As Not Seen on TV

Story Sent in by Brenda:

On my date with Josh we walked to a department store and he offered to buy me any one item that I wanted. It was a generous offer, but I didn't really feel as though I deserved it, and further, I didn't want to take advantage of his generosity. It was our first date and I'll be the first to admit that I was confused by the situation.

The first thing I picked out was a little packet of chocolate. He said, "That's it? That's all you want? In a store with TVs, home entertainment systems, movies, furniture? You pick chocolate?"

I told him, "You don't have to buy me anything."

"I want to. You're beautiful and I'm happy. I'll buy you the candy, but pick something else."

I was increasingly uncomfortable with the situation, so I found a cheap pair of slippers in my size and told him that they would be sufficient.

He said, "No. What do you really want? I'm totally serious."

"So am I: nothing. Really. Thank you."

He said, "Then I'll pick something out for you," and he breezed right past me to the electronics section, where dwelt precisely nothing that I wanted. He led me down a line of HDTVs and pointed at one that I guessed was maybe middle-of-the-line. It was smaller than some but bigger than most.

"You want that," he said. It was a statement. Not a question.

"Josh, you can't just buy me a TV–"

He said, "And you can't just tell me what to do." He turned down the deserted aisle and yelled for a salesperson. One came after a minute, and Josh said, "We'll take this one."

"Josh, really, you don't have to–"

He pulled out his credit card and ignored me. I really, really, really didn't want the TV, and I didn't want him buying it for me. He ultimately said, "Then I'll buy it for myself," and for the moment, that shut me up. He ended up buying the TV, the slippers, and the chocolates for me, despite any protests on my part.

Once the TV was loaded in his SUV in the parking garage, he said, "Now let's drop this off at your house."

I said, "You said you were buying it for you."

He laughed. "I lied. Where's your house? I want to drop this off for you. It's the least I can do." He stepped closer and ran a hand through my hair. "And maybe you can invite me in to set it up for you, and you can thank me proper..."

I stepped away, cursing myself for being so stupid in not seeing what his plan was in the first place, but also frightened at what he would do when I rebuffed his advances.

"No, Josh. I don't want the TV, and I really don't want to go back to my house."

"Then we can go back to mine. I'll drop your TV off, after. Don't worry."

"No. I really don't like this situation. I didn't want the TV–"

"I just bought it for you," he said, raising his voice, "I just spent hundreds of dollars on something for you, and you refuse me?"

My turn to get angry. I screamed, "We never made a deal! You don't buy me!" I threw the bag with the slippers and chocolate down at his feet, then spun and stormed away.

He advanced on me and I screamed for the police. He backed off in a hurry, jumped into his SUV, and screeched off with his new TV, nearly running over the slippers and chocolate. I thought about leaving them there, but I made a snap decision to pick them up and leave with them. They were the least of what I deserved after that stunt. Of course, I never heard from him again.