Feet Dragging

Time was an ever moving entity that did not stop for anyone.

Eric knew this, but even with all of that, as the days had passed, slowly leading him up to what would be the night of his blind date. He had been unable to stop himself from wishing that he could just raise a hand and time would pause, allowing him to stall for as long as possible. 

For him to stay in his cocoon for a little while longer, not having to attend the blind dates like he had promised his sister. But unfortunately for him, he did not have such a superpower. 

The days had flown by no matter how much he had wished for them to stop. Now there he was, Friday night, and instead of staying in and grading papers,( an acceptable way to spend Fridays in his books) he was standing in front of the bathroom mirror, brushing his teeth. Pausing to stare at his reflection in the mirror, he nodded at himself, bringing up a hand to pat himself on the chest before resuming what he had been doing. 

'At least I went down fighting,' he thought, trying to comfort himself, but it did not work. What use was the fact that he had fought? He was still going. His sister had gotten her way in the end. Somehow managing to get him to do something that he had not even been thinking of at all when he had shown up at her place. Seriously, all that he had wanted was some good food and to spend some time with his niece and nephew. 

How had that become him going on a date with a total stranger? 

At some point he would have to sit his sister down and find out just how she managed to get him to do things when he had been dead set on never doing them again. There were so many instances of that going all the way from childhood. Like when Eric did not want to eat his vegetables then out of nowhere his sister was there, and he was shovelling the greens down like there was no tomorrow.

He finished up in the bathroom still thinking on his sister's ability to just get him to do stuff. But unfortunately for him, thinking on it did not help him get out of the current situation that he had been talked into. His bare toes digging into the rug, Eric made his way into his bedroom. In there a black suit awaited him. 

He could have gone for something less severe. Maybe added a splash of color. But the blind date was bringing him nothing but doom and gloom, so he felt that the outfit was appropriate. Picking up the clothes one by one, Eric got dressed as slowly as possible. But he still finished in record time, and then he was pulling on his socks and slipping into his shoes. Staring at his now covered feet Eric fought the urge to take off his clothes and redo it all again, this time going even slower.

That would only add to his struggles. With a sigh, Eric made his way over to the giant mirror on the other end of the room(a gift from Beth).

The man who stared at him in the mirror looked composed, and sure of himself. He looked like someone ready to take on anything. Which was the exact opposite of what Eric was currently feeling in that moment. He did not want to go anywhere. 

What was so great about dating? Relationships had already shown him that he was not cut out to be somebody's boyfriend. Why else would he have been treated like dirt, cheated on, and then dumped for an older man. In fact saying older man when he was talking about the professor that Melissa had been two timing him with was an understatement.

She had cheated on him with a fossil. A man so old he had barely had any hair left, wore coke-bottled glasses( not in a cool way) and needed several naps to get through the day. She had left him to gallivant with a man who had age spots, more wrinkles than raisins, walked with a hunch, and was just a few teeth away from eating liquefied slop.

She had not just broken his heart, she had whittled down at his pride until there had been close to nothing left.

Was he really so bad? Had he been so awful to her during their relationship that she had not even felt the need to dump him before going to sleep with a dinosaur? Had he deserved her verbal and sometimes physical attacks? 

Realizing that he had somehow slipped into thinking about his ex, when he should have been focusing on what was to come that evening. Eric shook his head to clear it, thinking on such a negative topic would not put him in a good mood. And he needed to be somewhat happy if he was going to make good first impression. 

Checking his appearance in the mirror one last time, Eric made his way downstairs. As he did so, he looked around the apartment, hoping to find something, anything, that would be pressing enough for him to not have to go on the date. Some non-existent dirt, a leak in the pipes that he'd recently had a plumber look into, or maybe a tornado would come out of nowhere, and lift the roof of his home, forcing him to stay and get it fixed. But he had no such luck. 

Perhaps if he had gotten around to starting the balcony garden that he was always putting off he could fake a plant emergency. But the balcony was still bare, so he had no such luck. Everything in his home was in order. He had absolutely no reason to not be going on the date. He ran a hand through his dark hair, and headed for the kitchen. Just because there was nothing to stop him from going, it did not mean he could not find a reason to stay in the comfort of his home for a little while longer.

Reaching the kitchen Eric immediately made a beeline for the fridge and opened it. Grabbing an apple he bit into it while leaning against the counter. Sure he was going to an establishment with food, but it was always a good idea to have a little something in your stomach when going out. You never knew how long service was going to take. There was also the possibility that the whole thing might end up being a disaster, and he would be forced to leave without eating anything. 

He was not about to faint while trying to leave an awful date. Eric would never be able to get over such an embarrassment. But despite the tiny bites that he had been taking, and how slowly he had been chewing, soon the apple was all gone, and as he disposed of the core in his bin. Eric could not help but let out a sigh as he grabbed his car keys and made his way out.

There was nothing for it. He could not delay any longer. He had to go on that date. With heavy footsteps, Eric made his way to his car. Again nothing happened to prevent him from leaving. He made it to the car unharmed and the car started without any trouble. Even when he backed out it was one of the smoothest drives of his life.

Absolutely nothing was standing in his way, even traffic was minimal. In no time at all, Eric found himself staring at the bright blue doors of Chardays.

"Now or never," He whispered to himself, but even with that, he found that he could not move. Stuck in his car, gripping the steering wheel with hands that were suddenly sweaty.

Eric looked over at the restaurant and wanted to be anywhere else. What was he even doing there? It wasn't like his sister could do anything to him if he decided that he did not want to go in there. That's right, he did not have to do this, starting his car again. Eric got ready to leave, but then he turned the vehicle off and just sat there.

If he ran, it would be cowardly, he had to just go in there and get it over with.

"Just get over this one date, and it will be one less torture...you can do this," The words sounded hollow, but they were the only comfort that he could offer himself, even so, Eric still found himself unable to leave his car.