One Night Stand: Annabel Romanos

Annabel Romanos

My name is Annabel Romanos and I let The Stand set me up on a blind date.

Except for Carrie Underwood and sweating, I hate dating more than anything in the world. Having only dabbled in the oddly incestuous social life that our lovely university provides, I thought it might be an interesting experience to go on a date with a guy who did not already exist in my reality. I came to St Andrews to experience a life wholly dissimilar to my previous one, and I thought it would be a disservice to myself to not take up this odd opportunity.

I decided to go on a double date with one of my best friends, Kit Klaes, because there was no way in hell I was doing it by myself. I’m fragile. [Ed. Note: See Kit’s thoughts on the date here.]

Now on to the date. We laughed a little, we ate a little, we drank a little—ok, we drank a lot—and it was a hella ton better than either Kit or I expected it to be.

The nerves at first mutilated my quiet confidence, but as soon as we sat down, the conversation and the wine started to flow. Kittsie, being her usual fantastic self, was a talkative, non-awkward presence who helped me to relax and not be creepy. I do this weird thing where I can’t make eye contact with people when I’m nervous, or I do the complete opposite and make eye contact that is far too intense for the particular situation. But luckily I was able to keep my nervous behaviour to a minimum.

Our dates—Richard and Sam—were charming and easy to talk to, which allowed everything to run smoothly. The casual tone of the date, mixed with the super cool vibe that is One Under, made the experience something that neither Kittsie or I ever expected: fun.

The amount of ‘what if’s’ that ran through our heads before the date were quickly answered. ‘What if we hate them?’ We did not. ‘What if they hate us?’ If they did, they did not show it. ‘What if they order wine? I’m not cool enough for wine.’ They did order wine and it was great. There is no such thing as not being cool enough for wine. Silly me.

Basically, all of our fears and hesitations were put to rest almost immediately. Truth be told, the espresso martinis were probably the highlight of the evening. It’s hard to beat espresso and alcohol.

Was it a love match? Probably not.

Will we see each other again? I mean, it is St Andrews, so probably.

Overall, I am so happy that I went and I got to share the weirdness with Kit, Richard, and Sam. I was asked to rate the date on a scale of 1 to 10 and that freaks me out, so I am just going to say that I really enjoyed the two hours that we spent together. It was quite pleasant (Kit told me this translates to around a 7/10.)

Would I go on another blind date? I don’t know. But I do believe that everyone should go on at least one during his or her dating career. It’s a good reminder that at the end of the day, it’s ok to be scared, and it’s ok to want to find someone to be afraid with.

Interested in your own One Night STAND? Email [email protected] with your name, age, degree, and what you’re looking for in a date (include gender preferences)!

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