I would have never believed that a man could pay a woman to leave him alone until it happened to me. I met this guy on Tinder which should have been an obvious sign that things wouldn’t end well. However, I was in a vulnerable state after getting another wedding invite from one of my high school friends. Since I didn’t want to go to another wedding as a single woman, I turned to the one place I knew I could find a date on short notice.
After a few left swipes, one profile caught my attention. His bio, in particular, was quite interesting. We shared a lot of similarities and he seemed like someone I could get along with quickly. However, he didn’t have a profile picture which is a red flag but as I said, I didn’t have the luxury to be picky. So, I swiped right and it was an instant match.
It didn’t take him long to message me.
“Hey, gorgeous.” He started.
I texted him back immediately. At that point, I was done playing games and wanted to get straight to the point.
“Hey. How are you doing?” I replied, trying not to look so desperate.
“I’m good. You look lovely.”
“Thank you. I’d say the same thing but you don’t have a profile picture.”
“Oh. Yeah, I like to be anonymous.”
“Well, your bio seems interesting.”
We chatted for another thirty minutes before exchanging numbers. Our communication continued on WhatsApp throughout the day. the more we chatted, the more I grew to like him. He was an intellectual and though I didn’t understand most of the things he talked about, it was impressive. For the next few days, we only chatted despite my efforts to video call him. He’d also rush off my suggestion to meet in person. Nonetheless, I continued talking to him since I wasn’t willing to start the Tinder thing again. Besides, it had been a week and I had three more weeks to my friend’s wedding.
By some stroke of luck, he had a change of heart. He agreed to meet me in person and though I hadn’t seen what he looked like I figured it wouldn’t be so bad. I suggested we meet at CJ’s in town at around 4 p.m. which he also agreed to. After finishing my errands, I made my way to the restaurant. I was a bit early so I ordered a milkshake and scrolled through my phone to kill time. After 10 minutes, he texted me telling me he was in town.
“I’m seated on the right next to the entrance,” I replied.
Soon enough, a stubby man carrying a huge backpack stood at the entrance looking puzzled. Then, he recognized me and walked towards my table. I smiled and braced myself for a long evening.
“We finally meet,” I said trying to break the ice.
“Yes, you look even more beautiful in person.”
He was charming, I have to say. The date wasn’t as bad as I thought. He might not have looked the way I hoped he would but he was entertaining. We moved to a different location where they served alcoholic drinks and continued our date there. By around 8.30 we were ready to call it a night.
“Should I call you an Uber?” he asked.
I hesitated a bit. On one side, I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to go home with him, and on the other side, I didn’t want to spend another night alone.
“We can go to your place,” I suggested.
He clearly didn’t expect that answer as he looked quite puzzled.
“My place?”
“Yes”
“Why?”
“What do you mean?”
This was strange. I didn’t expect this response so I thought he was joking. However, it was pretty clear that he wasn’t.
“Nothing. Just ignore what I said.”
We talked for a little while before he brought up the Uber question again.
“Look, what’s the big deal?” I asked visibly irritated.
“I just want you to get home safe.”
“Get home? What if I want to go to your place? Is that a problem?”
“Actually it is.”
“Are you serious? What guy doesn’t want a pretty girl to go home with him?”
“Me.”
Things escalated to a full-blown argument. Despite anything I said, he still maintained that I could not go home with him. However, I didn’t buy that he was so morally upright to refuse to go home with me. I figured he either had a wife or girlfriend at his home or he was insecure about something. My spirited fight bore no fruits. In fact, it made him more hard-headed and now it seemed like I was the one who wanted to go home with him desperately.
“What do you want, Diana? You’re a pretty girl. I just don’t want to go home with you on the first date,” he said.
“I only agreed to meet you because I need a date for my friend’s wedding so don’t flatter yourself,” I responded.
He removed some money and put it on the table. “Listen, take this. Call yourself an Uber and the rest is for your troubles.”
He then called a waiter to pay the bill as I looked at the cash he had placed in front of me. He actually offered me money to go home. Of course, I took the money and left him sorting out the bill. I never spoke to him after that. It was humiliating enough to beg a guy to go home with him but for him to offer me money to leave was rock bottom.
After that, I deleted my Tinder account and vowed never to go back there. I confided in one of my work colleagues and he felt so bad for me that he offered to be my date for the wedding. If only I had asked him from the start, I would have avoided this whole embarrassing experience.
More stories in The Singlehood Series:
He Lied About His Life For A Whole Year – He Played Her Like A Game Of Chess
She Showed Up To Our First Date With Her Ex-Boyfriend
I Went On A Date With My Instagram Stalker Without Knowing It
Why I don’t want love found on the internet
My Date Humiliated Me In Front Of My Workmates At A Tusker Project Fame Event
The Date From Hell And Why I Am Never Ever Using A Dating App Again
