Dating the Player, Apparently

It started when Charlie’s Facebook status this morning proclaimed that he might have damaged his eardrum and that he was having some hearing loss. His status said little else and like the rest of Charlie’s updates that (constantly) show up on my Newsfeed, I probably just should have ignored it.

But, considering that I own an otoscope thanks to my nearly in-laws (Rich’s parents), who loved to endow me with medical equipment, I knew that I could take a cursory look and pre-empt a trip to Urgent Care or the ER.

Since we haven’t spoken since our failed lunch date, though, I couldn't just randomly start commenting on his status. I needed to say something...else. So, I sent Charlie a private message saying that I would be busy for most of the day, but if he started having pain or was worried, he knew my cell phone number and could give me a call this evening. Then, I added,

Also, you owe me lunch, punk! You are so lucky that I've been distracted by exams and forgot to follow through on the harassment regarding that!

(As you know, I did not forget. However, I did have exams and I wouldn’t have had time for Charlie had he chosen to follow through anyway.)

This set off a chain of email responses, the first of which being,

: ) I thought about that just yesterday or the day before. When are you available?

I still hold that you saw me walking into the restaurant and rerouted to the nearest restaurant before I could see you. I don't have hard evidence, but I'm allowing my imagination to be the evidence.

So, as requested, I gave him my available dates (this week is light, since we just finished an exam block), including a choice of several weeknights. I also said that if those didn’t work, I was available next weekend too.

His response?

Maybe this coming Saturday night? How does that work?

He picked date night, you guys. Of the five possible nights he had to choose from, he chose Saturday night.

So, here we go. It's on for date night, apparently. I'm sure he'll remember his cell phone this time, but unfortunately, now there's a possibility that he'll be partially deaf.