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The first thing Jared noticed when he walked into the room that day was that Richard seemed nervous, which he supposed was an improvement since he had generally just seemed sad since his firing, but it was still far from an ideal situation.
“Is anything wrong Richard?” Jared asked.
“Yeah, um, well. Monica asked me if I wanted to go out for coffee with her tomorrow, like on a date.”
“Oh. Okay.”
“She probably just asked me because she feels sorry for me because of the firing, we talked about it months ago right after TechCrunch, but she never mentioned it again until today so you know.”
“She was probably just busy, I’m sure she would love to go on a date with you.”
Who wouldn’t? Jared thought.
“Well, even if she’s serious I’m sure it’s going to be a disaster.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because I always suck at these things, I never know what to say or how to act, every date I’ve ever been on has ended up being a humiliating experience.”
“Have you ever considered practicing before?”
“Practice how?”
“With a friend, like Erlich, tell him what you would say to Monica on your date, and he would give you feedback on what you’re doing right or wrong.”
“I’m sure Erlich would laugh at me if I suggested that and I don’t really trust his judgment anyway”
“What about Dinesh, or Gilfoyle?”
“They would be even worse, it would basically give them material to make fun of me for the rest of my life.”
“So why not me? I admit my experience in dating is limited but I think I could point out a few things that could help you tomorrow”
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Richard initially thought the practice date wouldn’t be such a good idea, but it turned out to have good results right from the start since he had no idea what cafes were in the area besides Starbucks, but Jared did. He named several until Richard told him to just take him to the one Jared liked best.
And it looked like a nice place, it was clean with comfortable chairs and wooden furniture, it seemed like the kind of place that struck a good balance between romantic and casual.
“So how do you know about this place?” Richard said.
“I used to come here because it was between the hostel I used to live in and Hooli. The cafe has a variety of options and also cakes, and I think it has a good atmosphere in terms of design, and also once I sat at one of the tables in the back I could see the kitchen and everything seemed to be following proper hygiene standards, I think Monica would appreciate that.”
“Wait, you said you lived in a hostel?”
“Yes, I did. Why?”
“It’s a bit unexpected, when you worked at Hooli you were a VP of Operations, I didn’t imagine these guys living in hostels.”
“I never need a lot of space, but I admit there was a financial component to my choice of housing, I had to take out a number of student loans to pay for my college education, and a considerable portion of my salary went towards paying that debt.”
“So you’re in debt?”
“Oh no Richard, my debt is already paid off, in fact I finished it shortly before we met.”
“I didn’t know.”
“How could you? I never mentioned it before.”
“I should have thought about it, you had this great job for years, and yet you ended up living in our garage.”
“My job wasn’t great Richard, it was well paid. I have a great job now and I can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be than here. And I am absolutely certain that the future of the company is bright and that it will end up being one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life. And besides, I am no longer living in the garage, and I got that because of you. I have no regrets whatsoever.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes, I am. Now shall we order?”
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Richard ended up finding out that there was more to Jared than he probably should have realized or at least asked about before, his mother had died when he was a child, he had no idea who his father was, and he had spent a fair amount of his childhood and adolescence in orphanages or with foster families. And he found out things he never would have imagined, like that Jared had been part of an a cappella singing group called the Joyce Carol Notes or that he had written a lot of fanfiction for the TV series Firefly.
And Richard talked, about sad things like getting fired or why he decided to drop out of college, but also about lighthearted things like the games he and Big Head used to play when they were kids in Tulsa, and things his older sister always says when he comes home. And they probably would have talked more if one of the waitresses hadn't come in to tell them the cafe was closing, and only then did Richard notice how dark it was outside, and looking around on his cell phone he noticed that it had been almost five hours since they had arrived there.
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Jared was somewhat silent on the way back, Richard didn't blame him after all if he counted the time they had spent at the house and going to the café they had talked straight for almost six hours, not even with Big Head did he remember having had such a long uninterrupted conversation.
He only spoke again when they were already on the street where they both lived, with the car being parked.
"Richard."
"Yes, Jared?"
“You don’t need to worry about the date tomorrow, you did really well today, you paid attention to what I was saying and told me all those things about yourself, you didn’t make me feel uncomfortable, your manners were impeccable and some people would find you offering to pay the bill a bit old-fashioned but I thought it was a nice touch of chivalry… I know it wasn’t a real date, but if it was I would probably rate it as one of teh best dates of my life. Monica is a very lucky person to have the opportunity to go out with you for real.”
“Thank you,” Richard said.
But what he was thinking was that no Monica wasn’t, because it wouldn’t be like that with her, Jared knew him and made him feel comfortable and happy, he knew he could say anything and Jared would back him up and be honest and kind. He would make everything better just by being him on the other side of the table. It wouldn’t be like that with Monica, it wouldn’t be like that with anyone else. And whether it was just for practice or not, he couldn't help but think of that as the best date of his life.
Lost in his thoughts, Richard ended up following Jared to Noah's door without realizing it. The sound of Jared opening the door was what pulled him back to reality. And before his brain could remind him that that was a bad idea, Richard found himself saying:
"If this were a real date, this would be the moment I would kiss you."
"Yes, I suppose it would be. Good night, Richard," Jared said.
He gave a polite smile and closed the door, leaving Richard alone, certain that he shouldn't have said anything about kissing, he should have simply kissed him at that moment.
This certainty brought more questions and doubts, enough that Richard knew to make him spend the whole night awake in his room freaking out about it, analyzing and freaking out again, but before he got to his room he had already typed and sent the following message:
Hi Monica, I can't make it to our date tomorrow or the day after, in fact I won't be available for dates for an indefinite period of time. I'm sorry. - Richard