CHAPTER SEVENTY TWO – BAD DATES

A week later, still smarting from the disaster with Daniel, Rebecca found herself on another date. This time, she was at a quiet café (not her own, thankfully) with Michael, a shy man she had met through a mutual friend. Where Daniel had been overly confident and brash, Michael was the complete opposite. He sat across from her, barely making eye contact, his responses to her questions barely above a whisper. "So, Michael," Rebecca said, trying to draw him out, "what do you like to do for fun?" Michael shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Oh, um, you know... stuff." Rebecca waited for him to elaborate, but he just stared down at his coffee cup. "Okay... any particular kind of stuff?" she prompted. Michael shrugged. "Just... normal stuff, I guess." The conversation, if it could be called that, continued in this vein for the next hour. Rebecca found herself doing most of the talking, with Michael offering only monosyllabic responses or nervous laughs. By the end of the date, Rebecc