The Dating Chronicles – The Plan

The Dating Chronicles

The Plan

From where Kathy sat in the restaurant, she had a good view of the place.  She could clearly see every face in the room.  She tried to appear nonchalant as she read the menu for the third time. But she was too nervous to eat.  This was her first adventure and she was excited about the possibilities.  Ever since she read this book about a woman who met her beloved under similar circumstances, she had been planning this day.

It was a new year and she had made some important decisions regarding her single status.  She was 36 and had never been married, but her new plan would change all that.  Like Carlee in the book, she had done nothing much to improve her status.  She had almost resigned herself to shopping for single portions for the rest of her life and unfulfilled relationships.

Now here she was sitting in a crowded restaurant on a Saturday afternoon willing that the man she visualized would walk in and find her in the crowd. She had told no one of her plan because she didn’t want to have her actions critiqued.  But she decided on New Year’s Eve, that she would use the same energy to find a man this year that she used to find a job.  This escapade was just the beginning.  She wanted a man of balance, who could stand tall without leaning on her. His looks didn’t matter as long as he had a beautiful smile.

She had dressed specially for this outing with a new hairstyle, a designer suit, and special makeup.  And for the first time in a long time, she felt pretty. However, as the restaurant continued to fill up, she began to feel apprehension.  The place seemed to be crowded with college students and senior citizens only.  She was beginning to think that maybe she had chosen the wrong restaurant.  As she was beginning to feel that maybe this was a waste of her time, she spotted a man walking toward her as if he knew her.  Her heart began to flutter.  He was gorgeous

“Excuse me, Miss, is this seat taken?” he asked, as he grabbed the top of the chair.  “No it isn’t,” she stammered, as she reached to move her coat.  Her excitement was evident, as she looked into his eyes and saw that they were dreamy.  This had worked out better than expected, for it seemed that Fate had filled the restaurant and left her with the only empty chair.

She became so distracted with her thoughts, that she didn’t hear him ask to borrow the chair to take to another table.  And when she focused on his words he was thanking her with a flashing smile and walking away.  Impulsively, she rose to call after him but abruptly caught herself. Disappointed for a moment, she slumped back in her chair and looked at her watch.  The afternoon was still young.  She would wait a little longer.  She wouldn’t be discouraged so easily.

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As Mark sat there, he tried to cue in on the chatter of his co-workers, but he couldn’t.  His mind was elsewhere as he leaned forward to get a better look at the woman across the room.  She was dressed in all red and she looked cute as she sat eating pizza as if it were dainty French pastry.

He had noticed her smile earlier when he’d gone over to borrow the chair from her table.  He had also seen her shyness and he was strongly attracted to shy women.  As he walked away with the chair, he felt an urge to go back and say something gallant, but he didn’t know what to say.  He was shy too.  And since his judgment had been so poor lately, he was almost petrified of new encounters.

But after thirty minutes of watching her from afar, he sensed a special something about her and when he saw her beckon for the waiter, he felt panic.  He couldn’t let her leave without knowing who she was.  He got up from the table as if drawn by some magnetic force, leaving his unfinished plate, to return the chair to its original spot while introducing himself…