Call my friends and

“I don’t think you do, but granted I am married and don’t really pay that much attention to if men and flirting with me or not, because I don’t care.” Harmony replied with a small chuckle. Not that she felt that Dieter was flirting with her, it was just more of a general statement. “Well, I wish you the best of luck. But like I said, it’s better to know now instead of wasting months and months on something that won’t work out.”

“That is fair. I’ve been told that I don’t notice when someone is flirting with me but my friends say that’s because I’m completely oblivious” he said, which was partially a joke but his friends did tell him that all the time. “That’s true, I wouldn’t want to wait a long time just to find out she never liked me”

Verity bit her lips together. Like her?! Right now, at this moment in time she probably hated her more than her old teacher. “Great.” Verity responded, adding what she attempted at being a smile. Verity looked up at him when he asked if she was alright. Great, he had noticed that she seemed off. she wasn’t sure what to do. Every bone in her body just wanted to scream at him, tell him how she felt and storm off, but she decided against it. instead she put on a brave face. “Me? Yeah, I’m fine.” She told him. “Its just.. I have a headache.” She lied.

Dieter frowned when she said she had a headache, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a bottle of advil. “I have some advil, here take 2 of them” he said, holding the bottle out for her and pushing his water bottle toward her as well, “Have some of my water, please. Staying hydrated helps”

Diana laughed. “You are funny, I will give you that.” She told him, knowing very well she had a weak spot for people that made her laugh. Her old clients had been very serious and never really interested in much than for her to just be a pretty thing on their arm at events. “I am relived to hear that! You were starting to sound a lot like my roommates for a while there.” She teased him. Tilting her head a bit to the side again as he pulled out his phone and calendar. “Oh I don’t know. I think we do need to give it a while, you know, just to make sure. What is your work schedule looking like? I figure if I bring you a couple of more coffees durning our shifts it should do the trick.” She said, winking at him before she let out another chuckle. “No I haven’t.” She repeated. “And trust me, nobody is more ashamed than me. I hear its a classic.” She added, shrugging her shoulders, before taking a final sip of her coffee. She got up from the sofa and threw her paper cup in the bin before taking a seat again. “That is good to know at least.” She told him. “Oh, lasagne sounds yummy!”

“Thank you, I am trying to be so I’m glad it’s working” he smiled, looking back at her. “I’ll show you my work schedule, it’s very packed” he said, handing his phone calendar to her, it showing the whole month’s worth of shifts of his. For each week it showed him working 12 hours a day for 5-6 days of the week, always only giving him 1 or 2 days off. “You will have plenty of opportunities to visit me at work” he said, knowing that everyone he knew thought he worked way too much. “I’m going to force you to watch it” he nodded, looking back over at her as he continued to sip on his coffee. “It’s really good, I can bring some leftovers in the next time she makes some”

“Well, if she doesn’t say yes, then at least you know, right?” He told him. “I always find dinner easier. You kind of get the vibbe off right from the start if the conversation is floating or not, you know? Also, I’d always recommend a second date, even if the conversation is slow, because some people are just a bit nervous the first time.” He suggested. “You seem like a good looking guys yourself, I doubt she’d be out of your league.” 

“Yeah, I guess there’s that” he nodded. “I don’t think it would be super awkward, I’m not worried about the conversation aspect, I know that we can both talk confidently, it’s just the actual date parts that I’m not great at” he shrugged. “Well thank you” he smiled, “But she is definitely still out of my league”

“Women like when men seem genuinely interested in them for things other than sex, you feel? Then you just use the things you learn to help you plan a more personal date. It all works out.”  Harmony concluded, knowing that it was pretty solid as far as advice goes. “Yes, that is the part I can’t help you with. She either likes you or she doesn’t.”

“I really hope that I don’t come off as a guy who is just looking for sex because I’m not like that at all.” he shook his head. “Yeah that part I get to figure out myself, but it’ll be really embarrassing if she doesn’t like me. If the next time you see me I’m wearing a bag over my head then you’ll know that she rejected me” he joked, but not completely. He didn’t put himself out there often and rejection was one of his biggest fears.

Trevor shrugged. “Well, you can. But I think women would prefer being asked in person? Besides it is so much easier to persuade them in case they are being a bit hard to get.” Trevor told him. “Well, personally I think dinner as a first date is good enough. Maybe a movie, but you kind of want to spend the first date talking a lot and getting to know each other, or at least that is the route I have taken.” He told him. “You really like this girl, huh?”

“Yeah that makes sense. I mean if she hesitated I’d feel weird about persuading her, I’d want like a definite yes, otherwise I would feel kinda weird about it. Like I wouldn’t want to convince her to go if it’s not really what she wanted” he shrugged. “Dinner sounds easy enough, I can do dinner” he nodded. “Granted I don’t know her all that well yet, but I like what I do know and I would like to know more. She just seems really cool and really...out of my league, so I’m nervous about it”

“I can tell by the fact that you are living alone. Things must be so hard for you.” Diana said, her tone of voice was clearly sarcastic as she let out a light chuckle. Biting her lips together as she locked her eyes onto the man. Reaching out her hand, she gently shook his. “There, its official.” She said. “Oh yeah, Dr. Murphy is one of the best. Should we go ahead an schedule and appointment now?” She chuckled lightly. He did make her laugh, that was for sure. Diana shook her head a bit playfully. “I didn’t. I haven’t seen it.” She told him, shrugging her shoulders gently. “Well to be honest with you, I don’t cook too often, as I hate making food just for one, but when I do I tend to make bacon salad with home made dressing, various curries, pasta dishes, tacos. That sort of thing.” She told him. “What do you like to eat?”

“What if I told you I was living alone but I had no hot water and no electricity because I don’t pay my bills- would that change your mind?” he smiled, “That’s a joke, I feel the need to tell you that I do pay my bills and all of the water and lights in my apartment are fully functional, I promise” he said before pulling up the calendar app on his phone, “We should definitely set up an appointment with him, how long do you think it’ll take for you to break my heart- are we talking days? weeks? months? I’m going to need a timeline of events so I don’t schedule this too soon” he joked before looking fake shocked at her. “You’ve never seen Titanic? Oh we have to change that, that’s completely unacceptable” he shook his head. “Those all sound really good, I’m not gonna lie. I will eat anything, I am the least picky eater you will ever meet. My mom used to say I was like a vacuum because I just inhaled everything she put in front of me” he laughed. “But my favorite food is definitely my mom’s lasagna. It was my dad’s recipe and she said he used to make it for her all the time so she makes it for me on special occasions”

“A nurse, huh?” Verity said, not really questioning it as much as it might have sounded like. It seemed like only yesterday she was lying on the hospital bed dropping subtle hints that he’d probably meet a nurse, and here he was. Having done exactly that. She bit her lips together in a attempt to hold back the build up of tears that was building up inside. She was taking deep breaths in order to try and calm herself down. “Yeah, you sound like you are really trying. Like you have got it all figured out.” She told him, adding a slight smile. I care that you think. She scoffed. ‘First of all, I’d like it to be a date with you,’ She thought to herself. “Um.. Honestly Dieter, I have no idea. Just don’t take her bowling. Girls normally hate bowling.” was all she managed to say. 

“Yeah, she’s really cool I think you’d like her” he nodded, noticing that Verity’s mood seemed a little bit off. He wasn’t sure if she’d want him to comment on it or just leave it alone, so he tried to ignore it. “No bowling, that sounds easy enough I can avoid bowling” he said, not being able to ignore the look on her face has she kept talking. “Hey, are you alright?” he decided to ask, in a soft and sincere voice. “You seem upset- and obviously I’m not going to push you to talk about something if you don’t want to. But if you want to, I’m always here to listen” he offered, hoping she’d take it.

“Okay, so you take her out on a pretty safe first date. Like to dinner and a movie or something, because that is hard to mess up. You make sure it is clear that it is a date. And then while you are on that first date, you ask all kinds of questions about her and what she likes.” Harmony suggested, feeling like first dates tended to be pretty low-risk. “Definitely make it clear you want to be more than friends. It’s best to know if you’ve got a chance now rather than later.” 

“Dinner and a movie. Make it clear that it’s a date. Ask a hell of a lot of questions about her and what she likes- I can do that” he nodded, making the mental note to himself so he wouldn’t forget it later. “Now we just have to hope that she says yes to going on a date with me, otherwise I won’t get to the rest of those good ideas”

Trevor shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know man, I guess it depends?” Trevor responded. “I mean, like if you met them through a dating app then I’d say go ahead and ask through there. If not, then just.. Next time you see them just ask if they’d like to grab dinner sometime or something.” He suggested. Not that Trevor had never dated before, but it had been a while.

“I was thinking of just calling her and asking her but I don’t know if I should wait to ask in person. And I have no idea what to plan as a first date if she says yes” he groaned, putting his head down, “I’m doomed”

Diana chuckled. “I did not take you for a gambler either.” She told him. “You’re so on!” She added, knowing very well there was a good chance she’d win depending on what he’d defined as bad. Diana chuckled lightly. “I hope you have a good heart surgeon for when I am through with you.” She told him, obviously joking. Diana laughed at his following statement. “You sound like the guys my mom warned me about. Looks like you might be the one to break my heart first.” She told him with a teasing smile. “Titanic huh? That is.. cute.” She chuckled. “You say that now! You haven’t tried my home cooking yet, you might just regret it.” She warned him.

“Oh yeah, I gamble all the time, I have serious money problems because of it” he joked, shaking his head before holding out his hand, “We have to shake on it to make it official” he said, shaking his head. “I hear Dr.Murphy on the sixth floor is a hell of a heart surgeon, I’m sure he’d love to mend my broken heart” he laughed. “I’m very dangerous and mysterious, your mom was right” he nodded. “Yeah, titanic is a sad movie, I think everyone cried when they watched it- it’s not just me” he smiled, “Oh come on- how bad could your cooking be? What’s your go-to meal that you like to cook?”

Verity tilted her head a bit to the side, knitting her eyebrows together a little. Even though she did not want to admit it, she had been crushing on Dieter since they had met. He had saved her life, and also been so kind to her afterwards. “I thought you didn’t have time to date?” She responded at first, mostly out of curiosity. “I haven’t had much luck in that department myself, so I won’t be of much help. Sorry.”

“I really don’t have time to date, but I can try to make time if it works out. She’s studying to be a nurse so she doesn’t have a lot of time either so I won’t look like an asshole if I’m busy all the time” he shrugged, “She works at the hospital- she stopped by the other day to bring me a coffee on shift so if I’m able to see her when we’re at work that might make up for it too. I don’t want to be hopelessly single for the rest of my life so I’m really trying” he looked back at her. “That’s alright, your input is still of great value to me, I care what you think. Like what would you want to do on a first date, like what’s your ideal first date?”

“See, here is the problem. There isn’t really a way to plan a killer date unless you know what the person likes. Because the best dates are the ones that are personalized.” Harmony explained, feeling people liked to know that you’d put in  effort to get to know them. “People like knowing that you listen to them and remember what they like.” 

“I don’t know too much about her yet, I’ve only talked to her a few times. I could make a personalized date if I’d really gotten to know her already, but I want to ask her on the date so that I can get to know her better- so that’s kind of a catch-22, you know?” he shrugged, “And if I keep asking her to hang out as friends to get to know her first then she’ll think I’m not interested and I can lose my shot”

“Well, if the dates are only going alright, then that is part of the problem.” Harmony replied, shrugging at the man. “People like to be wowed, and I find it helps if you do something they will remember.” She added, mostly thinking out loud at the point. “If someone goes on a million dates and none of them stand out, it’s not going to go anywhere, you know? People appreciate that little bit of extra effort.” 

“I don’t know how to ‘wow’ someone on a date, my life has been a string of pretty good dates- but each time I start seeing someone it only lasts like a month or two and then things just don’t work out” he shrugged. “What would be like a killer first date?”

Diana bit her lips together, giving him a slight teasing, yet intriguing smile. “Who knows? Maybe I do.” She told him. She had lived in Portland her whole life, and yet nobody knew about her past. She had managed to keep that under the radar for a long time and was not planning on unraveling it just yet. “Not if I break yours first.” She teased him a bit. “And Dieter, you are not the type of guy that strikes me as a bad guy. Trust me, I would not be giving you the time of day if I did.” She added, shrugging her shoulders gently, but then again, she did not know him very well yet. “That would honestly be great!” She told him. “I will repay with in a home cooked meal every now and again!” She offered. 

“Alright, $10 says you don’t have an evil bone in your body. I don’t know how we’d ever prove anything for this bet, but I’m still making it” he nodded, smiling when she said she would break his first. “Oh you’re on, first one to break the others heart wins” he looked at her. “Oh I’m a real bad guy, I wear leather jackets and drive a motorcycle. I smoke 3 packs of cigarettes a day and I definitely didn’t cry when I saw Titanic” he clearly joked. “I can’t turn down that offer, that sounds awesome”

“Well, whatever it is you are doing, keep doing it and we will have no issues with you being good company.” She told him a bit teasingly, biting her lips together as she locked her eyes with his for a split moment. “Oh, you say that now.” She said, chuckling lightly. “But just you wait.” She added, obviously joking, as she did not have a bad bone in her body. “I mean, to be fair I am a little older and more mature than them.” She said, knowing starting college later came with its challenges. “Living alone sounds.. Amazing. I will get there one day.”

“You always say something as if you have some dark side to you but I don’t see it, I don’t think there’s any part of you that’s even a little bit mean” he smiled, “I, however, am very mean. I will break your heart one day, you’ll see” he joked before shrugging. “I like living alone but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t get lonely every once in a while. It’s really quiet” he shrugged, “But hey, until you find a new place to stay if you ever really need to study and your roommates are being loud or annoying, you can use my place” he offered, “Even when I am there I’m not very distracting, I promise”