HERE TO MAKE FRIENDS
My makeup was polished, but not too high maintenance; my hair effortlessly undone. I’d selected an outfit neither too basic, nor too challenging, a fragrance memorable, yet not overpowering, and my nails and tan were on point. As per first date procedure, I’d activated Find My Friend on my iPhone, which shared my location with my two besties, and I’d had a vodka soda to take the edge off. Yet here I was, standing in front of the mirror, second-guessing everything.
As someone whose job it is to have in-depth conversations with strangers, first dates don’t typically faze me. I know how to listen while formulating my next question, and I have a quick wit that’s conducive to good banter. Why the nerves, then? Because I wasn’t meeting someone with whom I hoped to spend the rest of my life, or even go home with at the end of the night. I was simply looking to make a new friend.
Sophie and I had matched on Bumble BFF — the platonic version of the popular dating app Bumble — about a week earlier. She was from Fort Lauderdale, Florida,, Sophie was, on the face of it, exactly what I was looking for. She obviously thought the same, because when I swiped right, we were an instant match.
