Good/bad dates I've had Part 1

I'm not sure if this really counts but a friend called me up and pleaded with me to tag along on a cosy foursome outing. 

This guy she was unsure about, had asked her out and to placate her he said he would bring a friend to take the pressure off and she thought of me.

I had zero enthusiasm for this, although I had always thought what a fun idea double dating was.

Pessimistic me comes out again. She would not take no for an answer so I finally relented and then scoured my wardrobe for something sexy.

I met up with her, shaking my head and wondering how I got talked into this and then the guys picked us up. 

Straight away it was divide and conquer. Her date was driving so she sat upfront with him and mine was at the back with me (sounds naughty but it wasn't).

I recall it being so strained at first, hardly anyone was talking and if they were it was very closed questions and answers which didn't help at all. 

Normally this is my cue to vamp up the chat and get it flowing but I didn't feel relaxed yet so I left it to the guys to fill in the awkward silence.

Eventually after a long car ride filled with excruciating pregnant pauses we were finally there. My friend kept shooting me looks and smiles to get me relaxed but I knew that alcohol would do that far better than anything else could. 

(Those days to cure my shyness I used to have to get tipsy to relax, otherwise I just felt so self conscious it was horrible).

I'm a teetotaller now and have been for many years, more on this later as one of the dates are directly response for this decision.

We all exited the car together and headed into the nightclub and as we were queuing up at the bar, my date turned, pulled me aside and gave me one hell of an icebreaker. 

The very best I have encountered to date. He smiled and said "look, we both can't play shy." I laughed so hard and all that nervous tension was finally lost.

Aside from expecting me to dirty dance/kiss him, it really was a memorable time, dancing the night away and laughing.

I didn't see him in a romantic light but for the most part, he was an absolute gentleman and I found out the hard way how rare these encounters would be for me. 

There are too many bad dates to mention but the one that sticks out is actually a secondish date. Me and a friend had gone to the local pub for drinks and I had gotten her into playing pool.

There were no free tables so while waiting around, some guys took pity and said if we waited until they finished their current game we could join them. 

(That actually happened to us a lot, before all the pool tables were taken out of the pubs). It must have been all the pouting and fluttering of lashes that did it, not to mention us cute as ever. 

Again we were split up and my friend really hit it off with her guy and mine was alright but the alcohol hadn't sunk in yet.

We decided to have another go at it and he asked me out on my own so I thought, anything beats staying at home in that atmosphere. 

(I took so many risks back then). He picks me up and then we go to his place and the romantic sappy side of me is thinking, he'll cook for us and we'll curl up and watch a movie..

However the reality was a lot of talking and no food (of which as per usual before a date, I ate nothing so that my belly wouldn't stick out in my chosen outfit).  

He kept plying me with drinks and that should have been the warning to get out but I thought maybe we would just eat later.

I remember asking him for mixers, ice and nibbles of which he claimed to have none and then the more the evening wore on, the dizzier I became until I felt sick. 

The rest is hazy but what stands out is him driving me home, begging me not to throw up in his precious car and driving off as soon as I had closed the car door. 

I stumbled towards my home shakily, couldn't get the keys in and that is when my memory fades.

This is what my mum told me the next day. She had to let me in as I couldn't get the keys in the lock, I took a step in and promptly passed out on the floor.

She couldn't wake me up, so she had to leave me. When I finally awoke and crawled to my bed, my insides just felt really weird. 

I was hungover but this felt different. I don't know if he spiked my drink or not but it took me a few days to recover and put me off alcohol for a long time.

 Even then every drink I had my body rejected it, so not being a big drinker I just abstained from it happily.