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‘No, it’s fine.” I responded and remembered when I told Valentina that the wine at her exhibition wasn’t great. I smiled, and Karen didn’t seem to notice. She started telling me about how often she travels and how much she enjoys her work. I wasn’t listening to her; my mind was hung up on Valentina, and I couldn’t just shake her out of my head.
“Are you listening to me?” Karen asked and I looked up at her.
“Uhm… yeah, yeah I am,” I lied.
She continued talking and I zoned out again. This time, I was thinking of how to apologize to Valentina. What would I tell her about this date and how do I tell her that it’s not serious. Maybe I’d just tell her the truth about how it was a blind date.
“You seem distracted. I’ll just stop talking,” Karen said.
Without thinking, I responded, “I’d appreciate that.” My eyes opened in shock and immediately I realized what I’d just said. Karen was staring at me like she wanted to have me killed. I was expecting her to stand up and leave but she just relaxed back into her chair and took a sip from her glass of wine.
Our food came and we both started eating in silence. I barely ate anything from the plate. My mind was in so much turmoil. Midway into the meal she said,
“I knew that there was no way you were that handsome and pleasant. Something’s got to give. Most of you handsome, wealthy men are just nasty people. You’re sitting across from the most beautiful woman in this restaurant this evening but you have the nerve to be this rude.”
I wanted to respond to her and defend myself but I also didn’t want to give her the impression that I was into her and would want to do this whole date thing with her again. She was a nice, beautiful woman but I was just not interested in her, so I kept my mouth shut and listened to her.
“When Paula asked me on this blind date thing, I wanted to refuse. When she showed me your picture, I let the handsomeness of your face fool me. My sister asked me if you were that handsome, why were you still single? I guess I know why now. You’re rude and you told me to shut up to my face.”
I took a sip from my glass of wine and let out a loud sigh. “Valentina, I…” I paused.
“Valentina?” Karen chuckled angrily. “You don’t even remember my name and I told you literally thirty minutes ago. You know what, this whole thing was a mistake. I will not allow you to insult me any further.” She said, standing up from her chair. I had the full view of her dress now. It was short and had a slit by the side and if my mind was not so focused on another woman, I would have been taking that dress off at the end of the night.
She grabbed her purse and stormed out of the restaurant. I sat there, letting out another loud sigh but it was of relief. A waiter had walked over with the bill, I poured the last of the wine in my glass into my mouth and then I paid and left.
While in the car, Ramon said, “I’m sorry your date went that way, sir.”
“It’s fine. It was my fault,” I responded. When I took out my phone, I saw that Miguel had sent me Valentina’s number. I called her and she answered after three rings.
“Hello.”
I was quiet on the phone, listening to her breathe.
“Hello, is anyone there?” she asked. After a few seconds, I spoke.
“Hello, Valentina, it’s Leon.”
“Leon? This is surprising. How did you get my number?” she asked.
“Does it really matter? Where are you?”
“I’m at the gallery. Any problem?”
“I’ll be there in a few minutes,” I said, ended the call and told Ramon to take me to her gallery. When I got there, she was standing outside, her arms folded across her chest.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“Let’s go inside please,” I said. She turned and led the way to her office. Now inside her office, I threw myself into the small sofa in the corner of the office, while she went over and sat on her desk watching me.
“I was on a date this evening. It went horribly.”
“I’m sorry about that but I don’t see how that’s my business,” she responded.
“Don’t you get it? My date went horribly because of you. I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I even called her Valentina.”
She stared at me blankly before standing up and pacing the office.
“I’m sorry about that.”
