The Hiding Wallet

My date with Charlie started off well enough. I met him at the Gap two weeks ago, which is one of probably about fifteen times I’ve ever met anyone in that store that asked for my number (maybe I should get a part time job there). He was cute, clever, funny, he was the total package! We really clicked. Our phone conversations flowed wonderfully and I had the feeling in my gut that maybe this was it. We decided on an Italian restaurant that was his favorite and I had never been to. This is itself was amazing since I’ve tried just about every Italian restaurant in Nashville. Okay so we meet outside and walk in together. He was the perfect southern gentleman. He held the door for me, pulled out the chair, two gestures that really earn bonus points in my book. He even ordered for me, which wasn’t necessary but I never object to this, especially if we are in a place with hard to pronounce menu items. He was a writer which seems oh so sexy to me. We’re about an hour into our date, everything is great, conversation is flowing smoothly as usual with no tense silence. We share dessert. Afterwards we order more wine and talk for what must have seemed like an eternity to our waiter but what could have never ended for me. Finally, it gets to the bill part. And then I hear the “I seem to have forgotten my wallet.” It was like a record scratch. My perfect little bubble of the evening had been abruptly popped. Now I do like a guy that pay’s for the entire date, what girl wouldn’t, but on a first date especially I never make the presumption that he will pay. I always expect to go Dutch. But I view the “Forgetting of the Wallet” as a big red flag. Particularly on the first date. I was like “Umm, don’t worry, I’ve got it” and paid the bill and then I had to listen to several comments about how “silly he was” and “what are the odds of this on a first date.” In the interest of it possibly being a mistake, although I knew in my heart it wasn’t, I agreed to another date. This time we were going go to the movies. We met for coffee prior to this and Charlie paid for it with cash. I smiled a little inside because I thought maybe the other night had been a mistake. Then we get to the movies. Can you guess what happens next? Charlie has forgotten his wallet again (he paid for the coffee with a $20 from his front pocket). Trying not to be mean I reluctantly paid for the tickets and we went in and I endured two hours of the movie knowing that we would not be going out again. It was a very long two hours, at the end of which I ended the evening with an “I don’t think we really click”. What’s up with the wallet thing? Especially that early on in the relationship. Does this ever manage to keep a girl interested? Ultimately I wasted two evenings and about eighty dollars.