The Unfortunate Task of Dating

Chapter Seven

"Can't I just go out with you tonight?" I cry to Lizzy as she flicks through the songs on her phone.

"Sure you can, although that does mean that your chances of taking a date to your brother's wedding will be greatly reduced," she says back to me.

"Can't I just take you?"

"This may be news to you but I'm already going and I kind of thought I might take my fiancé."

"Ugh, your life is so easy," I say throwing myself onto my bed. I look over at her and she gives me a 'do you really want to go there' look.

"Fine. I'll go on your stupid date and put on some stupid clothes all just so I can meet a stupid boy," I say sounding like a 10-year-old.

"Hey, no one is forcing you to do this. This whole finding you a date / boyfriend thing was your idea to begin with," she replies defensively.

"I know. I just feel like I keep running into a dead end at the moment," I say hoping she'll forgive me for acting childish.

Coming over to me and rubbing my shoulders she says, "keep your chin up girl, Mr. Fantastic could be just around the corner," she leans away from me for a second before shoving my Teddy in my face, "and if not, Mr. Teddy is always available and ready at your request," she laughs and I can't help but join in.

I was too scared to ask her where she found this date so I'm going in with absolutely no background information. All I know is that their name is Charlie. I like the name Charlie. There are a lot of good Charlies out there. Charlie Brown. Charlie Chaplin. Charlie from high five. Charlie Sheen. Although maybe he's not the best example of a 'good' Charlie but he's a Charlie none the less and I'm still adding him to my list.

I wonder if names are really a serious part of dating. Do I have to like the person's name to be able to date them? Would that be a deal breaker? Or would I be able to look past their name? Could I date someone named Clarence? Maybe I could just give him a nick name. Clare? No way to feminine. Ren? It could work. Lare? I don't know. The possibility is definitely there. But the chances of me going on a date with someone named Clarence seems very minimal so I think maybe I should just forget about him and focus on Charlie.

"Earth to Ava. Hello."

I focus my attention back to my room and see Lizzy is waving her hand in front of my face.

"Here I was, having a full-on conversation with you thinking you were just being an exceptionally good listener when in reality you were just zoning out," she says looking at me with a frustrated expression, although I know she'll be over it within a few minutes.

"Forgive me?" I say, batting my eyes at her.

"Just don't do it to your date tonight," she says, a smiling twitching at her lips. "Now, let's get you ready."



I'm standing at the door of Food for the People wondering what lays beyond. Closing my eyes, I clear my thoughts and remind myself that my dates name is Charlie and not Clarence.

I'm taken to my table and am slightly relieved to find my dates not here yet. I sit down and use this time to prepare myself. I pour myself a glass of water and have just started taking a drink when Mason brings my 'date' over with him and I breath in a little bit too hard and start chocking. Hitting my chest, I try to stop my coughing and give Mason a 'what the hell' look.

"Your seat mam," he says as he pulls out the seat for the middle-aged lady who is apparently my date for the evening.

"Charlie?" I question, confusion written all over my face.