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“Y ou’ll be great. Don’t stress. It’s just a first date. Those are always awkward anyway,” Linden told her.

“I think it’s too soon. What am I even doing here?” she asked. “I’m still figuring out what all this means, and now, I’m on a date.”

“Remember, it doesn’t have to go beyond dinner. That’s all this is: it’s a dinner with a woman you’ve found attractive. You took your step one a good twenty years ahead of me. For what it’s worth, I’m proud of you for going for this, Ash.”

“You sound like my mother. Don’t do that.”

“I sound nothing like Mrs. Hahn. She’s got that disapproving mom voice thing that all mothers get the moment the first baby pops out. I don’t have that. Don’t intend on getting it, either,” Linden said. “We’ll be right over there.”

“Why did I invite everyone I know to a date?”

Asher looked over at two tables that had been pushed together. Melinda and Kyle were already seated across from one another. Monica and Bridgette had just arrived and were in the process of sitting down. Sophie and Jill were sitting at the other end of the table. Sophie was staring at her phone, undoubtedly texting her girlfriend, and Jill was looking over at them. Asher knew why she’d done this, why she’d asked Emily out so soon.

Linden had gone on a lunch date with Jill. Hearing that Linden was going to test those waters, as she had put it, had Asher wanting to go out and meet someone for herself. She couldn’t even lie to herself about that. When Linden and Jill had shown up at NOLA Guides, talking about another date, Asher had decided that yes, she would go through with this. Even if Emily turned her down, she was going to reach out to another woman. She’d discovered this thing about herself, and she needed to give it a try since Linden wasn’t an option for a variety of reasons.

“You said it was okay that they all knew,” Linden said.

“It is. I just didn’t think they’d all show up. All I did was send an SOS text that I was nervous, and now, they’re all here.”

“Showing their support. But we’re staying completely out of the way.” Linden pointed at the table where they were sitting. “Your booth is around the corner. We can hardly see you from there. We’ll just be getting a meal, like you and Emily. Okay? If she turns out to be crazy or a bitch, text me. I’ll be right over.”

“Okay. I think you should go now,” Asher suggested. “She’ll be here any minute.”

“Yeah. Good luck, okay?”

“Thanks,” she said without emotion.

Linden left her at the bar and walked over to the table. Asher moved with her glass of wine toward the booth she’d reserved and sat down, waiting for her first-ever date with a woman. Her phone buzzed in her purse then. Expecting it to be Emily saying that she was canceling or running late, she pulled it out and rolled her eyes when she saw about four texts from her friends in a group chat.

Melinda Andrews : Good luck!

Kyle Schafer : We’re here if you need us.

Bridgette Musgrave : Message, and we’re there, okay?

Sophie Santiago : You’ve got this, girl. Just be yourself.

Asher smiled at the phone and locked it back up, tucking it into her purse again.

“Asher?”

Asher looked up when she heard her name and saw the woman from the profile photo standing in front of the booth.

“Emily?”

“Yes, hi,” Emily replied with a kind smile. “So nice to meet you in person.”

“Yes, it is,” she said with a smile, too.

Emily was even more attractive in person. She looked exactly like her profile photo, which, according to Linden, was a modern miracle, and she was dressed impeccably in a light-gray business suit with a white button-down beneath the jacket. Her short heels were black with silver buckles, and her bag appeared to match them. It was last-season and looked worn, but Asher knew it was expensive, even if she’d bought it at an outlet mall this season.

“Sorry, I’ve never…” Asher laughed. “Should I stand? Hug you? Shake your hand?”

Emily laughed lightly and said, “New to the whole app thing?”

“Yes,” she replied.

“How about I just sit down, and we avoid the whole ‘will she shake my hand, hug me, or kiss me on the cheek’ awkwardness?”

“That sounds amazing,” Asher replied with a chuckle. “Sorry.”

Emily sat down across from her and placed her purse at the end of the booth.

“It’s okay. These things are always awkward.”

“You do this a lot?”

“I joined the app about six months ago. I’ve been on about ten of these first dates since.”

“Wow. Really? Nothing has panned out?” she asked, looking down at her glass. “I’m being rude. I got here early, so I ordered myself wine at the bar, and I didn’t know what you’d want.”

“That’s okay. I’ll wait until the waiter gets here,” Emily said. “And no, nothing has panned out yet.”

“That’s not very encouraging, is it?” Asher asked.

“Well, the fact that I’ve had ten women interested in at least a first date was encouraging for me . After my divorce, I never thought I’d date again. I’m almost forty, was with my ex for fifteen years and married to her for seven, so there’s a lot of baggage there. I know that’s not very encouraging for you to hear, though.” The woman laughed a little.

“I get it. My longest relationship doesn’t even compare to that – it was about ten years ago – and I still have baggage from it,” she said.

“Yeah?”

“We were together for about three years. We lived together and were in the process of buying a house, planning to get engaged and taking all those steps. Thankfully, before we closed on the house, I found out that he’d been seeing someone else for the past year.”

“No… Really?”

“Yes. Worse yet was that he didn’t tell me.”

“You found out?”

“No, she told me,” Asher replied.

“No!”

“She showed up at our front door. She hadn’t known about me. She’d gotten suspicious when they’d started talking about living together, and he was non-committal. She had figured out that I existed and actually apologized.”

“Well, at least she wasn’t a home-wrecker.”

“She was also pregnant,” Asher added.

“What? Oh, my God!”

“I know,” Asher said before lifting her wineglass to her lips. “Three months along. She hadn’t told him yet. I ended it that day. He went to her. She ended things, too.”

“What happened after that?”

“She had the baby. A little boy. He’d be about seven or eight now. We had a loose friendship for a while there. I went to the baby shower, actually, but she moved to Oklahoma after he was born to be closer to family.”

“Wow!”

“So, see? Baggage,” Asher said.

“Well, yeah, but that’s not your fault. He cheated.”

“I’m really mostly over it, but I will admit that because of that and the fact that I had no idea, I’m a little less trusting than I probably would have been otherwise. Probably not the right thing to say on a first date, huh?”

“No, I understand. My ex-wife didn’t cheat. It just didn’t work out with us anymore. I don’t think I’ve ever been cheated on, at least that I know of, but I can understand how that would impact your future trust in relationships.”

Asher smiled over at her, liking Emily so far. When their waitress arrived, she took Emily’s drink order, and Asher ordered them an appetizer. She had skipped lunch and was starving now, so even though Linden had suggested skipping straight to entrées and only ordering dessert if Asher really liked the woman, she needed something to eat with this wine. When the waitress left them alone, Emily leaned forward over the table and clasped her hands on top of it.

“So, I noticed you mentioned that your ex was a man, and you don’t have anything in your profile as far as labels go. I’m just curious, and I might be prying.”

“Oh,” Asher said.

“I’m not one of those lesbians that only dates lesbians or has a problem with bisexuality or pansexuality or anything else,” Emily added.

“That’s good because I’m really new to all of this,” she said. “I don’t have a label for myself just yet.”

“Really new to which part?”

Asher cleared her throat and replied, “Dating women.”

“Oh, okay,” Emily said.

“Is that okay?”

“Sure. I don’t have a problem with anyone’s journey. We’re all different, right? My ex, for example, knew she was gay when she was twelve years old. I was still playing with Barbie dolls at that age, and she knew she liked girls.” Emily laughed a little. “I didn’t figure it out until college, and that was after a woman kissed me at a party, and I was floored by how good it felt compared to the boys I had kissed before that.”

“I’ve only ever dated men,” Asher shared. “My most recent ex was also a man.”

“So, what had you thinking about dating women, if you don’t mind me asking?”

Asher couldn’t tell her date that it was watching her best friend kiss another woman.

“I’m a wedding planner. Well, you know that; it’s in my profile. Anyway, I worked a wedding recently where the bride got drunk before the ceremony and said a lot of things she probably shouldn’t have told her wedding planner. Her fiancé and now husband had cheated. She had cheated on him, too. They didn’t love each other and were only getting married because of their families. It was sad, to be honest, and I realized that I didn’t see a future with my boyfriend, so I ended things with him.”

“And decided to go out with a woman?” Emily asked.

“Not exactly. I had been thinking about that for some time. My best friend came out recently, and she’s been on a journey of her own. I think it inspired me to do some self-reflection, and when I did that, I finally let it in: I’m attracted to women, too. These past few days, I’ve gone back through my life with a fine-tooth comb, and it’s like I can see it now. I never noticed it before, but I can see it now. My friend in high school, who I thought was pretty. A few women in college whom I’d stared at in class or on campus. I just hadn’t put it together before.”

“Past few days?”

“Yeah,” Asher said.

“So, this is very recent, then?”

“Yes,” she replied honestly. “The wedding I mentioned was this past weekend.”

“Ah,” Emily let out and leaned back. “So, am I the first woman you’ve ever been on a date with?”

“Yes,” Asher said.

“Wow,” Emily replied. “I guess I hadn’t thought about that.”

“Sorry. I didn’t know how to put that in my profile. And you messaged and asked if I wanted to meet, so–”

“No, it’s fine. I just…” Emily sighed. “There’s something I didn’t put in my profile, either.”

“Oh?” Asher took a drink of her wine.

“I have a daughter. She’s ten years old.”

“Oh,” Asher repeated.

“I’m not looking for a replacement mom for her. My ex and I share custody. We’ve been divorced officially for over a year and separated for two years before that. We’ve managed to keep things amicable, but I do have primary custody. My daughter is with a sitter right now, but she’s with me all but every other weekend and some holidays.”

“I see,” Asher said.

“I don’t put it in my profile because– Well, maybe I should…” Emily seemed to be considering something. “I don’t want to lie to people, but I might be going about this the wrong way.”

“Meaning, you should put it in your profile?”

“Maybe. I don’t know. I don’t want to attract a woman who’s just looking to be a mom to my kid. I want a relationship and everything that comes with it.”

“I understand.”

“But I feel like when I reveal that I’m a parent and that I have my daughter with me pretty much all the time, that also changes things for my dates.”

“I can see that,” Asher said.

“Has it changed things for you?” Emily asked just as her wine was brought to the table.

“I’m a little surprised, yes. And I probably shouldn’t be. I suppose no one puts every single detail of their life on their profile. I didn’t put that I’d never been on a date with a woman before on mine.”

“How do you feel about things now that you know?”

“Well, I can’t say I plan on being a mom of any kind,” Asher replied.

“That wouldn’t be a need with me,” Emily assured. “Like I said, my ex and I have it pretty well in hand when it comes to our daughter. She’s at that age where she has activities now, and we work out who takes her and picks her up. We have a family calendar, and I have regular babysitters for dates. My ex does, too. When she can, she watches her for me when I have plans. It’s a system, and it works.”

“That’s great that you’ve managed to make things work,” Asher said.

“But you’re no longer interested?”

“I’m so new to all of this,” Asher said. “I wasn’t thinking about meeting a woman who had a child. I don’t know that that’s something I want right now. I’m sure I wouldn’t be meeting her unless something serious were to happen, but it’s just not something I’m interested in.”

“I see,” Emily replied and took a long drink from her wine. “I think I’m going to change my profile.”

“That might be a good idea.”

“Eleven dates, and I’ve only had one second date. That woman wanted to see pictures and only talk about my daughter. She hadn’t been able to have kids herself and was planning on adoption before she met me. I got a weird vibe that our possible relationship would be about my daughter.”

“That sucks,” Asher said genuinely.

“Well, we have already ordered. Do you maybe want to see about being friends over dinner instead?”

“Sure,” she replied with a smile.