So, who's in the mood for a good old-fashioned kidnapping story?

It's circa 2009... Blind date? I contemplate it for a few moments, doing the usual walking through the kitchen.. deciding whether I should go out, or just open the fridge and find a snack. I'm letting too much cold air out of our poorly stocked refrigerator when I decide, why not? I brush my hair, apply some shadow, gloss my lips and leave his info on a small piece of paper on the table.

I'm out of my element in his town so it's decided we will meet for coffee and then perhaps dinner. Awkward first hellos, and he tells me to get in his car and we'll head off to dinner. I was hesitant... maybe it was the busted primered car that gave it away.. but feeling judgmental about his vehicle, I decided I was being stupid and climbed in. What? We're not going to dinner? A bar? A hotel? No no no, this is not what I got myself into. "Actually, I think I'll just go home." But why isn't he stopping the car? Suddenly I'm told he's not going to let me go... At this point I was wishing I had 911 on speed dial, or one of those cat's that knows I'm in trouble and dials for me. I glance down at my purse on the floor of the car, knowing my phone is inside, and also knowing if I reach for it my only connection to anyone may be taken for me. I wonder if he has a weapon on him? Sizing him up I decide I might actually be stronger than he is. "Let me out." Silence. I'm told I don't have a choice and I'm going where he says. "Oh, is that so?" I realize that acting tough and using profanities is working pretty well, and plus this surge of adrenaline feels amazing! After some bantering, he must have decided I was too tough for him (or too boring), and decided not to murder me after all. He let's me out and now I'm on the side of a dark road in a town I don't know.

Thank God I stacked the dates that night! I call J. who I have also not met... boy am I smart or what? My hero! He saved me from this atrocious night. Coffee and ice-cream? What?! How did he know I was ready to throw myself into an emotional sugar binge. Taking separate cars was a given. I can barely understand him, but wowee he has the most gorgeous eyes. Plus, free ice-cream, I am in dreamland. This was a great turn around from the locked-in-the-car kidnapping an hour ago. After desert, he said something along the lines of, "Promise me I'll see you again."

Only now, I'm thinking that promise might not have been a good idea, since he mysteriously disappeared the next day... and received a call from his work a few days later informing me that they found his phone and I'm the last number... I guess my response to his plea to see me again should have been "Where, exactly?"