Note from the author: This book was first published in 2012, and updated in 2017. It's available worldwide in ebook and print. Link to purchase in "External link." Thank you for reading!

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The second date was worse, if that was even possible.

Dinner was at an Italian restaurant owned by one of Anton's friends. I didn't mind that he took the lead on the choice again, because I'd heard good things about the place anyway and wanted to try it. It was also a quick walk from work, and I knew the neighborhood well enough to make a quick getaway if I needed to.

Halfway through probably the best ravioli I'd ever had, I saw something across the room that bothered me. I saw the girl that one of my closest friends was dating, and she was with another guy.

It was definitely her. I wasn't imagining it, and when her dinner companion kind of nuzzled her neck, it became clear to me that it wasn't a casual meal.

Now see, this was the kind of thing I never wanted to see or find out, because I knew exactly what I was going to do. And people never liked it. Anton kept taking trips from our table to speak to his friend, and other friends, so I had time to slip out and give her a piece of my mind.

Eventually, despite being away from our table half the time, Anton noticed that I seemed preoccupied.

"Is the pasta that bad? Because we can have them do it again," he offered, half joking.

"No, it's all right," I said. "It's really good."

"More wine?"

"No," I said quickly, knowing that he'd probably be away for five minutes again once I asked for a refill. "I needed to get something off my chest. And now I have. I should be okay."

"I'm sorry. Are you sick? Should I get you something, like for a headache?"

I wished he would stay put. But I wasn't in the mood to be charming. "If you found out that your friend's girlfriend was cheating on him, what would you do?"

That got him to sit down. "I wouldn't say anything."

"What if your friend finds out anyway and gets mad at you for not saying anything?"

"I usually let my friends make their own mistakes. I get to sit back and laugh."

"I'm not kidding," I said. "Because I'm the type who would say something. I would tell him about her, so he doesn't stay in the dark about something this important to him."

"I'm assuming this has happened before?"

"Kind of. Not necessarily the cheating, but the saying something that someone doesn't want to hear, yes."

A waiter refilled our glasses of water without needing Anton's intervention, which was apparently possible, and for that I was glad. He barely noticed the waiter as he searched my face, probably realizing that I was taking this seriously. "So you don't think that kind of information is none of your business, and that two people in a relationship should figure out their issues themselves?"

I shook my head. "My loyalty is to my friend. If I know something, I'll say it."

"Have you ever been in a relationship?"

My heart sped up, defensive. "No."

"Interesting. Because couples tend to know they're in trouble even before someone tells them, you know? If you leave them alone long enough, things will happen according to nature—"

"I don't believe that," I said. "Then how do you explain how people get blindsided when their relationship ends? Because that happens. A lot."

He shrugged. "They willingly live in denial. You can't really keep a secret if you're as close as you're supposed to be, in a relationship."

"I've heard that you haven't been in one for a while," I said.

"Maybe I don't want anyone messing with my secrets."

"Ugh. This fear of commitment by a twenty-something male is so cliche. I'm not even talking about relationships—I asked you about how you would show your loyalty to a friend. On principle I would tell him if I knew anything that would affect his relationship, because I don't want anyone lying to my friend."

"I'm thirty," Anton reminded me, unfazed. "And look—I don't mean to say you're wrong. I'd actually like to have you watching out for me, if this is how you are. I'm saying I'd probably mind my own business."

Instead of responding, I angrily gulped down my water. At the time, I pretty much ruled out any future with this guy. How could we last, when we disagreed on something as fundamental to me as this? But whatever, I probably wasn't meant for Anton anyway.

Later, he confessed that this was when he started to like me. So what do I know about anything?