<div class="floatleft">(https://i.pinimg.com/564x/09/4d/5b/094d5b142474cf8e2ccb68f67d7c4034.jpg)</div><strong>Name:</strong>Mark Watson (https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=308599.msg15011290#msg15011290)<br/><strong>Age:</strong>26<br/><strong>Sexuality:</strong>Hetero<br/><strong>Hometown:</strong>Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada<br/><strong>Date/Time:</strong>2 July, 2019, early afternoon<br/><strong>Location:</strong>Restaurant - Lunch date<br/><strong>Wearing:</strong><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Suit As Pictured</div><div class="spoiler_body">(https://proxy.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fbeardresource.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2016%2F07%2Fbeards-and-suit.jpg&amp;f=1)</div></div><br/><strong>Coupled with:</strong>No one as yet<br/><strong>Tagging:</strong>Grace<br/><br/><br/><hr/><br/>He stayed silent as she spoke, doing his level best to look calm and not appear intimidating or threatening.  He didn't like Grace at this point but that didn't mean she should feel scared of him...because that would indeed make him garbage.  He didn't know her.  There had been no opportunity for that but he could see that she was upset and that made him feel bad.  He probably would have been better if she had told him to go fuck himself or argued with him.<br/><br/>“Now, hold on. That’s not fair. You’ve said a lot to me just then and I feel that I deserve at least a chance to respond. Don’t you?”   Now it was her turn to want a chance.  A chance that she never gave him at the start of the date.  There was no sense in continuing an argument however justified he felt. He nodded his head slightly and stepped out of the elevator when she asked him if he would.  What he was learning was that Grace had a way of hearing things the way she perceived them and not the way they were actually said.  She wasn't alone in that.  Many, many people were like that and in his job people lived and died on the clarity of conversation.  You meant what you said.  Period.   She framed it as "When you suggested that I go..." , which was entirely not what he said.  After she spoke of having a connection with some guy named Corey, he asked her if she needed to leave and go be with Corey.  If not then he and Grace could talk.<br/><br/>It was this kind of misinterpretation that contributed to why he simply wasn't in successful relationships with women.  It was like a splinter in his brain.<br/><br/>He exhaled slowly and nodded his head slightly as she continued.  She could interpret it as him agreeing with her but at the current point he wasn't exactly invested in her being crystal clear on what he thought or felt.  He did tuck away the information about some manner of possible alliance with Elsa?  Grace didn't know he had already selected Elsa for a date but if Grace and Elsa were close.  He would need to be careful what he said to Elsa as well?  Or possibly Grace would return to the villa after the date and tell Elsa what happened and then it would be date number two that was a disaster?<br/><br/>This whole thing sucked.<br/><br/>She was making an attempt now and he certainly didn't want to be accused of doing the same thing he just accused her of doing.  She wanted to sit and eat...now.<br/><br/>Now...he didn't want to sit and eat.  He wasn't even sure he wanted to talk.<br/><br/>She could see him chew on his upper lip a moment just beneath the moustache...thinking.  Exhaling and giving her a tired and conciliatory smile.<br/><br/><em>"Okay...so if we're going to be transparent. "</em>, he nodded his head slightly.<em>"Which I think is very much the best way to go."</em>He kept his voice calm...there was no chance of him yelling at this point but he didn't want to upset her further.<em>"I'm not perfect Grace.  I wouldn't even call myself a particularly good guy.  I keep social situations to a minimum because of my lifestyle but also to avoid situations just like this one."</em>He paused and gave her a slightly more relaxed smile.<em>"Well...not like THIS one here and now but about avoiding misunderstandings.  I'm not saying this is wholly your fault."</em><br/><br/>He sighed...<br/><br/><em>"You want to talk to me now.  After I was an asshole to you.  If the people on this show were good at navigating relationships then they wouldn't be on this show.  So while I was nervous before...I could work around that.  You know...  I have a date with a beautiful woman that I don't know, nervous?  But now?  I'm just uncomfortable and I don't feel like sharing anything about myself with you."</em>