Tamika awakes to a pounding on her door "dammit of course I missed that jog again" she mumbles to herself as she walks to the door. "Tamika we know you're in there OPEN UP pllleeeaassseee" says Tiff "Ya Tam open up, we have coffee", Cynthia chimes in. Tamika opens the door with her beaming smile as she welcomes her two best friends "I know why you guys are here. Listen I was just super busy last night I didn't have time to see Kaleb". " No Tam you listen you've been blowing him off for years, I have no idea why he keeps putting up with this from you, just give the guy a chance already". "Ya girl and we know by busy you mean eating a Big Mac on your couch" laughs Tiff. The three women carry on with a joking banter as they lounge in Tamikas living room, watching Harry Potter for the umpteenth time.

"Alright time to get serious" Tiff pipes up "Tamika girl, when are you going to find someone? We don't want you to be alone forever and by we I mean every single person that knows you. You have so much to offer but you just seem so lonely". Tamika looks between her two friends and notices their genuine concern, until this moment everyone would joke about Tamika being a lonely old hag but at this exact moment she realizes it isn't a joke any longer. "I'm just not interested in all of that relationship stuff and you guys know I'm not, can't I just live? By the way I'm not lonely, I'm happy so suck it" Tamika says while sticking out her tongue in an attempt to lighten the mood. Cynthia tosses a pillow at Tamika "we know you're scared, but you deserve love just like everyone else. How about I make you a deal?". Both Tamika and Tiff are interested in what Cynthia has to say so she carries on "let me set you up on a couple of blind dates, if they don't pan out then we'll drop it. I think your problem isn't that you don't want to be loved you just haven't found anyone that you think will love you how you want to be loved". Tamika sucks in a sharp breath before replying "Fine if this will finally get you all to stop I'll do it, but don't set me up with any of Craigs scummy friends, they're hot but they're trash". Craig is Cynthias boyfriend yes, the one caught cheating a while back, Cynthia can't seem to let him go more than likely because they're been together since they were 13. That's another reason Tamika is so disinterested in being with someone, putting in all of those years of work and time that could be used for bingeing a new Netflix series just to get your heart trampled on. Feeling accomplished Cynthia jumps up "Great it's settled. Tiff lets blow this popsicle stand the old hag needs time to mope". They all laugh and say their goodbyes.

Around 4 in the evening Tamika decides she needs to quit with her pity party over being roped into the dating scene and go shower. Just as she's warming up the water just below scalding hot she hears the familiar sound of a text notification.

Cynthia: Get ready, your first prince will meet you at 8. You're going to that new restaurant on 16th. Please don't blow this one.

Tamika: A deal is a deal. It won't work out but I'm game and I'm starving.

Cynthia: Pref! I expect a full report when you get home.

Laughing to herself Tamika hops in the shower "well I guess I needed something to do anyway, I mean who stays at home on a Saturday" she mumbles to herself as she adds a conditioning treatment to her hair. She mentally flips through a list of men that can be her potential date for tonight when a set of the most beautiful green eyes pops into her head "what the hell is wrong with you Tamika" she says to herself in disgust. She carries on with her mental checklist while drying off, she checks her phone to see that she was in the shower for almost on hour. Groaning to herself as she thinks about how much water she just wasted she heads over to her closet to pick out her outfit. Tamika decides on a pair of black skinny jeans, silver flowing shirt, leather jacket and black ankle boots. She's never been to the place on 16th yet and if she's being completely honest she's excited to try it out.

After getting ready she checks the time and it's 7:15, grabs her keys and heads to the elevator to get to the parkade. When the elevator doors open her breath hitches as she sees the magnificent eyes from the previous night. Xavier sheepishly smiles at her "Mika we meet again" he says with a sly smile. She didn't realise how well he was built until this moment he's at the very least 6ft tall soccer player body so fit in all the right place. He was dressed in a white button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbow paired with dark blue jeans. "Oh hey Xander" she purposely greets him by the wrong name. Along with her rule she has a list of rules to make sure she doesn't fall in love this one is called never get too personal. Xavier chuckles while shaking his head " Going down to the garage?" Tamika gives a curt nod. The ride down was filled with an awkward silence while Tamika stared straight ahead fighting with herself to hold her resolve and Xavier tapping away on his phone. As they exit the elevator Tamika give Xavier a small smile while they part ways, Xavier returns that with a small wave.

Pulling into a parking spot in front of the restaurant Tamika glances at the time 7:55pm not too early and definitely not late, she glances at herself in her rearview mirror and quickly applies a bit of clear gloss to compliment her natural makeup. As she enters the restaurant she notices a familiar face, its Xavier, shit this is bad.