Readers sometimes share their Charlotte dating stories with us. Here’s one of them, as told to the editor:
“This is the worst first date I’ve ever been on,” Nikki began. She described a first date that ended in one person moving way too fast — and it wasn’t her.
“The date itself was actually really good. It was after the date that I said ‘aw naw, this ain’t gone work’ and had to block him,” she said.
Nikki, a 31-year old Charlotte native, had been working Uptown at a tech company for a year. One day, in the same building her company was located, she noticed an attractive man in the lobby.
“He was cute. I mean, like, fine fine.”
He smiled at her. After a few days, they saw one another again. They’d smile at each other, but never spoke.
‘I want to take you out’
Before long, they began to greet another with a casual “good morning” or “hey.”
It started to feel like their schedules were aligned. They’d see each other at the start of the day and again sometimes in the lobby heading to lunch or leaving the building at the end of the workday.
After a few weeks of casual greetings, the mystery man approached Nikki and introduced himself as Darius. After chatting for a few moments, he said he wanted to take her on a date.
Nikki accepted and they exchanged numbers.
Around midday the next week, they met in the lobby and walked to McCormick and Schmick’s, a seafood and steak chain in Uptown.
According to Nikki, the two had great conversation, a few laughs, and she really enjoyed the date.
If you’re ‘serious’
Afterward, as they walked back to their building, Darius asked, “so what do you think? Did you have fun?”
“Yeah, I did. I had a good time,” she responded truthfully.
Before she could say more, Darius spoke again. “Okay well if you’re serious having a good time, you need to focus on me.”
The charming, smiling “Southern gentleman” had disappeared and he was noticeably less relaxed. It caught her so off guard that Nikki thought he was joking. She didn’t know how to respond.
Outside their building, he stopped walking and turned to her.
He told her that if she wanted to get to know him, she would need to “cut off” anyone else. “You gotta be serious. You don’t need to be talking to other guys if you’re serious about us.”
Nikki felt uncomfortable, but didn’t want to the sudden tension to worsen. She thanked him for lunch and said she needed to get back inside for a meeting.
Moving forward
Before she had made it back to her desk, Darius had sent her a very long message explaining what he wanted her to do moving forward in their “relationship” as well as his “expectations” of her.
Nikki didn’t understand how he thought they’d gone from a casual first date to an exclusive relationship.
“He was doing too much. He got way too serious too fast,” she said.
“And it was so random, like, we barely even know each other, sir. Calm down,” Nikki continued, recalling how she felt.
Darius continued to text her that day — with no response — until she blocked him.
From that day on, she avoided him at all costs and hoped she wouldn’t have to speak to him again.
If you have a Charlotte dating story — whether good, bad, or in between — we want to hear it. Send it to us at editor@qcitymetro.com with “Datin’ Charlotte” as the subject line.
