Lunch Gone Wrong

Synopsis

Carissa Watkins has eaten at her favorite diner for the last 3 years.  When her friend, Taryn Williams, who is a waitress at the same diner, sets Carissa up with a gentleman who has also eaten at the diner, their first lunch date goes horribly wrong?  Will Carissa see love or swear off men for good?

Chapter 1

“Taryn, I’m here, like you requested.” Carissa told her best friend.

“Great!  Because I have a surprise for you!” Taryn told her.

“Great!  What is it?”

“You’re lunch date isn’t with me!”

“But?” Carissa asked confused.

“I have a gentleman who would like to meet you.”

“Taryn, you know I’m not good with meeting people.”

“Oh c’mon, Carissa, it’ll be great.  It’s just a lunch date.  Don’t be so dramatic.”

It was too late.  The gentleman in question was heading into the diner now and headed over to them.

“Taryn, I’m here.” The gentleman said.

“Robert, you’re here.” Taryn said as she winked at Carissa. “I’d like you to meet my friend, Carissa.”

“Nice to meet you, Carissa.” Robert said just as unsure of himself as Carissa was.

“Well, why don’t I take you two over to your table.” Taryn said, breaking the ice, as Robert and Carissa followed Taryn to the table she had placed their menus and iced tea on.

When Robert, trying to be a gentleman, helped Carissa in her booth, the iced tea that Taryn had just set on the table, spilt all over Carissa. 

“I need to go to the ladies’ room.” Carissa said, about to cry.

15 minutes later, Carissa came out looking drier and sat down in the booth across from Robert.

“You look nice.” Robert said, trying to be nice, but not knowing what else to say.

“Thank you.” Carissa said gratefully.

Taryn came over to take their order, “How is everything you two?”

Carissa glared at her friend for roping her into this awful date.

“Can I bring you two something to eat?” Taryn asked them, as she ignored Carissa’s glare and winked at her.

“I’ll just have the bacon cheeseburger, fries and chocolate shake.” Robert told Taryn.

“And I’ll have the BLT, fries and vanilla shake.” Carissa said.

“That’s a bacon cheeseburger combo and a BLT combo, one with chocolate shake and one with a vanilla shake.” Taryn clarified.

While Robert and Carissa were waiting for their meal, Robert heard some shaking kept looking around the diner to see if he could spot the trouble, being an engineer.

Suddenly Robert looked up and saw that the roof was about to cave in on top of Carissa and him.  Thinking fast on his feet, Robert grabbed Carissa and moved the two of them out harm’s way.

After the cave-in, Robert moved to see if Carissa was alright.  She moved giving Robert the sign that she was okay, as he helped her up from the rubble.

Then they were escorted out be rescue workers where they were reunited by Taryn who was scared that Carissa and Robert weren’t going to be okay.

Chapter 2

Carissa got home safe and sound, but she made the decision to swear off men for good.  It always seemed to go horribly wrong.  She meets a guy, and something bad happens.  It’s happened on her last five dates.  Well, no more dating for her.  She was through with men.

Then a knock at her front door.  Carissa went to answer it.

It was Robert.

“Hi.  I got your address from Taryn.” Robert said.

“Yeah.” Was all Carissa could say.

“Do you want to try another time?”

“I’m sorry, but I’m working the next few days.  I really don’t know when I’ll have time for another date.” Carissa lied, because she was on vacation for the next week.

As Robert sadly left Carissa’s house, Carissa felt bad for lying to him, but she didn’t see how she could go on another date.  What if something happened again. 

Carissa went up to her bedroom and got ready for bed.  Tired and stressed, she fell asleep instantly as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Robert, on the other hand, had trouble sleeping.  He couldn’t get Carissa out of his head.  Then he called Taryn.

“Hi.” Robert said when he heard Taryn’s voice.

“Did she accept another date.”

“No.  She said she had to work all week.”

“Oh, she did.” Taryn said, knowing she was off all week.  Something was definitely up with her friend, and she intended to find out what.

“Well, Robert, don’t worry.  I’m sure Carissa will be glad to go on another date.” She assured him.

“Thank you.” Robert said before hanging up and going to sleep.  He felt better and was able to get some sleep.

The next morning, Taryn went over to Carissa’s house, who was just making some breakfast of eggs, sausage, toast and coffee.

Taryn let herself in because that’s how close Carissa and she were.  They always let themselves into each other’s homes.

“Hi.  I just wanted to see how you were doing?” Taryn asked her bestie.

“Just making some breakfast before doing some housework.”

“So, did you sleep well last night?”

“I slept great.”

“You didn’t get a visit from Robert last night after your date?”

“No, went straight to bed.” Carissa lied.

“C’mon, Carissa.  I know Robert came over.” Taryn said, knowing she was lying.

“Okay.  He wanted another date.  But I told him I was busy working all week.”

“But you have a week off?  What’s really going on?”

“Nothing.” Carissa lied, not wanting to bother her friend.

“C’mon, Carissa, you can tell me.”

After 10 minutes of hesitating, Carissa finally relented and told her friend the truth.

“I’m afraid to go on another date.” Carissa confessed.

“Why, honey.” Taryn said as she hugged her.

“Because whenever I do, something horrible goes wrong.”

“You’re upset because of the cave-in at the restaurant?” Taryn laughed with her.

“It’s not funny.”

“I’m not laughing at you.”

“Well, I don’t want to date men because every time I do something bad always happens.  It’s happened with the last five dates I’ve been on.”

Taryn hugged her friend, “You can’t be scared to date.”

Taryn revealed her secret, “I was the same way too.  When I met Ken, the same thing happened whenever we went on dates.”

“Really?”

“Yes, but we did it anyway, and now we’re engaged after 5 years of dating.”

“Okay, I’ll go on another date with Robert.”

“I’ll tell Robert.  He’ll be happy.”

Robert called Carissa back several hours later and the two agreed to another lunch date the next date.