Blind date: ‘We had a good foundation in common interests'

Boston Globe

20-06-2025

LILA J.:
25 / teacher
Her exes say:
She's a woman of action.
What makes her a catch:
She can give a great massage.
7 P.M. MARCELINO'S, BOSTON
Seating Arrangement
Arpit
I hung out with friends beforehand to keep myself distracted.
Lila
I took a shower and got ready.
Arpit
Marcelino's was within walking distance for me. I was first to arrive and the host led me to a table.
Lila
The host brought me over. Arpit was tall, dressed nicely, and had a friendly face.
Arpit
I thought she was super-cute. She was wearing gold-rimmed glasses and gold earrings. She had a necklace with her name in Arabic. She also had some pretty arm tattoos.
Advertisement
Lila
They had seated us at a weird table where we had to sit next to each other, but I think they caught that that might be strange for a first (and blind) date, so they moved us to a regular face-to-face setup.
Celestial Talk
Arpit
We talked about a large range of topics. She's applying to be a high school history teacher.
Lila
He works in data analytics and lives close to the restaurant. He studied astronomy in college, which I thought was very cool. He's also been to 29 states. The waiter noticed my necklace was Arabic and asked me if I spoke it, so that sparked a conversation about our family heritage (my dad is from Egypt and his family is from India).
Advertisement
Arpit
She worked helping people get their green cards, which I found attractive being an immigrant myself and having to go through that process.
Lila
We talked about the immigration system, since his family immigrated and I used to work in immigration law.
Arpit
I got the Arak chicken skewers. Both the drink and food were fantastic.
Lila
The cocktails were very creative. I enjoyed the parsley one, and Arpit ordered a watermelon one that came with feta cheese foam. I got the cauliflower dish and it was very tasty.
Arpit
We had a lot in common and she seemed super interesting.
Lila
Our conversation didn't have a lot of flow, and I felt like we were both working a little harder than we should have needed to to keep it going. To me, that felt like a sign that we probably wouldn't get along long term, even though I did enjoy meeting him.
Star-Crossed Daters
Arpit
I thought we had a good foundation in common interests and stages in life, and was interested in a second date, but she didn't seem interested.
Lila
We were considering having another drink, but he didn't seem super excited about it, and neither was I, so we got the check.
Arpit
I would have recommended a walk along the harbor front as it's very gorgeous, but she felt like she wanted to leave. We said goodbye, and walked opposite ways.
Lila
He asked if I would want to go on a second date and I said probably not, but that it was nice to meet him and I'm glad I had the experience.
Advertisement
Second Date?
Arpit
I would've been open, but it doesn't seem like it'll happen.
Lila
No. We didn't exchange numbers.
Grading the Date
Arpit /
I'm not one to give grades.
Lila /
B
Go on a blind date.
We'll pick up the tab. Fill out an application at bostonglobe.com/cupid. Follow us on Twitter or Instagram @dinnerwithcupid.