When my best friend Mia set me up on a blind date, I didn\u2019t know what to expect. Eric showed up with roses and a small gift \u2014 a keychain<\/p>\n
with my initial. At dinner he was charming, attentive, and insisted on paying the bill. I left thinking it might have been one of my best first dates.<\/p>\n
The next morning, my phone buzzed. Expecting a sweet text, I opened it to find a professionally formatted invoice.<\/p>\n
Eric had listed every gesture as a \u201cservice,\u201d complete with charges and expectations: roses, gift, opening doors,<\/p>\n
even a \u201cguaranteed second date.\u201d At the bottom it read: Payment is expected in full. No refunds.<\/p>\n
Stunned, I sent a screenshot to Mia, who was equally shocked. Her boyfriend Chris, Eric\u2019s longtime friend,<\/p>\n
decided to respond with a fake invoice of his own \u2014 charging Eric for \u201cwasting my time,\u201d \u201cintroducing him to a wonderful woman: permanent block,\u201d<\/p>\n
and \u201cpretending to be a gentleman: public apology.\u201d When Eric fired back angry texts, I sent a thumbs-up emoji and blocked him.<\/p>\n
Later, Mia laughed, \u201cAt least we\u2019ll have this story forever.\u201d I kept the keychain<\/p>\n
\u2014 not as a reminder of Eric, but as the funniest souvenir from the strangest date of my life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When my best friend Mia set me up on a blind date, I didn\u2019t know what to expect. Eric showed up with roses and a small gift… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35136,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance"],"yoast_head":"\n