So…this is a day late, but yesterday was technically a holiday and I slept quite a lot. Sorry for that and back to the regular schedule.
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Lisbeth spun her tea cup in slow circles on the table, her eyes fixed on the book in front of her, but she wasn’t really reading. As she was waiting for the next in the long line of potential boyfriends from that new online dating site, she was mentally reviewing her selection criteria.

These coffee dates (tea for her, but tea dates just sounded weird) were her version on an interview. The men’s profiles were basically a resume and the conversations online were a cover letter. If they made it past her rigorous screening, then they got to meet for non-alcoholic beverages. About 1 in 10 made it to the Diesel Cafe for drinks, and only 1 in 5 made it to a real date. Even still, most flunked out.

It wasn’t really their faults, they were nice guys (most of them) it’s just they threw too many red-flags or just didn’t quite meet her requirements. Cute enough that there wasn’t something she wanted to fix. Teeth and feet were two big ones. If either were hideous, it was really hard to feel romantic. At least her height (a lot lied) were witty and intelligent enough that the conversation never lagged. Genuinely interested in what she had to say, not just waiting for their turn to talk. And then the specifics. Not a Boy Scout Eagle Scout, not interested in politics except for maybe a few specific topics but still clued in enough to vote intelligently, not a character ripped from Ayn Rand, not a drummer, not broken, not too much older (three years max), and humbly self-confident.

She was nearing 25 and she sometimes cringed to think of the men she’d dated in the past. That’s why she made damn sure they didn’t have any of those red flags. Okay, maybe she could be lenient if he was cute enough, but no, she had to stop thinking like that. That is what continuously got her into trouble.

Glancing up at the next person coming in, she saw it was a guy who looked remarkably like the photos of her date (some lied) and glanced at her phone before tucking it away in her purse. He was on-time. Amazingly hard to find in some people. He also looked around and found her before heading to order and came over.

Lisbeth stood to be polite and shook his hand, this was an interview after all. He was exactly the same height as her, with one of those smiles that promised lots of mischief (the best kind). After brief introductions to assure themselves that they had indeed found the right person, he dropped his stuff and made his way to the counter to order.

His walk was confident and assured, no hesitation at the counter, even though she knew this place was new to him. He also had a great ass. Definitely a bonus. She tucked her bookmark into the book and slid into her bag and smiled a little to herself. Definite potential, but you never knew for sure until all the laundry fell out of the closet on your head.