“Double Date”

According to Urban Dictionary a double date is a social engagement like dinner or going to the movies that two couples partake in.

I think they need to relook the phrase. Or at least just give it a double meaning you know.

So there I am, casually hanging around at a Fred’s farewell party. Now, Fred and I have a long history of being friends, then not being friends, to being friends, to not being friends. Until one day Fred decided that he was going to stop being fake, and just be awesome instead.

From that day onwards Fred and I, we, we were like the Top Gun duo. Maverick and Goose. Taking the highway to the danger zone.

Anyway, back to the party. I was casually hanging around the bonfire, watching a bit of bush veld TV, when he approached me. Definitely having had one, or a few rounds too many, Fred actually had a good idea. Or, a not so good idea at all.

Fred knows Bailey, and Bailey knows Fred. Now it might seem cruel for Fred to suggest that he’ll bump Bailey into the swimming pool in the midst of winter, but hey, that’s the kind of love-hate friendship they had. Never a dull moment.

I tried to explain that it wasn’t worth it, but try telling him that. Especially when he’s drunk! So he just went along and did it anyway.

I had to be her knight in shining armour then. I helped her out of the pool and as our eyes met, there was a definite spark. Something that really can’t really be described. I’ve never seen something wet spark up the way it did that night.

I guess that was Fred’s idea of setting the two of us up.

Being the gentleman I am, it’s always handy to keep extra clothes in your car, for when the need arises. And so, I offered, well rather insisted, to bring it to her.

Bailey and I got to talking and sat around the bonfire till rather late, or should I say, rather early the following morning. Time flies when you’re having fun, doesn’t it?

Eventually everybody left and so we decided it was our cue to leave to. I got her number and we agreed to have coffee sometime in the near future. I couldn’t believe my luck, a farewell party with a happy ending.

A week later we go on the date and things don’t really seem as they were that evening. Something seems a little offish. No spark, no nothing. And like a friend of mine once said: “It’s that Sheldon Cooper type of awkwardness!”

Luckily we made it out alive and I am pretty sure we both left Starbucks thinking: “What the hell was that?” and “I don’t think we should go on another date.”

It’s safe to say there were no messages to be sent from that date onwards. We both lived happily ever after – without ever seeing one another again.

A day or so later my phone gets stolen, and it’s definitely not backed up. It’s one of those things where I will just do it next week. Next week comes and goes, and so forth. It just never happens.

I lose all my contacts, I didn’t have Facebook or any social media at the time. So it took time to get all my contacts back.

It was a few months later that I get a call from Carly. She’s in town and suggests we meet up for coffee. We agreed on meeting at Starbucks, and getting our names written on cups like any other stereotypical Starbucks fans. That’s the cool thing about Carly, she’s spontaneous like that.

We caught up on about 3 months worth of personal news, but somehow the whole story of Bailey slipped my mind. I completely forgot to tell her about it. How it happened I don’t know. We’re even at the same place the date took place.

But as Carly leaves, she’s like: “So I know this girl, and you two will definitely get along. So please call her”, she asks.

I’ve had nothing to lose, so I give her a call. It turns out her name was Bailey too. “What’s it with me and the Bailey’s”, I thought to myself. She even sounded familiar over the phone, but I must have heard her wrong. It couldn’t be the same Bailey, could it?

You guessed it!

We showed up at Starbucks wearing the exact same outfits as our first, first date. Bailey and I back at it again. Now our second first date. Is it just me or aren’t there a lot of humans that can honestly say they’ve been on two first dates with the same person?

The whole event made the mood so much lighter, we got along so well this time around. We had a good laugh and agreed that these events only take place in movies. The Barney and Bailey show was going to be an award winning show one day.

I wish I could tell you that from that day onwards we were meant to be, but we were co-scriptwriters, and best of all…

Wait for it!

Friends for life, nothing more and nothing less. So, there you have it folks, the official ending for the story of Bailey.

Next week’s coincidental encounter is under construction and will be released 27 January 2019 😉