The Love Hack

Arty

I tugged at the collar of Ben's shirt for what felt like the millionth time as I stood outside the restaurant where Leo was supposed to meet me. I could see my reflection in the glass door, and I stared for a moment, trying to convince myself I didn't look completely ridiculous. I fixed a piece of misplaced hair and took a deep breath out.

I hoped I was the first one here. I wanted a minute to steady my heart rate before Leo got here.

I always hated first dates. I was never particularly good at first impressions. Ben had said it was something about my awkwardly cute demeanor that you had to get to know in order to love. Which I interpreted as the fact I was a total dork.

I sucked in a deep breath and reached for the door handle. I'd altered the app for this, there was no turning back now.

A quick glance around the room told me that I had successfully beaten Leo here.

I'd been here a million times before, it being one of a handful of restaurants in town. It was a converted house, the walls painted a dark red, and tall ornate baseboards and door frames. The windows had decorated stained glass sections at the top, refracting the street lights. The cozy warmth of the place seemed to engulf me, easing the anxiety I felt inside.

The hostess came to the front. I recognized her as the daughter of the soybean farmers up the road from my parent's place, Anna. She simply smiled, and if she recognized me too, she didn't acknowledge it.

I mentioned the reservation and Anna led me to a table in the back corner, where I sat in the chair and left the booth empty. Everyone always loved the booth, I'm sure Leo did too.

I immediately turned to my phone for a distraction. I sent a text to Ben, a picture of my current surroundings, and asking him if he remembered the time we had been here. We'd come two years ago for a trivia night, which ended up being their first and last. Ben blamed me for inciting a scene, but they shouldn't have hosted a trivia night if they couldn't handle the heat.

My phone instantly dinged with a reply back.

Ben: How could I forget? I'd never seen anyone be so confidently wrong before.

I couldn't help the smile spreading across my face at the memory. The question was about an open-world game released in 2011. I'd confidently convinced Ben it was The Sims 3 when it was in fact Minecraft. He'd trusted me, as the resident computer person.

I softly chuckled to myself as I wrote my response.

Me: And then you started a fight with that guy trying to defend my honour

Ben: I wasn't going to let anyone disrespect my trivia partner!

We'd ended up leaving the restaurant after and heading to a bar for karaoke. Both of us refused to sing, and just stood at the bar making up backstories for all the people on the stage, with ridiculous reasons as to why they chose their songs.

I still remembered one clearly—a guy belting out Bohemian Rhapsody as if his life depended on it. Ben had leaned in close, trying to keep a straight face, and whispered, "He tells everyone he was a child actor. He peaked at eight after starring in a toothpaste commercial, and he's been chasing that high ever since."

I had nearly snorted my drink out of my nose, and by the time the guy hit the high notes, we were both in tears. We spent the rest of the night building on the story, with Ben claiming that the guy's backup career was becoming a professional yo-yo champion.

I smiled at the memory, feeling a warm sense of nostalgia wash over me. It was one of those nights where the world felt small and warm, like the only people that mattered were the two of us.