Mia talked me into a blind date with her boyfriend’s friend, Eric. She described him as kind, respectful, the type of guy who still believed in old-school manners. Against my better judgment, I agreed. And to be fair, the date itself went surprisingly well. He showed up with flowers, pulled out my chair, and handed me a small keychain engraved with my first initial. Dinner was easy and pleasant, he insisted on paying, and he walked me to my car like a true gentleman. Driving home, I caught myself thinking that maybe this setup hadn’t been such a bad idea after all.
The next morning, my phone buzzed with a message from him. I opened it expecting a simple “good morning” or a follow-up about seeing each other again. Instead, I found an email that looked like it belonged in an accounting office. It was a detailed invoice. Dinner, flowers, the “custom gift,” even a line labeled something like “emotional investment.” At the bottom was a note suggesting that I now owed him future dates in return — and if I didn’t “reciprocate,” he hinted he’d make sure his friend Chris knew how unappreciative I was. In one message, the charming stranger from the night before revealed himself as a walking warning sign.
I forwarded everything to Mia, who immediately looped in Chris. Both of them were stunned — and, once the shock wore off, genuinely entertained by how absurd the whole thing was. Chris decided to respond in kind and sent Eric his own mock invoice, charging him for manipulation, poor behavior, and what he jokingly described as “public secondhand embarrassment.”
That’s when Eric unraveled. My phone filled with messages — first claiming it was all a joke, then accusing me of being too sensitive, and finally insisting I’d lost my chance with “a really great guy.” That was my cue. I blocked him without a single reply. No debate. No closure. Just silence. And judging by his reaction, that silence bothered him more than anything else.
Mia apologized endlessly for setting me up, but I honestly wasn’t upset. If anything, I felt lucky. It’s a gift to learn someone’s true nature before you invest real time or emotion. Anyone who treats basic courtesy like a loan expects repayment, not connection.
The irony still makes me laugh. He thought his effort made him impressive. Instead, that invoice exposed exactly who he was — someone who views dating as a transaction and kindness as leverage. I didn’t feel humiliated. I felt free.
Now, whenever someone asks me about my worst date, I just grin and say, “The guy who billed me for dinner.” It always gets a laugh. But the real lesson is simple: he thought paying the check meant I owed him something. What it actually bought was my clarity — and my exit, right on time.
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