Amelia nervously adjusted her scarf, checking her image in her phone camera. Tonight was nerve-racking. Amelia had never been on a blind date before. Her co-worker, Sarah, had set her up on a date with a man named Thomas. Since Sarah knew that both of them shared a love for Italian food, she booked a table at a cozy Italian restaurant.

Butterflies fluttered in Amelia's stomach as she waited outside the restaurant. Minutes later, a tall figure arrived, waving excitedly. It was Thomas, a nice-looking man, she thought.

They greeted each other and approached the hostess. “Table for two. Thomas Pratt.”

Their table was near a window, perfect for people-watching. They exchanged friendly conversation, learning about each other's jobs and hobbies. Things were going well and the first-date jitters had passed.

Suddenly, however, a loud crash startled them. A clumsy server, balancing multiple plates, had tripped. Spaghetti went flying everywhere. Some red sauce got on Amelia’s blouse. Thomas was quite upset and stood up to say something to the waiter. But Amelia asked Thomas to please, sit down and don’t make a scene, everything was fine. Amelia excused herself and went to the restroom.

After rinsing out her blouse and drying it under the hand blower, Amelia returned to the table. But she was quite surprised to see that Thomas was no longer there. She asked the server if he had seen where Thomas went. “Yes,” the server said. “He went running out of the restaurant just a couple of minutes after you left the table.”

Amelia was a bit confused, but she sat at the table and waited to see if Thomas would return. If not soon, she would leave. She also noticed that nearly everything on Thomas’s plate was gone. It looked as if he had eaten everything in a hurry and left.

Even though it had only been a few minutes of waiting, it seemed like forever. Amelia decided to leave. She asked the server to bring her the bill. She began to wonder if this whole thing was a set up so that Thomas could get a free meal. But before the server arrived with the bill, Thomas came walking toward the table.

“I’m so sorry, Amelia. I went as fast as I could. The server was supposed to tell you I’d be right back.”

“It’s okay… but … you’re wearing a whole new set of clothes? What happened?”

“Well, I stood up to go check on you, and just as I did, that same server bumped into me. He spilled three glasses of wine down my front, and when I tried to catch my balance, I sat right down into my own plate. So I was covered head to toe with wine, red sauce, mashed potatoes, and gravy.”

Amelia tried not to laugh. “Oh no, that was terrible.”

“Yes, but I noticed a clothing store a few doors down when I first arrived. So I rushed over there to buy me some clean clothes. And by good fortune, I passed a cleaners along the way and I dropped off my dirty clothes. So you see 'all’s well that end’s well'”, he smiled.

They both looked at each other for just a tiny moment of silence, and then they burst out laughing at the same time. “Oh my, what a first date!” Amelia laughed. “I can’t wait to see what happens on our next date?”

“They’ll be another date then? Great!” said Thomas. “Let’s get out of here.”

“But you haven’t eaten your meal?” the server cried after them.

They both just waved good-bye to the server and rushed out the door hand-in-hand.