As I entered, my eyes took a minute to adjust to the dim lighting. It was really dark. I was never really a big fan of sushi. When my friends would pressure me about it, I would just say it was a “texture thing.” Lauren loved going out for sushi on dates. She thought the whole hand to mouth chopsticks thing was autoerotic. But when Grant suggested we meet here, he asked, “You do like sushi, don’t you?” to which I replied, “Oh yeah, of course I do. I love it.”

I peered around the sushi bar counter and didn’t see any men waiting alone. “Shit,” I muttered to myself. I hated being early. I’d even driven up and down Sunset a few blocks each way to help kill time, and I was still early.

Looking over the dark railing into the dining room, I could make out some couples sitting in the black leather banquettes deep in conversation. I waited a bit and no hostess came up to seat me, so I decided to go sit on a stool at the sushi bar. I self-consciously crossed my legs, deciding not to put my purse on the sticky floor underneath me. I balanced my bag on the stool next to me and waited. A couple was seated a few stools away. She had multiple earrings, piercings, a lot of makeup, and a leather miniskirt. He sported dirty jeans and aspiring ZZ Top facial hair, and his short-sleeved shirt revealed beefy arms covered in tats. I could make out some of his armpit hair sticking out. Jesus, he shouldn’t have that stuff out. It was like a woman’s bush.

The waitress approached them and handed over a couple of hot paper towels wrapped in plastic. The woman tore through it and cleaned her hands furiously, while he wiped off his face with the towel and then threw it in the middle of his place setting. I could see the clock from where I was seated: 9:10 PM. Grant was officially ten minutes late. I didn’t understand how people could be late. I was never late. I always allotted extra time whenever I had to meet up with someone or had an appointment. I just thought it was so rude to be late, especially for a meeting with someone new. Glancing back at the rock-and-roll couple near me and over by the booths, I realized that this restaurant was somewhere you would go when you didn’t want to be seen by anyone you knew. The place was all shadows, and who would come here for sushi? If it was a real date, you’d go to Roku on Third Street or Matsuhisa if the guy really wanted to impress you.