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He knew this was a bad idea, speed dating? But it wasn’t like he had a lot going on. His appeal to his forced retirement was still ongoing. Although he would go out for a meal with Steve or Kate now and then, he wasn’t a social butterfly. So the posting at the bar Ted frequented, advertising a speed dating event being hosted next week that looked interesting, he thought he would give it a go. He was lonely. He was recently divorced, and his limited experience with internet porn cost him a laptop and left him feeling dirty, ashamed, and even more lonely.
This would be an interesting evening, at the very least. A way to dip his toes back in the dating scene. This wasn’t how it was done back in his day. It would allow him to glimpse into how the younger generations, like Steve, did things. He could possibly even leave with a new friend or two. Roisin seemed to have acquired most of their friends in the divorce, and he wouldn’t begrudge her that. Not after what she had suffered because of him.
Would a friend with a warm, friendly face, one that would be genuinely pleased to have him in their presence, maybe a soft hand to hold be too much to ask? A warm, willing body to hold close to his side when going for a walk or sitting in a movie theater, one that wanted to be with him. That was all he wanted.
Sex was beside the point, quite honestly, and not even on the table of his wants, maybe that could be part of it at some future point in time, but he wasn’t looking for a roll in the hay. That just wasn’t him. He had to have a connection with someone before even remotely being interested, sexually speaking. That point was driven home during his foray into porn.
So, while maybe this was a disaster in the making, he just wasn’t into the hook-up culture that seemed to dominate most today. But, before he could manage to talk himself out of it, he grabbed the closest sign-up clipboard; there were three on the bar, and quickly filled it out, handing it over to the barman before he could think better of it. The barman, one of the regulars, took it and looked it over, then looked Ted up and down with a raised eyebrow, almost appreciatively ...
“Hmmm, never would have thought, never took you for a friend of Dorothy…eh nevermind, just be here at seven on Friday night, ready to mingle!” the barman said with a wink.
“Me either, fella, me either,” Ted said in a confused response to his question and left the bar. Did the fella just wink at him? Who the heck was Dorothy, and why did this fella think he was a friend of hers? Must be some kind of terminology for this newfangled speed dating thing.
Eh. He’d find out on that night.