Xavier Plympton & Tess Doerner
"It actually went pretty well," she said with a nod of confirmation. "Though I'm also trying to keep the Optimism Boat afloat. I mean, who wants to go through the entire thing being suspicious of everything and everyone?"
Pretty reasonable attempt at optimism, she thought, without being perky and annoying. She hoped.
"How about you?" she asked. "Great first date or the kind of thing where you're already counting down to the end?"