floor. My faded-wash jeans felt too tight, and I was regretting the thin blue shirt I'd chosen last night. It matched my eyes, but I was worried it was see-through in the sunlight that poured through the window.

This is why I hate dating. It turns me into a questioning mess.

It was my best friend, Kit, who'd insisted I go on a date with Jack Dunne, the tech guy from her office.

"You need to go out with him, Chloe Baker," Kit had said, her thick black hair swinging around her face as she moved her hands for emphasis. "And get back out there. Your dry season has gone on way too long."

"No need to be so smug, Katherine Wang. Not all of us were lucky enough to be set up with the perfect guy by our mother."

Kit made a face, but it was true. Her mother, Lian—who'd refused to call Kit by the nickname I'd given her in third grade—had set Kit up with John the Vet after he'd treated her sadly cancerous Maltipoo.

"When was the last date you went on?"

"In Ohio or New York?"

"Have you been on a date in New York?"

"Maybe?"

Kit shook her head. "Feels like something you'd know."

"I haven't met anyone yet."

"How could you have? It's only been a year since you moved here."

"I'm settling in."

The truth was, New York guys intimidated me. Every time I dipped a toe into one of those dating sites it felt like I was bombarded by dick pics and guys who just wanted to hook up. I'd never been into hook-up culture, and I'd yet to meet a girl who was happy to receive an unsolicited dick pic. But my office was 100 percent female. Hence the dry spell.

"Will you think about it, at least?" Kit had asked, texting me Jack's number and a screenshot of his picture from their company directory, in which he did, admittedly, look hot. Dark curly hair, a slim build, and eyes that could be brown or hazel. Kit promised he was twenty-eight, stable, and interested in a relationship. He was the New York equivalent of a unicorn.

Twenty-three minutes, twenty-seven, thirty.

There was no way he was coming, but I couldn't face the humiliation of walking to the door alone, convinced that everyone in the restaurant knew exactly what had happened.

I opened our short text thread. He preferred to meet in person, he'd said, rather than text, and that was the first thing I liked about him. Texting with a stranger made me sweat. The silences and pauses provided too many chances to worry about what I'd written or how it was being perceived. In person, I had facial expressions to gauge. In person I was funny. In person was definitely better. Theoretically, anyway. If the guy actually showed.

Are you on your way? I wrote, feeling stupid. He was obviously not on his way. If he was running late, he'd have let me know.

I waited for his bubble of reply, but nothing.

He's thirty minutes late! I texted Kit. I ducking knew this would happen. Kit and I never bothered to correct our phones when they censored us. We'd met at age seven and had been friends for twenty years. We knew what the other meant.

Oh shot, Kit wrote. Maybe he's stuck at work? The company's server is down.

BLACK HUNK DOWN, I wrote reflexively. Kit and I had this thing where we turned random words or phrases into porny movie titles.

Not your best work.

I know. I sighed. I never should've agreed to this. I blame you!

She sent me a kiss-off emoji and I put down my phone. It was partly Kit's fault, but I had myself to blame too. I hated blind dates, but when I found myself desperately trying to find an Amazon rep to talk to about my missing vibrator shipment, I had a moment of clarity. Kit was right. I'd texted Jack and we'd agreed to meet.

But I'd been waiting for thirty-five minutes now, and that was enough. It didn't matter what the restaurant patrons thought. The Upper West Side wasn't even my neighborhood. I'd never see any of these people again. I'd only agreed to meet him here because Jack said the eggs Benny were amazing. I didn't need amazing eggs Benny, though. My replacement vibrator had finally shown, and the coffee shop down the street from my apartment in Bushwick sold great breakfast sandwiches. I just had to signal the waitress and get the duck out of here.

I lifted my hand to get Janie's attention and my body flooded with relief. Jack was walking through the door. He seemed troubled and stressed, his eyes darting around nervously, but it was definitely him. I waved enthusiastically, getting his attention. He walked toward me after a moment's hesitation.

I stood as he approached the table. "You made it, finally," I said in a voice that was too loud. "You got the servers working again?"

Before he could say anything, I drew him into a friendly hug. "Just go with it, okay?" I said into his ear. "Think of it as your punishment."

He pulled away with a nervous laugh. "My what?"

"For almost standing me up," I said in a low voice. "For being thirty-five minutes late for our blind date and making everyone in the restaurant think I'm a loser."

"Ah." Jack nodded. "I was stuck in the subway. I'm so sorry," he said, his voice booming, then pulled me back into the hug. "That do the trick?"

His breath tickled my ear and sent a shiver down my neck. "It was perfect."

###

Katie here! What do you think so far? If you're enjoying CHLOE BAKER'S LOST DATE, please consider leaving a comment below or voting for my story. Thanks so much for reading!

Read on to see what happens next!