When my best friend Mia set me up on a blind date, I didn’t know what to expect. Eric showed up with roses and a small gift — a keychain

with my initial. At dinner he was charming, attentive, and insisted on paying the bill. I left thinking it might have been one of my best first dates.

The next morning, my phone buzzed. Expecting a sweet text, I opened it to find a professionally formatted invoice.

Eric had listed every gesture as a “service,” complete with charges and expectations: roses, gift, opening doors,

even a “guaranteed second date.” At the bottom it read: Payment is expected in full. No refunds.

Stunned, I sent a screenshot to Mia, who was equally shocked. Her boyfriend Chris, Eric’s longtime friend,

decided to respond with a fake invoice of his own — charging Eric for “wasting my time,” “introducing him to a wonderful woman: permanent block,”

and “pretending to be a gentleman: public apology.” When Eric fired back angry texts, I sent a thumbs-up emoji and blocked him.

Later, Mia laughed, “At least we’ll have this story forever.” I kept the keychain

— not as a reminder of Eric, but as the funniest souvenir from the strangest date of my life.