Escaping The Elaborate Scam

Sitting in a restaurant with oak tables and ferns all around him reminded Mickey Herskovitz of a bar he used to frequent in the eighties called ‘’Brandy’s’’ at the Yonge Eglinton Center in mid-town Toronto. He was at ‘’Augostino’s’’ for a date with a woman named Ashley who he had met via a dating app called ‘’Uniting Single Jews with Similar Views.’’

Ashley was running on Jewish time, she was a half hour late. Mickey looked at his ginger ale and wondered how much longer he should wait. Getting ghosted was a terrible feeling. He made a decision that as soon as he got back to his place, he would delete his profile from the dating app.

Mickey had been married for fifteen years. His wife was a wonderful person but they had unfortunately grown apart. They both tried but the passion was gone between them, and Franny had wanted to meet someone else to rekindle her ‘’wonderlust.’’ Mickey loved her and he loved his two kids, but if Franny wanted out to live a different life, it would have been wrong to hold her back. He offered to go with to a Marriage Councilor but Franny had her mind made up. She was going to travel to Australia and find a guy down under. That left Mickey and the two kids, Ellie and Jeb. The divorce was finalized and Franny was true to her word. She jumped on a plane, waved goodbye to her family and the life she knew in Canada and headed off for a new adventure.

Mickey wasn’t going to date, but his kids insisted and it was his daughter, Ellie who signed him up for Jews and their views, or whatever the hell it was. He had been on the site for a day when he got a message from Ashley and they started communicating. She seemed nice, her picture looked good, so Mickey thought nothing ventured, nothing gained, and they agreed to meet for dinner and drinks. She had suggested Augostino’s as the food was solidly good.

After checking his watch one last time, Mickey stood up and asked the bartender for the bill. She was a perky young woman. ‘’Did you get stood up?’’ Mickey nodded. ‘’Then the ginger ale is on the house. Sorry about that. Sometimes people can be so inconsiderate and rude. Have a better rest of the night.’’

After thanking the bartender, Mickey stood up and was heading out the door when he ran into a woman who was entering who looked like Ashley. ‘’Uh are you…