***All characters are over 18 and are fictional. Any resemblance to any real-life persons or situations is purely coincidental.
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EVA/CHARLES
Charles got to the hotel's lobby a little earlier than he told his date he would. He was always a punctual person, and he found that being early and sitting around doing nothing was better than coming in late and facing the repercussions. At most, he would have to wait for his date for ten minutes before she showed up. He also felt being punctual made a good impression on people; whether it was for dates, business meetings, or appointments, it always made you look good to be early or on time. Normally, he wouldn't go out of his way like this over a blind date, but if Eva was as beautiful as his mother promised him that she was, he definitely wanted to make a good impression on her.
He was a little nervous to meet Eva. Mostly because their blind date is happening on April Fool's Day. He wasn't a superstitious person, and April 1st is considered a joke day, not a bad luck day, but he couldn't help thinking that it probably wasn't the best night to do this. But after texting Eva the last couple of days about their schedules, it was the only night they were able to go out. He was also a little worried this was some kind of prank by his mother, but he realized she was not the kind of person who pulls such elaborate jokes.
He found a seating area in the lobby, which was a group of cushioned chairs around a coffee table with several magazines on top. There were already several people sitting there, and he was lucky there was one chair open, which he quickly took before someone else had the same idea.
As soon as he got comfortable, he decided to text his date that he had arrived. They had been texting throughout the day ever since both of their mothers arranged this blind date for them to agree on a time and place for them to meet up.
Charles:
"I arrived. I'm in the lobby."
Eva:
"Me too. Where are you?"
He started looking around the room. That's when he noticed the woman sitting to his left was also doing the same thing.
"Eva?" he asked.
The woman was surprised to hear her name called out like that right next to her.
"Charles?"
They both had a good laugh at the situation before standing up to greet each other with a handshake.
"I usually like to come early to things, that's why I'm here already," she said.
"I do the exact same thing," he replied.
"It's funny how after be we've been texting the last few days, we didn't think to describe each other or send a picture so we would know who to look for."
"At least we got a funny story out of it," said Charles.
Eva laughed and agreed. They talked for another minute before agreeing to head over to the restaurant that was connected to the hotel lobby.
Charles thought the date was already off to a good start if they had a funny moment like this and already had something in common. He was also relieved to see that she was as beautiful as his mother said she was; he was worried she was overselling it. Eva was a couple of inches shorter than him, with long red hair, blue eyes, and high cheekbones. She was still wearing her coat, but he could tell she must have an amazing body underneath.
Eva was also relieved to see how good-looking Charles was. He was tall, with dark hair, a clean-shaven face, and sexy eyes. He wasn't too muscular, but she could tell he had a good muscle tone; it showed he liked to work out to stay fit but wasn't trying to overdo it.
"So, why did you choose this restaurant?" Eva asked. "I don't really hear hotel restaurants as a suggestion for a date."
"This isn't some small dining area of a motel where they serve continental breakfast," said Charles. "This is a 5-star hotel that has a very upscale Italian restaurant. Also, I like that just outside there's a bar or that lobby where we just were, to sit down and wait for reservations or meet other people before dining. Just like what we were doing just now."
"That's a good idea. I never would've thought of it that way."
At the entrance to the restaurant, Charles gave his name to the hostess, and she led them to their booth. They moved ahead of the line of other people waiting, which showed Eva that he had connections with the managers. It wasn't the first time a guy did something like this to impress her, but it didn't matter how many times she saw it happen, she was always impressed by that move.
When they got to their booth, Eva took off her jacket and put it to the side. Charles did his best to hide his reaction to seeing the dress Eva was wearing. She wore a skintight black dress that was cut off a few inches above the knees, and on top, she was showing plenty of cleavage from her impressively large breasts. Charles knew he was going to have to exercise a lot of self-control not to keep looking at her cleavage.
Eva was aware that she was showing too much cleavage. She originally wasn't going to wear that dress, but her mother was surprisingly insistent on her wearing it. They were video chatting earlier to discuss the blind date and her mother asked what she was going to wear. She showed her a few dresses in her closet that she was thinking of wearing, but when her mother saw the black dress, she got very excited and made a convincing argument on why she should wear it. This was a surprise to Eva because her mother never liked it when she dressed too sexy, but she thought if someone like her thought the dress was good enough to wear, she would give it a try. And from what she saw of Charles's initial reaction, which he tried and failed to hide from her, she could tell that the dress was working.
Charles ordered for the both of them, and Eva liked his choices. The only thing she disagreed on was his choice of wine; she made a suggestion that he would like and he ordered that instead. They began asking each other general questions about each other, the kinds that help you get to know the other person when you first meet them.
Charles was impressed by Eva's acting career; most actresses he met were struggling, but Eva's career was very consistent. She made a living as a model, but she also did a lot of commercial work, some TV roles, a few small scenes in a few movies, and so on. Charles was excited to remember a few of those acting roles and asked some questions about them, which Eva was very happy to answer.
Eva also asked about Charles's work as an architect. He had done a lot of good work in his previous company, which led to his being poached by another company for a bigger position and more pay. It was the reason he had to move to Los Angeles, where Eva was living.
When their mothers heard they were in the same city, they decided to set them up on a blind date with each other. They both turned them down in the beginning, but eventually their mothers wore them down, and they agreed, mostly to get them off their backs. But after they started texting each other, they both began to relax about the idea of the blind date. The texts weren't elaborate, but they were good enough to put them both at ease.
"By the way, how do our mothers know each other?" Charles asked.
