Go back to Eric to seal the deal

She took a moment to calm herself before she left the washroom, breathing slowly. She wasn't sure if it was fate, or if her stars just happened to align coincidentally, but she was ready. Her perfect man sat waiting for her. The price was the vow she had made at a young age, yet the more she questioned it, the more she wondered why she made the promise.

All her friends had told her she was being foolish. She wondered, in this moment, if they were right. If she should take the leap. She bit her lip and turned to leave the washroom.

As she approached the table, Eric looked up at her with a concerned look on his face. He scratched his chin and spoke, nervously, "I think I have to go: something came up. I'm sorry."

She felt like all of her positivity had been robbed in an instant. She half-choked as she spoke, "Do you have to? We were just starting..."

"Yeah, I'm sorry." He stood and wrote his number on the bill, which she noticed he had paid in her absence. "Let's rain-check. Soon." He backed out of the bar in a hurry, leaving her to wonder what had happened.

She took a taxi home, expecting a confrontation with the creature. It didn't come.