A Series of Unfortunate Events One Shots

Stood Up

Based on a prompt; begin!

~Violet's POV

I checked my phone for what must have been the fifth time tonight and I held back groaning at the fact that nearly 40 minutes had passed since I got here. I was sitting in a booth in a small restaurant damn near ready to just leave but I don't know if I could do that to myself.

Just a few days ago, a friend, more of an acquaintance really, from school set me up on a blind date with a male friend of hers. I don't like blind dates but I didn't have any other plans so I couldn't really get out of it. All I knew was that the guy's name was Marcus, and that he was very late. My finger twitched as I stared at the time on my phone. I contemplated calling my mom to take me home; she had dropped me off here in the first place before going to her book club and it was probably over by now. My brother Klaus was babysitting our sister Sunny, and our dad was out of town for business this weekend. So I can't call anyone else but mom if something happens.

"Hello Miss, I know I've already asked but are you ready to order now," Larry, my waiter, asked as he stopped next to me again.

I smiled politely and asked for just a bit more time. Honestly the worst part is that I was getting really hungry. I wanted to just get something and leave so I don't starve, but my stubborn pride won't let me. I tried to ignore the sad looks that the other people in the restaurant were giving me. It's like they knew what happened. Even Larry gave me an apologetic smile whenever he walked by to serve other tables. Ten more minutes passed and the guy was still not here.

It's official: I've been stood up.

I sighed quietly and grabbed my bag ready to shamefully leave but then something amazing happened. A boy my age came over and sat down in front of me.

"Sorry I'm late, the traffic was horrible!" He then quietly added, "My name's Duncan Quagmire, just go with it and I'll give you a good night. Whoever didn't bother to show up is a dick."

I felt my face grow hot at how sweet that was. "I'm Violet Baudelaire."

He gave me a very charming smile and said, "It's nice to meet you."

My face went even redder. He's really cute! Hell I'm positive he's way cuter than the guy I was supposed to be here with. Larry came by once more and took our orders, I even saw him smile at the fact that I wasn't alone anymore. Duncan and I started some pleasant conversation. He didn't know that this was supposed to be a blind date, but he seemed to figure it out pretty quick. He seemed really smart and good at observation.

"So what do you like to do?"

"I'm an inventor; it's more of a hobby though. What about you?"

"That's awesome; I've never met an inventor before. I'd love to see some of your work. I want to be a journalist someday."

"So you'd work for the Daily Punctilio?"

Duncan pretended to gag. "Oh god no, I hate that newspaper, all they print is misconceptions and lies. When I get older I'll find a way to print truthful articles for people."

I smiled at him, "I'd be happy to build you a printing press."

He blushed, "I'd love that..."

We kept talking even after we got our food. Duncan was nice, funny, polite, and so damn cute... Probably the cutest guy I've ever met. He even casually revealed that we go to the same school; I guess we just don't have any classes together which would explain how I've never met him before now.

"So what's your family like," I asked.

"Oh my mom's at a book club tonight, my dad is out of town for some business thing, my triplet brother Quigley is on a date with his girlfriend Fiona, and my sister Isadora is probably at home writing her poetry."

"Your sister's a poet?"

"Yep, she writes couplets though."

"My brother Klaus loves poetry, especially couplets, I'm sure they'd get along."

Duncan gave me a wary look, "Is Klaus a good guy?"

"Of course he is! He's shy around girls though; just doesn't know how to talk to them."

"Alright I suppose I'll let them hang out... but I have to meet him first. You know so I can lay out the ground rules."

"I'm assuming you're the oldest then?"

He nodded, "Older than Quigley by 5 minutes, and older than Isadora by 10 minutes. I know it seems unimportant for such a short time, but I'm still older."

We ended up talking for another hour even after finishing our food. Duncan, the absolute gentleman he was, paid for our meal, even though I tried to tell him I could do it, and gave Larry a rather nice tip. Duncan then walked me out of the restaurant and out to his car. That was the best non-planned date ever.

"So how was it," He asked, smiling at me.

"That was wonderful! Thank you so much for saving me in there! I don't even know what to say..." I was so flustered I couldn't begin to think of ways to thank him.

He ran a hand through his neat black hair nervously, "Well... if you don't think it would be a terrible idea... how about we go on a real date sometime?"

"I'd love to."

He grinned and pulled a dark green notebook out of his jacket and wrote down his phone number for me and I wrote mine in his notebook for him. He offered to drive me home and I accepted. (Purely so I wouldn't have to ask my mom to pick me up.)

Once he dropped me off at my family mansion, I looked at the little scrap of paper from his notebook that had his number on it. There was a little message with it.

It was nice to meet you, Violet.

I smiled to myself; it was nice to meet him.

~The End!

Personally, I think this prompt would have worked with any of the couples, but I made it Dunclet just to have a full Dunclet one shot! I tweaked it a bit though. I hope you enjoyed it! Bye!