Point, Click, Love by Molly Shapiro

a feeling that “needing to have sex” was not “the right reason” for a woman of her age to go on Match.com, so she figured she should say something more innocuous. “I don’t know. I guess I’m looking to meet new people.”
    “Really?” asked Ed. “You could go to a church social for that.”
    “Okay. I’m looking to meet single men.”
    “That’s more like it.”
    “What about you?” Katie asked, determined to move swiftly out from under the microscope.
    “I’m looking to meet single women. But, to be honest, I always hold out hope that I might find ‘The One.’ ”
    The One? Katie was a bit taken aback by this forty-six-year-old man with graying hair talking about finding The One. Having already found and dispensed with her first “One,” Katie no longer believed in that little fantasy. There was “That One,” and then there was “The Other One,” and maybe, if she was lucky, there would be “Yet Another One.”
    “Good luck to you now,” said Katie, lifting her cosmo and taking a swig.
    “Are you really so cynical?” asked Ed.
    “Of course not!” said Katie with mock indignation. “Just because I spent my entire adult life with one man, thinking he was the love of my life, and now I’m a thirty-something on a first date with a guy I met online, why would I be cynical?”
    “Come on, it’s not so bad, is it?”
    “Nothing against you!” said Katie.
    “Who knows, you might have some fun.”
    “I’m sure I will,” said Katie, who was thinking that she was already having fun. “So what do you think, Ed? Am I ‘The One’?”
    “Could be.”
    “Really?”
    “Why not? You’re beautiful, funny, smart. What more could a guy want?”
    What more could a guy want? Katie wondered to herself. And yet she was sure that she was nowhere near any man’s grand ideal. “Maybe someone without two little kids at home?”
    “The kids are a plus for me.”
    “Then why do you think you never settled down and had kids?” Katie asked, not hesitating to get personal.
    “My last serious girlfriend, Jessica, we were together nine years. She didn’t want kids.”
    “So why did you stay with her for nine years?”
    “Because I loved her.”
    “Then why didn’t you marry her?”
    “Because I wanted kids.”
    “Hmmm.”
    “It’s complicated.”
    “I guess,” said Katie, trying to process this new information. “Do you miss her?”
    “No. We broke up five years ago, but we’re still friends.”
    “Really?” Katie never could understand why a person would remain close to an ex, unless they had children together. Did it mean that there was some unfinished business?
    “I usually end up staying friends with old girlfriends. She meant a lot to me, but not anymore, not like that. I see now that she wasn’t right for me. Too selfish. And the kids thing. She wasn’t very nurturing. You know?”
    Katie wondered if all first dates began with a lengthy discussion of a person’s ex. She hoped that Ed wasn’t going to ask her about Rob, since she had no desire to discuss him. Once their food arrived, Katie managed to steer the conversation to lighter subjects, like where to find good sushi in a landlocked state and whether Martin Scorsese was still at the top of his game.
    After two cosmos, a glass of expensive white wine, six raw oysters, one piece of rare tuna, and lobster risotto, Katie was feeling good. She was surprised at how effortlessly the conversation flowed. And she was even more surprised at how attracted she was to Ed. Was it the drink? Or maybe the seafood? Whatever it was, she wondered if, when, and how Ed might kiss her.
    After dinner, Katie led Ed to her parked car. “This is mine,” she said, wishing she had agreed to let Ed drive.
    “I had a wonderful time,” said Ed, keeping a respectful distance.
    “Me too,” said Katie. She could tell that Ed was going to be the perfect gentleman on this, their first date, but she found herself wishing he would grab her and kiss