My White Ex Soldier

“I feel like this might be a tad too much,” she said looking back at her reflection. Cynthia shook her head.

“We are trying to get a hottie and a money baggie, not some homeless broke ass ni**er,” Cynthia said. Desiree made a face at her.

“I am my own woman remember? I don’t need some guy with a lot of cash to help me out,” she said as she grabbed her purse from the dresser and then walked over to slip on the high heeled sandals. “Now, wish me luck,” she said as she blew Cynthia a kiss.

Her stomach was in knots the entire ride to the coffee shop. She kept on thinking of what she should do, how she should act. The whole speech about being yourself did not make so much sense to her now. There was no way she could be expected to “be herself” with this kind of nerves. When she walked into the coffee shop, she was not so sure she had made the right choice. She looked around at the room full of single men and women and she suddenly was not sure this was such a good idea. She was just about to spin on her heel and walk out when she heard the hostess over the PA system. Damn it! It was on.

“Good evening ladies and gentlemen and welcome to Santana’s Coffee speed dating night. Now a few rules,” the hostess said. Desiree found herself almost rooted to the spot as she listened to the hostess speak. She smiled and turned around. Maybe this was not such a bad idea. You only had ten minutes with each date – that was not so bad. She walked to one of the tables and sat down. One waitress walked up to her and cheerfully took her order. Desiree thought she could do with an iced tea.

“Here goes nothing,” she thought as the highly anticipated yet highly dreaded event (for some) began.

As she talked to the first few people, she was already regretting this. She should have never been swayed. “God, this guy is pathetic,” she thought as one of the guys talked to her about how he had once been kidnapped by a UFO. “So you really think that? Some aliens took you to their planet or something?” she asked looking at the man in disbelief.

“Dude, that totally happened,” the man said as he ran his fingers through his hair. Desiree shook her head. Did he think that he was maybe some teenage heartthrob or something?

“And he just said dude,” she thought as she looked at him, trying hard not to roll her eyes. This was too much.

“Maybe I could get your number and you could come over to my place. We could get stoned or whatever,” he said with a smile. This time, she could not help it. She rolled her eyes and thankfully, the ten minute bell rang. Her ordeal was over. She smiled and breathed out her relief as she looked at the man who was now taking a seat in front of her. She thought that he looked ….well, normal enough.

“Hi, I’m Mark,” he said as he sat down.

“I’m Desiree, pleasure to meet you,” she said with a smile. “Thank God you look more normal than the last guy. He just asked me to go and get high with him at his place!” she said as she took a long sip of her iced tea.

“I was about to do that. Darn!” Mark said. Desiree looked at him in horror. “I’m kidding,” he said quickly when he noticed how fast her expression had changed. Desiree laughed and drummed her fingers on the table.

“That would have been the straw that broke my back,” she said looking at him.

“Tell me about it. I just met a woman back there who had a long list of her seventeen cats,” he said as he looked at Desiree. “Please tell me you do not have cats, or dogs, or any animals at all.’ He looked at her hopefully making her laugh.

“I am not there yet,” she said.

“So, Desiree” he began as he leaned forward. She suddenly noticed that Mark was the most beautiful black man she had ever seen….after Denzel Washington. Nothing could ever, ever beat Denzel. “What do I have to know?” he asked. She smiled and took another sip of her iced tea.

“I feel like we should come to these things with some kind of recording,” she said. Mark laughed.

“I know, right?” he said. “I’ll just get the awkward part out of the way. Let’s not talk about our jobs. Let’s just talk.” He extended his hand.

Desiree nodded. Eight duds later and she finally had someone interesting to talk to. She nodded and stretched out her hand to shake his.

“Deal,” she said. She suddenly heard the ten minute warning bell again and frowned.

“Maybe we should talk later,” Mark said. She smiled and nodded. She looked at him as he walked away. Somehow, it did not feel so right. This was the first person she had actually had a conversation with, even though the conversation was just a few minutes. She needed that again.

She was still staring after Mark, trying to work out a way of how the two of them would meet after this, maybe even before the second round began, when yet another man sat down in front of her. She looked at him and almost gasped. He was the cutest nerd she had ever seen. He was actually a quite good looking nerd. There was something about the way he looked in his rimmed glasses and perfect hair. Actually, he was a bit too well groomed to be a nerd.

“Mind if I sit?” he asked looking at Desiree.

“Sure,” she said as she forced a smile. She was getting sick of the small talk. She never realized just how exhausting speed dating could be.

“Is this yours?” he asked handing her what looked like a business card. She frowned as she took the card from him. Mark Jerome. She smiled as she looked at the card.

“I guess it is,” she said as she put it in her purse. “So, …”

“Taylor Ericson,” he said with a smile.

“So, Taylor. I’m Desiree Young,” she said with a smile. He smiled at her and nodded.