When my best friend Mia told me she wanted to set me up with her boyfriend’s friend, I wasn’t exactly thrilled. Blind dates aren’t usually my thing. But Mia was persistent. “You’ll love him,” she said. “He’s polite, smart, and stable — a total gentleman.”
Against my instincts, I agreed. His name was Eric, and from the first message, he seemed promising — confident without being pushy, the kind of guy who actually used full sentences and asked thoughtful questions. After a week of chatting, he suggested dinner at a cozy Italian restaurant downtown.
The evening started perfectly. Eric showed up early with a bouquet of roses and a charming smile. He pulled out my chair, complimented my dress, and even brought a small gift — a personalized keychain with my initial engraved on it. He was attentive, funny, and refreshingly normal. I thought, maybe Mia was right this time.
When the bill arrived, I reached for my purse, but Eric waved me off. “A man pays on the first date,” he said smoothly. It was a little old-fashioned, but I wasn’t about to argue. He walked me to my car, waited until I drove off, and everything felt so effortless. I texted Mia on the way home: You might actually be right about this one.
The next morning, I woke up smiling — until I saw an email from Eric titled “Invoice for Last Night.”
At first, I thought it was a joke. But when I opened it, my jaw dropped. It was a real, itemized invoice — professional layout and all — listing “charges” from our date:
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