Hopeful

Human beings were professional liars. Even when they were trying to be kind about something, more often than not, there was a lie involved.

'Does this dress make me look like a giant plum?' Truth-yes. Lie- of course not, it has character.

'He apologized for cheating, and said that he would never do it again, should I take him back?' Truth-no, hell no, head for the hills. Lie- of course, love is strong enough to overcome any hurdles.

Those were some of the lies people told. But one lie that was incredibly common was one that had to do with family. When people were asked to describe familial relationships, they often came up with things like, 'it is so nice having siblings,'

'I get along with my brothers and sisters, we are pretty close. It's great having people who've got my back. I never have to worry when I'm with them. I'm not lonely because I know I can always reach out to them.' Those were the things that people said when asked to describe what it was like to have siblings. And it was all a big fat lie. One specially crafted to fool people without siblings.

Eric knew better. He'd had a sibling all of his life. He knew the truth that many people often omitted when they were talking the sunshine and rainbows of being related to someone by blood. That truth was something simple, yet devastating.

'Siblinghood was war,'

From an early age you had to toughen up, or else you would be swallowed up. Siblings were cold blooded like that. They were war machines from birth that showed no mercy. That was just the way things were. From cuddles with mom, to dad's hugs, to who got the last slice of pizza. Or even who had control over the remote, or who got to pick the music in the car. Those were the battles of siblinghood.

Battles that had toughened Eric throughout the years, and made him into the formidable warrior that he currently was. It was a good skill to have, being so well-versed in having to fight for your rights. As a younger sibling, Eric had lost many battles in life, but he had never given up. 

After every battle lost, he had gotten up, and continued to fight, and fight until sometimes his sister conceded, and let him have the win. When it came to the battle of the blind date, he had lost because he had not realized that he was in a fight in the first place. He had gone over to his sister's house like a lamb walking through a meadow filled with wolves. Trusting and oh so naive. But now he knew better. And so, having lost one battle, Eric made up his mind to make sure that this time he would be taking the battle to Beth and not backing down until he got his way. 

His demands were not even all that difficult to meet. Since his sister would be picking the people that he would be spending his evenings with, he wanted to at least have the freedom to choose where they were going. It would have been a great thought for him to have thought of that right after Beth had managed to pin him down and make him promise to go on the blind dates in the first place. 

But unfortunately for him, it had not occurred to him to try and get some control over the situation until two days later. But two days late was better than never, which was why, Eric, was currently on the phone with Beth. The kids laughing in the background while she continued to refuse to see reason. 

"Beth, I am not being unreasonable here. All that I am asking is for all of the dates to be held at one restaurant, one location that I'm familiar with, where I like the food, and I know the service is not bad," Before his sister could immediately shut him down, he carried on talking, not giving her a chance.

"You already get to pick who I will be interacting with. Letting me pick a safe space for me is not that bad. I-" His explanation was cut short by Beth yelling on the other end.

"Kayla put that down right now! Put that down! Cayden if you eat that, I am not taking you to the hospital. I swear to you do not test me," That was the reply that Eric got after finally baring his heart. He had no idea whether to laugh or cry. In the end, he settled for staying quiet and listening to his sister try to wrangle the two tornadoes. 

For a few seconds, the other end of the line was filled with the sound of squealing kids, glass breaking, running and a few whispered choice words that were definitely never supposed to be said in the presence of children. He would have admonished her but he was too worried that she would turn those on him. His sister really had quite a colorful tongue. Whatever it was that was going on her end, she finally managed to get it under control. Only then did she remember that they had been on the phone.

"Are you still there?" She sounded a bit breathless, and Eric could not help but smile as he answered her. Looking after kids was definitely a good way of staying fit.

" Anyways, where were we?"

" I was trying to fight for the right to pick where I eat," There was more strained breathing from his sister's end and he could just picture her. A child under each arm and her phone wedged between her shoulder and ear. Parenting really was something else. The fact that Beth worked from home and was also a full time would never stop being amazing to him.

"Knowing you, you will pick Chardays and you will go there every single date that I put you on," Eric did not even bother trying to deny that. Chardays was a pretty good restaurant.

He had gone on many lone dates there, and it had always been good. If he was going to be spending time with people he did not know then he might as well do it in a familiar environment.

It would also take all of the stress out of constantly having to think of new places to go. 

"Is it so wrong of me to want to go to a place where I have good memories of eating without someone who is supposed to care about me trying to crush my soul?" Eric instantly regretted the words, but it was too late to take them back.

"Oh, Eric," The pain in Beth's voice was almost too much for him to bear.

"Leave it Beth," It came out more defensive than he had intended, but it worked. Whatever it was that she had been thinking of saying, she seemed to decide against it.

"Alright, you can take all of your dates to Chardays. Just promise me that you will give this a chance, that you won't just show up and blow all of them off, just so you can go back to being lonely again,"

"I do not want you to become a semi-hermit cat dad who only ventures out to go to work and then locks himself back in with his cats,"

"Hey!" Eric took great offence to that. 

"I might not have a pet right now, but cats are very good companions. If I do get one, I would not mind hermit-hood," "So it's agreed then. All the dates will be at Chardays, and they will only be on Friday nights. If things don't go well, I would at least like to have the weekend to myself. It should have ended there, but Beth chimed in with her own alternative.

"Or if they go really well, you could spend the weekend with someone." His sister added. The hope in her voice was impossible to miss. Eric did not bother telling her how close to impossible that would be. At the end of the day, Beth was his older sister. She saw the best in him and wanted only good things to happen to him.

He was pretty sure that she thought of him as this great charmer. Someone able to get any lady he desired with just a look.

It was nice knowing that she had such confidence in him. Eric just wished that he felt the same way about himself. But since the breakup, his self worth had taken a huge knock. Even so his sister's belief in his dating capabilities was reassuring.

"Just send me a picture of the person I am supposed to meet when you have a date lined up for me," 

"What would be the fun in that? Live a little Eric. I will send you a defining feature instead. Like maybe a certain clothing item, or a phrase that only the two of you will know, or maybe..." Beth really loved reading spy novels, and sometimes that passion bled into real life.

Eric listened absentmindedly for a while as she planned out his future dates, like he was some sort of lead in a suspense filled story. Instead of being a translator, maybe she should give being an author a chance. Once she had gone on for a while, he asked to speak to his niece and nephew. His wish being granted almost instantly.

"Hey, uncle Ewic," Came the chorus greeting, and he could not help but smile at the sound of the sweet voices.

Even though the conversation consisted mostly of Cayden and Kayla trying to talk over one another, it was the best five minutes of Eric's day, him just settling back and listening to the kids.

Their youthful energy helping to rejuvenate him. By the time that the call ended, he was feeling energized enough to go over some materials for what he would be teaching in the week to come.

Once that was done, he settled down, not giving his mind a chance to latch on to the fact that, after two years, he was finally going on a date. If he thought too hard on it, then he would get scared and chicken out. He might not have liked the fact that the dates would be blind dates. But he had to admit his sister had a point. It had been far too long for him to have remained without ever going out. He really hoped that at least one of the blind dates worked out. Maybe if he was lucky, the first one would be a success.