Blind Date

For a moment as he took a deep sigh he considered mentioning how he was essentially being blackmailed into a date, but he thought about it again. Anne, for all her faults, was well intentioned, trying to do him a favor and while it would cost him his evening in the company of whoever she thought was suited for him, he wasn't going to be doing much with his time anyway.
"Everything’s fine, just a little catch up over some work." he said, sitting up a little straighter and adopting his smile.
Charlene pursed her lips and eyed him with suspicion, "Mm, alright glad everything's okay."
She slinked away and Anthony unlocked his PC. So much for a quiet Friday evening, he thought.
The rest of the day proceeded by the books, up to and including Anne's 'spontaneous' check on how he was getting on, right on schedule he noted, and the day finally wound to a close.
Usually, he might have spent an extra hour or two at work, closing out projects so he wouldn't worry about them over the weekend, but for the first time in a long time, he had a date he had to prepare for.
During his commute home, coffee in hand he tried to think about the sort of woman someone like Anne would try to set him up with, but he just didn't know her well enough to begin piecing together a picture. Would she be older, one of Anne's friends? Would she be family? A daughter or niece maybe? Would she be quiet and reserved like Lucy, or something completely different? He had no idea and before he knew it his thoughts had carried him home.
Finding himself with about an hour and a half to kill before he had to go out he spent some time picking out his outfit, the same smart casual outfit, he realized once he was done, he had probably worn the last time he had gone to Quel's with work.
After he had done that he did the only other thing he could think of to do, he repeated his morning routine.
He shaved, washed, showered, dried and dressed, making himself as presentable as he could manage. He didn't hold high hopes for the date, in fact, it was practically a write-off, but he didn't see any reason not to at least show up looking his best.