As a 28-year-old woman, TikToker Francesca (@bustdownfranniana) has experienced all the horrors of the modern dating scene, which is why she does not date anymore.
It all started when she matched with a guy on a dating app. His pictures seemed outdated and were of poor quality. One of his pictures showed him at a conference, which is the same conference she attends.
She assumed he must be in the same industry of work. That was the first thing they had in common, and it was what motivated her to continue pursuing the connection in the first place.
They began chatting, and she found out that he played pickleball at a park near her house. Francesca had a lot of friends who played there regularly, so she reached out to one of them and asked about this guy. Her friend told her that he seemed nice and funny.
So, Francesca exchanged phone numbers with this guy. He kept trying to plan a pickleball date, but she didn’t want to do a workout for the first date. Later, they talked on the phone.
Francesca couldn’t remember how old he was. When she asked him, he said he was 40. But after conducting a background search, his age was apparently 50.
Sometimes, the search isn’t entirely accurate, so she gave him the benefit of the doubt. During the phone call, he also told her that both of his parents died in a car accident when he was 14. She was a little shocked because both of her parents died when she was young as well.
He claimed that he could see himself falling in love with her, especially with all that they had in common. She saw this as a red flag, but in the moment, she simply laughed it off. Then, he tried to invite her over to his house. She declined because she didn’t even know him that well yet.
They planned to meet up to get a drink. On the day of the date, she woke up feeling ill. Around lunchtime, it was clear that she was getting sick.
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He got mad when she told him, but was still willing to go on the date. After his initial reaction, she already decided not to go on a second date with him.
He moved up the date and picked a place right across the street from him. He asked her to come over to his place first because he needed help picking out his outfit.
When she pulled up to his apartment complex, he came out wearing a long wool trench coat. He looked way older than his pictures.
Once she walked into this place, she was instantly creeped out. He poured her a glass of vodka. She asked for a lime, but his fridge was empty.
He played music to set the mood and tried to get her to dance with him in the kitchen. It was super awkward. He also kept trying to push more drinks on her.
At one point, she told him she was ready to go out. He went to the bathroom, and she happened to glance at his ID on the entryway table. It said he was 50 years old, so he had definitely lied about his age.
He was starting to get noticeably drunk as they walked six blocks to the bar. About halfway there, he chugged a big glass of vodka and threw the empty cup on the side of the road. They walked into a sushi restaurant because she at least wanted to get some food out of this.
“When we walked in the building, everyone was staring at us because I was dressed nice,” said Francesca. “I was dressed like I was going on a date, and this man looks old. Everyone’s just staring at us like we did not belong together, so I’m just already embarrassed in general.”
On top of that, he got into a tiff with another guy about taking his seat and took away the bartender’s tip because he was taking too long to serve them. Francesca did not want to be associated with him and kept trying to distance herself. He was clearly drunk.
He started crying about how alone he was. Then, he tried to make her lie down on the couch with him. Suddenly, he stopped crying and told her that she wasn’t his type because she was big, strong, and confident. He kept debating back and forth with himself whether he liked her or not.
Francesca wanted to leave, but she was scared of his temper. She went to the bathroom to try to figure out what to do. She decided to call an Uber and go straight home. However, they still hadn’t eaten, so they ordered food, and she ate before leaving.
By Emily Chan
Emily Chan is a writer who covers lifestyle and news content. She graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in... More about Emily Chan
