Back on Bumble
Tobob matched with AC on Bumble (which he reinstalled after a short break) on a random Tuesday, 16th July 2024. He swiped right because of a picture of her wearing an adorable Fantastic Mr. Fox costume (which Tobob thought was a cat) and a scream for the ages playing tennis. AC made the first move by asking, “Fave weird UK thing?” Tobob was intrigued and replied, “Most ridiculous stereotype about Germans that you hope is secretly true?” To his surprise, completely against dating app convention, she answered right away. And Tobob was hooked.
The Messaging Marathon
Over the next two weeks, they exchanged tons of messages on an almost daily basis, sharing personal stories, opinions, and DIY-related flirting. “You’re meant to be wooing me” became Tobob’s favourite recurring message from AC when he shared a ridiculous, not very flirty tidbit. After asking twice for a date, AC finally agreed on the third try. Tobob accidentally implied he wanted to take her on holiday, but was relieved when she agreed as she understood what Tobob meant by “mini-holiday” (an afternoon off).
The First Date
The date took place on Friday, 2nd August 2024. Tobob had created a website for AC (after accidentally committing to it whilst flirting with her) that contained the plan and a row of totally not fake reviews of former dates praising Tobob’s many qualities. The first stop was Clays, a virtual clay pigeon shooting place. Tobob had picked an activity that both he and AC were supposed to be new to and supposedly equally bad at. Unfortunately, Tobob turned out to be a natural and completely battered AC in all competitions bar one (called ‘Piracy’). Tobob immediately regretted picking this activity. Sure, he wanted to impress AC, but not crush her spirits like this.
Luckily, the bar provided a free shot of a random red concoction that lightened the mood (and AC wasn’t a sore loser after all). Tobob made it up to her at dinner by taking her to a fancy Italian restaurant, Luca. He remembered from their Bumble conversations that AC liked Mediterranean and fancy Italian food, and Luca was one of his favourite places. Match made in heaven! To impress AC (and treat himself after two hard weeks at work), he insisted on ordering the chef’s menu including the wine pairing. The food was delicious, the atmosphere al fresco, but the wine turned out to be quite intoxicating, resulting in both of them getting drunker and drunker as the evening progressed. AC even ended up yawning three times throughout dinner, surely due to the wine and not the boredom instilled in her by Tobob.
The Goodbye
After dinner, Tobob happily walked AC to her tube station before heading to his train station. He presented her with a participation trophy of said earlier activity (the trophy was a pin badge of the UK and German flag) but didn’t dare make a forward move given the drunken state of them both. He hugged AC goodbye, and headed into the night, hoping for another date (which was scheduled just a few minutes later).
For once, Tobob felt relieved that a date had finally not ended in disaster like the others.
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