The Dating Disaster Who Tried to Bill Me for Romance

When my best friend Mia set me up with Eric, she promised he was a total gentleman. At first, he certainly seemed like one. He brought roses, gifted me a personalized keychain with my initial, and was effortlessly charming throughout dinner. He even insisted on paying the entire bill, stating with a confident smile that a man pays on the first date. I left the restaurant that night thinking I had just experienced the best first date of my life.

The next morning, I reached for my phone expecting a sweet text message about how much he enjoyed our time together. Instead, I discovered something horrifying: a date night invoice. It was professionally formatted and meticulously listed charges for things like the bouquet, the coffee date for the keychain, and a proposed fee for holding hands on our next outing to offset the cost of that first dinner. The document concluded with a chilling threat, stating that failure to comply might result in his friend Chris hearing about it.

It quickly dawned on me that he was not joking. Stunned and confused, I sent the invoice to Mia, who immediately looped in her boyfriend, Chris, who happened to be Eric’s long-time friend. We all agreed that Eric needed to be taught a lesson. Chris retaliated by sending him a fake revenge invoice, which included a service charge for the privilege of sitting at the same table as me, along with a firm warning about the potential for public humiliation.

Eric exploded in response with a barrage of angry texts, insisting that I had missed out on a great guy. I simply replied with a single thumbs-up emoji and blocked his number. That night, Mia called me, still laughing, to apologize for the disastrous setup. Honestly, I could not even bring myself to be angry. Eric had revealed his true colors early on, and I had successfully dodged a major red flag. On the bright side, I now have an incredible story for parties: the tale of the man who literally sent an invoice for a first date.