Datetrepreneur- The Revisiting- By Caxton Valentine

“Babe, I love you so much. We were meant for each other. Nothing will ever keep us apart. You and I are for life!”

“Baby, that dress you were wearing the other night was perfection.”

“My beautiful queen, you are of the most magnificent elegance.”

“Baaaaaby, give me one more chance!”

“Before I screwed things up, I could envision myself marrying you. Felicia, will you marry me?”

Ugh, none of these will get her back. Hell, at this point, I don’t know what will get her back. I should never have been deceitful about myself; my personality, job, and way of life were all lies, and I sold her an illusion. I thought I was doing the right things, being what one would call a high-value man, a man of substance, a man that women would be attracted to. I thought the teachings I studied for years were right, but I was wrong. Felicia was right; who am I? Who is Zachary...

It was a Friday evening, weeks since I had last seen her. The last time she and I spoke, it ended with what was said in the last few words above. I headed home that night, acting unaffected, but I was devastated. Years of working on myself to find the right person for me came to an end within a night. And yet I found myself checking my phone multiple times, hoping Felicia would reply.

Felicia was the perfect woman for me. She was intelligent, educated, beautiful, shared similar hobbies, and knew how to shine light in a room. Both of us loved traveling, and so I remember my first line learned from the dating coaches at Datetrepreneur. I was on a trip to California, and upon arrival, saw her standing by the baggage area. She was dressed comfortably and had the most magnificent, intoxicating eyes.

I remember saying to her smoothly, “A woman with eyes as stunning as yours shouldn’t be waiting by herself.” After that, the rest was history.

Now, here I am, hoping for a response. I wanted to reach out to my former coach, Nathan, for advice, but their advice was not for lasting relationships. Looking back, I was taught to be a manipulator, to say anything to get a woman to fall for me. Nathan was the main guy, but there were other coaches under him- Josh, Marcus, Gabriel, Natasha, and Serena.

Each coach had one objective and mission, which was to teach men struggling to find themselves to get the perfect woman/partner. They justified their practices as helping men discover themselves, perfect, if it were not a lie.

The phone rang, and I answered, “Hello.”

“Hi Zachary, this is Nathan.”

“Nathan, with all due respect, I want nothing to do with you,” I said. “I was sold a lie.”

Nathan paused for a second, “Was it us who sold you a lie or you who misinterpreted?”

At this point, I was ready to curse Nathan out, “You have the audacity to say I misinterpreted when your group claims helping men become the best version of themselves but tells us to make our lives seem better than reality, to exaggerate, to mislead our characters.”

“Nathan, you, the rest of the coaches, the company Datetrepreneur, your concept of dating advice, is a travesty. You are leading further dysfunction in modern relationships.”

“The testimonials from countless people who have been a part of our programs say otherwise, Zachary,” Nathan responded, appearing defensive.

“Just like a business to ignore my complaint and justify with good reviews. Guess I shouldn’t be surprised since you give dating advice as a profession.”

I could hear Nathan clear his throat, “Zachary, you’re upset for the wrong reasons.” “Yes, we taught a multitude of lessons from appearing high value, to elevating your best self to the world, and meeting women. We taught no excuses with putting yourself on the line, but we did not teach you or anyone to mislead.”

“Bullshit,” I became aggravated.

“How so, Zachary?” “You are blaming us for your mistakes with Felicia. Did you ever once hold yourself accountable?”

“I always hold myself accountable, Nathan.”

“If that were true, you would not blame us for your current dating struggle.”

Wanting to hang up and throw my phone, I said, “How can you sit here and gaslight when you all literally told us in coaching sessions to eliminate the boring in our lives and appear exciting?”

“As much as you were coached, there is so much you missed,” Nathan said, imagining him shaking his head on the other line. “Our goal for you all being the best version of yourselves was to be passionate about life, to show excitement, live life with zest, and purpose. We tend to think there's less importance in our lives than what is seen on the outside looking in.”

“You’re full of it,” I responded.

“Zachary, if you want to get her back, if you want another chance, call her. If she does not answer as expected, and there's voicemail, leave a heartfelt, genuine message admitting your screw-up, and asking to meet one last time tomorrow, no obligations at the restaurant you both went to for your first date,” Nathan advised.

I cleared my throat, sitting up and looking at my 10% battery, “And if Felicia does not get back to me within a few hours?”

“Nathan firmly told me before ending the call, “Zachary, then you have your answer.”

I proceeded to call. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven rings later, voicemail, “Hello, this is Felicia Moore, sorry I couldn’t get to you, I’m either busy working or at a spa, please leave your name, number, and I will get back to you as soon as possible, beep!”

I hesitated for a moment before blurting out, “Felicia, this is Zachary. Look, I screwed up. I wanted to impress you, to always expose my best self, but in the process, I started lying to appear better and more exciting, because you deserve someone who is amazing, passionate, caring, and who can bring all the excitement an amazing, beautiful, intelligent woman like yourself deserves. In falling for you, I forgot two of the most important things in dating and relationships: honesty and authenticity. Felicia, if you never want to speak or hear from me again, I understand; however, if you are willing to hear me out and are free tomorrow, I would like to treat you to the restaurant from our first date. Hopefully, we will speak soon, Felicia. Goodbye.”

Ten minutes passed without a callback. Twenty minutes passed, and still no answer. I felt the tenseness in my body and the feeling of disappointment. “I can’t believe I messed up an opportunity with you, Felicia. I love you.” I said to myself. “I don’t know what I’ll do-”

My phone vibrated, and Felicia's name popped up. I looked like a deer in headlights, “Felicia?”

“Hello Zachary.”

“How are you, Felicia?”

“I’m doing well. I had to stay later than usual at the office, and now I just want to sit with a book and watch trash TV.”

“Sounds expected, all things considered.”

“I listened to your voicemail, Zachary.”

“I know, it was terrible. My words probably didn’t make sense, and I was rambling.”

“I want to take you up on your offer to meet tomorrow at our first date restaurant.”

I was stunned, “Tomorrow, serious?”

She appeared to lightly laugh, “Yes, tomorrow.” Felicia added, “I am willing to hear you out.”

“But after everything, why?”

“Zachary, you know I work in law. I wouldn’t be in that field if I didn’t have the ability to listen to perspectives from others' points of view, especially in a personal relationship.”

“Pick you up tomorrow at 7?”

“7 works, she said.” I will only be doing some work I need to finish for a few hours, so that time is perfect.”

“Can you wear the same blue dress you wore on our first date?” I asked with an obvious smile in my voice.

“Only if you wear the same corny button-up dress shirt with slacks you wore on all our fancy dates,” she playfully laughed.

“Oh, Felicia, you know how to make a man feel special.”

“Only for a man willing to fund my Bruschetta addiction.”

“I’m looking forward to the Bruschetta tomorrow, too.”

“Goodnight, Zachary, don’t be late.”

“Goodnight Felicia, for you I’ll be the earliest I’ve ever been for anything in my life.”

Saturday, early evening arrived, and the nerves really set in. What if I turn Felicia off once more and she truly never wants to see me again? What if she has second thoughts at the last minute? I guess I shouldn’t take either result personally, but I couldn’t help it. I had some time to get some final advice, albeit at the last minute.

“Hello Nathan,” I said.

“Hi Zachary,” he responded. “I take it Felicia said yes?”

“How you know of this answer kind of scares me.”

Nathan laughed, “Zachary, I teach dating advice, of course I know.”

“How do I not screw up this last chance with Felicia?”

“You know how Zachary, look into your heart,” he responded.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“See, this is why you keep misinterpreting our teachings,” Nathan paused for a second. “What you did to have her fall for you is what you do to get a second chance. The only difference is that now you leave all exaggerations out the window. Be real with yourself, be real with her, own up to your mistakes, and find solace.”

“I will do my best.”

“No, Zachary, don’t do your best. Just be Zachary.”

“Thank you, Nathan.”

“Farewell, Zachary,” the call ended.

I arrived at the restaurant around the same time as Felicia, feeling prepared to, for once, be Zachary.

“Felicia, you look so beautiful.”

“Thank you, Zachary.” You look so handsome.

“I’m glad you’re here,” I said.

“Something told me it would be the right decision,” she smiled.

“So, I guess I need to wave to a waiter so we can start with some lovely Bruschetta.”

“You’re saying all the right things so far.”

I placed my hand on her palm, “Felicia, I just want to tell you from the bottom of my heart, I screwed up the first time around, I was not being myself, and that was wrong. I don’t deserve you, Felicia. I’m-”

Felicia kissed me, to my surprise.

“Wow, I was not expecting that.” “You forgive me?”

Felicia looked me in the eyes and said, “I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t willing to forgive you, Zachary.” “Didn’t you learn anything from The Datrepreneurs?”

I laughed as we toasted with two slices of Bruschetta, with love in the air.