There’s this cute Italian place over by the Pointe-Claire marina that I wanted to try last week. I gave FrankeeZee ( … my good friend from another social site… ) a call, and he said sure. Oh, and he’d be coming with his lovely NEW girlfriend, Gina. I said, great!
Hey, I’m not a huge fan of triangles, but what the heck?
The sign at the restaurant door read, ‘No Dogs Allowed’. As we found our table, Gina scanned the room and, with a straight face, muttered, “Well, some people can’t read.”
I feigned shock and poked Frankee in the ribs: He laughed. It was a casual crowd for a Wednesday night. I’d gone for the tortellini, and FrankeeZee went with the breaded clam strips. The waiter turned to Gina, who had a question mark painted on her face.
“How big are those clam strips?”
“Well, you’ve seen a chicken strip?” our server answered.
“I’ve never seen a chicken wear clothes,” she replied.
The wine in my mouth almost fluxed through my nose. Frankee burst out laughing. As we ate, we got caught up on old news and current events — typical stuff.
“Paul, you still blogging on that ‘dead-horse’ of a website?” Frankee asked.
I nodded between a mouthful.
“Seriously? I don’t know why you waste your time; no one there understands your twisted sense of humour. Come over to MY site. Ya know — we’re being paid big now,” he grinned.
“Really?” I was curious.
“We’re like ‘Liv Golf.’ There’s an upfront stipend — to attract the top talent — and then bloggers get rewarded by the number of views and the volume of comments. It’s fantastic.”
“Wow… sounds wild. So how much are you getting paid?”
“Let’s just say, I won’t have to buy coffee for at least a month.”
I looked at FrankeeZee and blinked.
Our waiter had popped by with the dessert tray — lemon meringue pie was on tap. I was about to order when a couple walked by, and something fell from the gentleman’s pocket. Frankee noticed as well, and he quickly called to the man.
“Sir… SIR? You dropped your panties.”
“Ugh, no. You’re mistaken, they’re not mine,” and the couple shuffled out the door.
Gina looked back at that ample woman as she walked away, then at those panties lying on the floor, and remarked, “They weren’t her’s either.”
“So, are we all in for that lemon pie?” she added. “When I visited the Dominican, we danced the merengue day and night.”
I looked at Gina and laughed. Her smile was contagious. I think Frankee — had a keeper.
Those panties lingered on the floor of that restaurant for a long time. People would gingerly step over them as they sauntered about. Eventually, a waiter noticed and approached them — as if he was looking at nuclear waste — and led them away.
We enjoyed a very relaxing evening. FrankeeZee said he’d speak to his people and give them my name: I’m waiting for an offer.
If my date doesn’t have a great sense of humour — it’s a deal-breaker for me. How about you, what are your deal-breakers?