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“Cool! How did you meet her?” Josh asks.
“I finally signed up for a membership with Adore. You convinced me. Still can’t believe how well everything turned out for you and Maddie.”
“That’s great. I honestly didn’t think you’d do it. You’ve always been so skeptical about apps and services.”
“Well, I’m not making any progress on my own so figured it was time to put it in the hands of a pro. Speaking of, did you work with Sasha at Adore?”
“No, Lauren was the one who matched us. Who’s Sasha?”
“I think she might be new there. I just hope she knows what she’s doing because I don’t have time to be dating women who aren’t up to my standards.”
“Damn, Spence! You’re tough. I hope for Sasha’s sake she found you a homerun. Good luck tonight.”
I end the phone call and glance out at the entrance to the restaurant I’d chosen for dinner. It was one of my favorites.A little Italian place in Manhattan called Bocci with the most amazing gnocchi. They always stock one of my favorite Barolos as well. It’s small and quiet – a perfect spot for a first date.
It’s a warm evening and a lot of people are out enjoying the weather. I watch a woman walking toward the restaurant that resembles the picture Sasha had sent of my date, Camilla. She has on a stunning black dress and stilettos. Her bright red lipstick looks to be applied with a fairly heavy hand though. Damn, I forgot to mention to Sasha that I don’t like a lot of makeup on a woman. I prefer the women who really don’t need a ton of extra help.
I wait for her to go into the restaurant and climb out of the car.
“I’ll text later when I need a pickup,” I say to Peter.
Walking into the restaurant, the smell of garlic and butter hits me over the head and my stomach growls. Once again, I was too busy to eat lunch and now I’m famished.
I find Camilla at the host stand looking annoyed. I introduce myself and she smiles tightly and says, “I was concerned when I realized you weren’t already here. Usually, my dates arrive before me.”
“Well, I’m here now. Would you like to sit down?” I say taken aback but still giving her a perfunctory hug. Pulling away I look down at her and realize that she isn’t even 5’7” in those ridiculously high heels. Dammit, Sasha…
Camilla nods and we follow the hostess, who leads us to the best table in the restaurant and the one I always request. “Here we are, Mr. Sullivan. I hope everything is to your liking tonight.”
Damn, me too. But it isn’t looking that way so far.
We settle in and I ask Camilla how long she’s lived in the city. “I moved here with my best friend after college. We both had aspirations of becoming actors, but you know how that goes for so many people. We hustled hard for a few years and botheventually found work in other fields. How about you? What brought you here?”
“I grew up here. I went to Phillip and on to Yale from there. Came back to the city to learn commercial real estate from my uncle. I worked for him for a few years and then struck out on my own.”
“Wow,” she says with wide eyes. “A Yale guy, huh?”
“Just following the family tradition. My dad, grandfather and two of my uncles all went to Yale.”
She gives me an approving smile and opens up her menu. I sneak a glance at Camilla while she is looking at the menu. She’s certainly attractive enough with a stylish brunette bob and huge blue eyes. And she seems to have a good head on her shoulders. A little snarky at the start but maybe I can overlook that…
“It sounds like you’ve done very well for yourself. Do you own or rent? I’ve been looking to buy for a year or so but I don’t tend to like anything that comes up for sale in my price range.”
“I just bought a condo last year actually. In NoHo.”
“Now you're talking,” she responds, leaning forward. “That’s exactly what I’m looking for. I’d love to see it. Sometime soon, maybe? What does your weekend look like?” She bats her fake eyelashes at me and gives me a sugar-sweet smile, showing her overbleached teeth.
I don’t answer her barrage of questions but, instead, fake an intense interest in the menu even though I already know what I want to order. So much for not setting me up with a gold digger. I’ll definitely be giving Sasha an earful about this.
We order but I skip my usual glass of Barolo. I have no interest in spending any more time with Camilla than I have to at this point. The food doesn’t come fast enough for my liking and we make idle chit-chat until it does.
During our conversation, Camilla plays the name game with me. She wants to know who my friends are. Who works for me.Who I do business with. Who I’ve dated. She is happy to supply me with all her “impressive” friends and connections, seemingly in an attempt to win me over.
When the waiter finally brings our food, I dig in like a hungry wolf in an attempt to end the date quickly. But, Camilla takes her time picking at her risotto. It takes what feels like hours before she finally puts her fork down and wipes her mouth with the white cloth napkin. She opens up her purse and applies a new layer of ruby red lipstick.
I aggressively flag down the waiter and ask for the check. When the bill arrives, I grab it quickly and throw my platinum AmEx down before the waiter walks away. He looks a little surprised. He’s waited on me many times before and knows I often linger over an after-dinner coffee or brandy.
“So, Spencer, do you have big plans for the summer? I’m guessing you have a place in the Hamptons?” Camilla asks, putting her hand on my forearm and smiling.
