I fish out the packet of doughnuts from my reusable marks and spencers bag and hand them over to Henry whose face lights up at the sight of them, "I'll put the kettle on, you can get into something more comfortable."

He knows me so well as he shuts the door, leaving me to go change into something more comfortable. When I get into my flat, I pull off my black boots and nice coat. The jeans needed to go. I unzip them as I walk to my room to find a pair of old leggings and a t-shirt. I switch out of my date outfit with ease and choose to take my grey fluffy gown to go next door since it is nippy and I have no idea if Henry has his heating on right now.

I don't even need to knock on my door as Henry opens, waiting for me with a green mug. He hands the mug to me and ushers me inside. Our flats are the exact same as each other except he has less furniture. While I decided to have a TV and sofa, Henry has an office desk and desktop area set up with large screens for his work. His set-up reminds me of Charlie, the gamer, causing me to frown. I know Henry is a programmer and not a crazy gamer.

"What did my desktop do to offend you this time?" Henry asks while opening the doughnuts, we were way past pretending to be polite neighbours who did not steal each other's food on a regular basis. We once had an argument if his screen is big enough to be a small TV. After a good search, it turns out that I was in fact correct. He added another screen to his collection that was just a few inches smaller after that so it didn't qualify as a 'fake TV', my words.

I sip the tea that is made just the way I love it and take a seat on the L-shape sofa he has next to his desk setup, kicking off my shoes. Henry grabs a doughnut, messing sugar everywhere and joins me on the sofa on the opposite end. We don't talk, just take our time to enjoy our cup of tea. If I could just say at this moment for the rest of the time, I think I would be happy with it.

It is only when I get up to grab a doughnut does Henry break the silence, "So when are you going to tell me why you weren't here this morning when I came to return your sugar?"

Henry is privileged to know about my dating life because I just need someone close to make sure that I actually return alive from my dates. Who knows where the next serial killer might be looking for their victims? I usually gave him the heads up when I went out at night and on multiple other occasions that warrant someone to know where I am.

"I went on a date with Charlie," I explained. I rather tell him than Ava. It was just easier to talk to someone who is right here instead of someone over facetime.

"Who is Charlie now? I don't remember that dude." Henry takes a big sip of his tea, gulping it down while waiting for more details from me. I didn't turn around, pretending to be extremely interested in which doughnut I was going to pick like it was a variety packet when in fact they were all sugar ring doughnuts.

"He is someone who I matched with last night."

"And he was perfect so you plotted how to meet him within the next 12 hours? When's the wedding? Tomorrow night?" he jokes, little does he know he is not too far from the truth when it comes to the wedding party. The looming issue I am trying my best to pretend doesn't exist for a few minutes.

"Far from it. It is a long story but long story short, Charlie is a gamer that gets mommy to vet his dates on tinder and he was bribed into a date with me in by his mommy with a keyboard." I sit down, curling up on the sofa in my corner. I think I literally own this corner with the amount of time I spend in it.

"Wait, are you serious?" He pauses, unsure of whether I was being sarcastic or telling him the truth. I suppose the truth does sound a little farfetched.

"Yes," and my reply is all Henry needs to burst into laughter. My dating life has really reached a new level of shambles. His laughter was contagious because after a few seconds I found myself smiling at how ridiculous Charlie's life must be. He has to be at another level to have his mum on Tinder of all places looking for dates for him. I watch as Henry tries to slyly wipe a tear from his eye when he thinks I am not looking and I pretend to not see.

"So how long did your date even latest?" Henry wants more details and he is not afraid to ask for them. I suppose a failed date like this does make a good story to tell my friends even if it is a little fresh and I am not even sure if I have fully processed the date.

"A whole cup of coffee."

"That has got to be your record." Henry leans back, looking at the ceiling as if he is recalling my previous bad dates.

"Well I was talking to mommy dearest so maybe I should've gone out for coffee with her instead. Maybe I could've made new friends," I jest. It makes so much sense though. I got along with her so well, it's a shame her relationship with her son is a huge red flag that no one could ignore even if they tried.

"That's a plan. You better message her on tinder before he can unmatch," Henry joins, grinning at the thought. Imagine making friends with your tinder date's mum. That sounds like one of those wild threads on Twitter.

I burst his bubble before it can go further, "I deleted tinder just before you stole my doughnuts."

"Let's recap, you went on a speed date with Charlie the red flag and deleted tinder in a matter of 12 hours, now you got to tell me what life-changing event you went through between the time I borrowed your brown sugar and now," Henry demands. He stretches and places his empty blue mug on his desk, then folds his arms to give me his full attention.

I sigh loudly, looking into my quarter mug of tea like it will give me the answers to all my problems. Henry is a better option than well my mom and Ava. Maybe he will be able to help me out, "So do you remember my friend Ava?"

"Which one is that?" he asks as if I have an abundance of friends I still talk to. As the years' pass, friends drift away. I finish my tea, which was now luke warm and starting to taste a little gross.

"The ballerina? She is with my ex, James?"

"Yeah, how could I forget when you put it that way." Perhaps one day I confessed to him that everything is now super awkward. I love Ava but sometimes James and her are a little too close. One day he surprised her while we were having brunch. Henry helped me come up with a fake emergency to escape. It is probably one of the reasons he knows so much about them, well except their names.

"Well she is getting married," I continue, now that we were both on the same page. I get up to put my mug in the sink and turn around from across the room to see if he has figured it. He has not put two and two together.

"Oh, that's nice to who?" Henry was not following and lost interest, checking his phone, as soon as the wedding was mentioned. What is it with weddings that make men tune out or run away?

"To James." This catches his attention as he drops his phone onto his lap, looking at me. Neither of us expected them to stay together for so long. I also neglected to tell Henry they got engaged since I was ignoring the whole thing like bad weather that will pass. It did not pass, it just got worse.

"I see and this has you chasing guys because–?" He tries to link the Charlie disaster with the wedding as I sit back down.

"I need a plus one for the wedding."

"I am sure you can survive a day or even less without one," he relaxes, thinking he has it all figured out. Far from it. If it was just a simple problem, I would've had the same simple solution, I like to think.

"That's the thing, it's not a few hours or a day. It's a whole week, in a foreign country, in South Africa."

Henry whistles, "that's got to be expensive."

"Ava is footing the bill but that's beside the point. I can't spend the whole week getting pitied looks from everyone. That's just so, so urgh." My overthinking thoughts are stuck in my throat. I already said too much. Henry doesn't push for anymore, as understanding dawns on him. He moves to sit next to me, wrapping one arm around me to give me a half hug.

"We will find someone in time," he reassures me. His voice is easy to believe if I didn't know any better. Time was running out as we sat here and spoke. I might as well give up and just brace myself for a week of pity and sun.

"I need a man by tomorrow." Where can I find a man?

"Tight deadline," Henry mutters.

Oh fuck.

Why didn't I think of this before?

Henry is a man. 

~*~ 

Do you enjoy tea time with your friends?

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