Mauriah looked over the people that walked into the main room and silently judged them on how they dressed and carried themselves, sizing them up both as potential partners and rivals. She knew that she should feel bad for doing this, but she couldn't help herself. Everyone was here for the same reason and if multiple women attached to one man, it would be better to know what you were up to against. First, there was Maurice, and he was a blockhead. Next came in a girl with neck length brown hair, and a short black and white dress. She seemed lost and airheaded. Some guys liked that But the kind of man interested in that wouldn't be her type anyways. Then walked in a guy wearing a blue shirt and a face that reminded her of those monkeys with the really big noses. She stifled a laugh as a man who she recognized as being that bearded man from earlier approached her, his facial expression a bit critical looking before changing to something a bit more friendly. The laughing expression was still on her face, so she didn't have to try to smile at him. He introduced himself as Darren before taking a seat opposite of her.
Before she could reply, Wadsworth came in and fussed about the pairings, switching around some of the matched couples, but it didn't actually affect her or Darren at the very moment. He informed everyone that they would have 15 minutes with each man/woman here in this first round and then they were thrown to the dogs. It was around now that Mauriah realized that she had spent so much time picking out what to do here, she didn't actually prepare any conversation topics. Her mind seemed to freeze, but she couldn't just sit there in awkward silence so she just went with the first thing she could think of.
"So what do you do?" she stammered out, a nervous smile plastered on her face.
"I'm a physical therapist and personal trainer. What about you? I'm sure someone as vibrant as yourself lives a life full of exciting moments." He gave her a wide smile as he looked over her chosen outfit. Not his usual tastes in clothing but she seemed pleasant enough of a person so far (the whole two seconds that they'd been speaking). So that was good, right? He might be trying to lay on charm a little too thick but he was genuinely interested in even just making friendships while here even if it didn't lead to anything further.
"Hah, I wish my life was exciting as even this trip. I'm an architect for a firm in middling size. Most of my time is spent either answering emails, drawing, or arguing with developers." He seemed to be pretty naturally charming, the kind of guy who was able to make an awkward situation at the very least less awkward than it could be. That might be something you have to have to be a physical trainer. You probably see a lot of people in terrible shape and have to maintain a positive front about it.
"This trip is a hell of a thing, isn't it? Never once in my life did I imagine I'd be going on a singles' vacation. But an architect, that's impressive and admirable. Probably sounds more impressive since I don't do it for a living. I bet it has it's days where it tries your patience like any other job, right?" He chuckled and leaned back in his chair as he got more comfortable. This might not be too bad, he'd need to make a mental note not to judge the ladies by their clothing. "You said that your firm isn't huge, but is it based in one of the big cities or in a less hectic area?"
"My job really isn't very glamorous. You go to university and they give you this whole spiel about the grand history of architecture and fill your head with all these architectural principles. Then you get a job and your first client wants you to throw out all that good design in favor of creating three cookie cutter designs that they can mass produce and sell to naive homebuyers." It was around here that Mauriah realized she was beginning to rant and cut herself off. "Um. My firm is located in Norfolk, but we operate all around the state of Viginia. What about you?"
"I live in Washington State, a small place called Poulsbo. Got my own little office and training space there which is just starting to take off. Sounds like you kind of regret going to university, huh? There anything that you really enjoy in your work though? I'm sure you find little bits of joy in your day to day to make it through until finishing time." Well at least she was comfortable enough to ramble on and open up to him about something that was an important part of her life. So far so good. She was clearly intelligent, that was a plus in her favour. Things felt good so far, Darren just hoped they kept running this smoothly.
"I don't regret it one bit. It just gets irritating when people disregard professional knowledge. Imagine if people came up to you for weight loss training, but they wanted to do a diet of 3 buckets of fried chicken a day because it was popular and cheaper than buying fresh. It's something like that out in the suburbs." Things were going pretty well so far, but did Darren seem like dating material? At this point, probably not. Who knows, maybe something would change. It's only been about 3 or 4 minutes.
"Very good point, well put analogy." He chuckled and leaned back in his seat, his hands folding over his stomach as he considered what to ask her next. Mauriah was definitely attractive physically, not his usual type, but definitely good looking. She was smart and had a hell of a mind clearly but despite all these positives, he didn't quite feel that natural spark and flow with her. She'd be fun to get to know as a friend perhaps at the very least. "So what do you do in your spare time? Got any hobbies that you do or are maybe even interested in starting up?"
"I usually don't get too much free time, and I usually don't use it all that well. When I was younger I did some rollerblading, but you couldn't say that it was really a hobby or that I was much good at it." Some being maybe a couple hours a month. Younger being 8 years old when she got some used skates from a garage sale. Maurice got an oversized (for an 8 year old) skateboard from that sale and never used it except maybe once or twice.
"Ah, so if you don't have much free time I take it you don't often take holidays? Is this a rare occasion for you? The trip I mean, not the singles holiday. I think singles holidays are a new experience for everyone here." He let out a nervous chuckle as he realised he may have sounded a little assumptive and if she took his words the wrong way, well things might just not go so smoothly for much longer. He could kind of feel the conversation ebbing away though, she didn't really seem all that interested in getting to know him. Oh well, can't win them all.
"No, I don't really take vacations all that often. My job tends to have enough free time around actual holidays." Mauriah adjusted her sitting position to be a bit more relaxed. She really didn't know how to continue the conversation right now, and from the looks of it, neither did Darren. If this trend went on, it could end up with several minutes of just looking at one another. She drummed her nails lightly on the table a couple times, hoping that maybe she could think of something interesting, but alas, it would not be the case.
Well this had all the signs of going down the awkward route but Darren wasn't one to let that be the case if he could help it. He wracked his brain looking for a way to keep the conversation going even if it wasn't going to lead anywhere romantic. "So to save us both time, am I correct in assuming we don't see this going anywhere romantically in the future? Gotta admit, I'm a little bummed but you seem interesting and nice so perhaps we can just take off the date label and just have a general chat instead, like friends would? How about we talk about our families since we've covered work and recreation. That sound good to you?" Keeping his trademark smile on his face, Darren scratched his beard lightly on his left cheek and leaned back in his chair, one arm resting over the back as his other hand rested on the table. His fingers played with the condensation on his glass of water and he wished there was some wine right now.
"Seems that way," replied Mauriah, who took a sip of water. This guy was applying compliments down way too thick, and she didn't like it. It felt like he was trying to get on her good side so she'd be easily manipulated. That probably wasn't the case, but it was a feeling she couldn't really shake and it was rubbing her the wrong way. She tried to not show it; this was still a date after all. "You've already met my brother, Maurice. I don't know if you watch it, but he's told me that he's a professional wrestler now. I don't have any other siblings, but I do have a lot of extended family I don't know. I'll occasionally get a call, Facebook message or email from people whose name or face I don't recognize who claim to have met me when I was 2 and want me to come by some time. I never know how to respond."
"Oh yeah, that's your brother. Nah, I don't follow the professional wrestling much, not really my kind of thing." He folded his arms across his chest and tilted his head to one side as he considered Mauriah. She really didn't seem to be making much effort here and even after his polite let down she was rather curt and, it was probably just in Darren's head but, a little abbrassive too. This was going to be a long couple of minutes. "Yeah, can't say I understand that problem with distant relatives. I'm pretty close with all mine. Although it must be crazy uncomfortable having your brother here." Darren turned slightly in his seat to look at Maurice who was sitting with a young Asian girl, Leona if Darren recalled correctly. "Do you both get on very well? If that's too personal just say and I'll back off. Just trying to save us both sitting in awkward silence." He saw no need to lie in this kind of situation. He definitely knew this was going no where and he was pretty comfortable saying that it was because of her and not him. That lasted all of two seconds before he silently chastised himself. Don't judge a book by it's cover...
"It's not so bad if I pretend he's not here. It's not like we have to share a room like when we were kids. He talks in his sleep, you know. Not just like a word or two or some garbled mess, but he overpronounces things and says full senses. Once when we were 7 I went to see how far he would go, and ended up having a full conversation with him. I don't actually remember what we talked about, but I do remember when I asked him about it in the morning, he had no clue what I was talking about. He was like," Mauriah adjusted her sitting position, straightening her spine, puffing out her chest and crossing her arms in a way that clearly indicated she was imitating her twin brother's body language, "'What are you talkin' bout, Mauriah? I don't sleep talk.' So I recorded him the next night with a blank tape we had lying around and even after that he didn't want to admit I was right for 2 weeks." Around here it clicked that she still hadn't answered the rest of his questions and cleared her throat. "We used to be pretty close, but after my divorce I had to get away from the area, at least for myself, and I mostly fell out of touch with the rest of my family. He's probably happy to see me again, even if it is at a singles' vacation. He's kind of like a big dog in that way."
It was nice that she opened up when he asked her about her brother and he smiled as he nodded and listened to her story. She couldn't be as self absorbed as Darren was assuming she was. He felt pretty bad about that and grimaced a little at the thought. He had to laugh during her impersonation of Maurice as well and he could feel his shoulders shaking with each breath. It soon came to a stop when Mauriah mentioned she was divorced and Darren felt some sympathy towards her. He knew how hard separating from a marriage could be but at least she'd managed to get fully cut off from her ex. Something that Darren was still unsuccessful at doing.
"Understandable that you'd need your space during something so big in your life though. I actually--" The bell rang signifying the end of the fifteen minutes and Darren gave a happy little smile to Mauriah as he held his hand out towards her to shake it. "Oh, well look at the time, it has been a pleasure to meet you Mauriah. I hope I didn't irritate you too much. Thank you for talking with me." He gave a curt little nod of the head and took off to find his next date for the evening with a little wave back to Mauriah as he left the table.
"It's been a pleasure," Mauriah said, taking his hand lightly and shaking it twice. She crossed her legs and waited to see who she would get paired up with next.