First Date

John and Marie had agreed to meet at The Dandelion, a British pub on 18th Street, at 6pm on Friday.  John arrives first, at about 5:45.  He finds an empty table, and sits down.  A waitress comes over and gives him a menu.

Waitress:  Hi, how are you this evening? 

John: I'm good.  I'll have a Guinness.

The waitress arrives with a big mug of dark beer with a smile.  John nervously takes a sip.  Ah, nice.  He's not had a Guinness in a long time. 

Meanwhile, Marie is right outside the bar, and before she opens the door, she pauses and sighs.  She has a queasy feeling as she readies to open the door.  I wonder if this was a good idea, she asks herself.  Oh well, nothing to lose, I guess.  Try to keep an open mind, Marie.

John looks up to see Marie come through the entrance, and waves her over.

Marie:  Hey, how are you doing, John?

John:  I'm doing fine.  How about you, Marie?

Marie:  I'm fine.  Well, mostly I guess.  I have so much going on at work, it is crazy.  I snuck out of the office early today, I'll have you know! 

John chuckles. The waitress comes over and asks what Marie would like.  She orders a glass of white wine.

John: Thanks for popping out with me!  And sorry to hear that you are under a lot of pressure.  Too much stress is not a good thing.

Marie:  Yeah, no question about it.  But I have a couple of cases that are coming to trial soon.  The preparation is the most important part.  I have a little defense team for each case, and sometimes it's like herding cats.

John:  I can imagine.  Are you allowed to talk about any of the trial details?  I guess that stuff is confidential...?

Marie: Yes, it is confidential until after the trial.  But I will give you a hint about one of my cases.  Remember that bar fight in south Philly that involved a major leaguer?

John:  Sure, I saw that on the news.  Brian Carter, right?

Marie: Yup.  That's my case.  Unfortunately, that's all I can say about it now.

John: Understood.  It sounds like you actually enjoy being a lawyer, despite all the stress.  Am I right?

Marie:  Yes, I guess you can say that.  I've been doing it for 5 years now, and I think I'm in line for a promotion soon.  Depending on how my cases go, of course.  Once I get some seniority at the firm, I can pause and catch my breath.  But enough about me.  Tell me what you do, John.

John:  I work at Comcast, as you know.  Harry and I work in engineering.  We work mostly in R&D, but we do occasionally get involved in troubleshooting problems that are reported by our clients, especially for new features that we developed.

Marie:  I have Comcast cable TV at home.  What kind of features have you developed?  Would I recognize any of them?

John:  I think you might.  You know the voice search feature?  The blue button on the remote? Marie nods.  We worked on that feature from the beginning.  I hear it's pretty popular.

Marie:  Sure, I use that a lot.  Very cool!  You are quite the super geek!  You must have been a nerd in high school.  Anyway, it sounds like you are fairly happy in what you are doing too.  

John:  Yeah, I am.  I like technology.  Always have, really.  But, it's an interesting situation right now.  My boss told me she is leaving, and she said I should apply for her job.  So, I am mulling that over now.

Marie:  Wow, that sounds great.  I can understand that it would be an adjustment to become a manager, though.  That's something I think I'd like to try someday, but not right now.

John and Marie ordered some appetizers and continued to get to know each other for another 2 hours.  As they got ready to go their separate ways, Marie gave John a little hug and a kiss on the cheek.  John blushed.