📝 AITAH For walking out on my tinder date in the middle of dinner?

By lemmon714_ • Score: 2 • April 16, 2025 7:48 PM


I am 26 F. After I got out of my last relationship (which lasted a year) I've been working a lot and have had no time to meet new boys. Lately, I've been feeling extremely lonely so I decided to get on Tinder to see if I can meet someone. For context, I went abroad to do my Undergrad and Masters and have now come back to my home country and joined my family business. So after a plethora of swiping I matched with this really good looking well educated man let's call him Ricky (28 M). Ricky and I started talking and he seemed very sincere and humble. He worked in consulting at one of the Big 5. He seemed very confident and composed and honestly, I started to develop a bit of a crush. After 2 weeks of talking, he asked me out to this extremely fancy restaurant. I'd been there before and always felt like it was an extremely romantic place but I wasn't sure if it was appropriate for a first date. For reference, I hadn't dated in my home country for 10 years before this so I assumed that's just what the culture was for adult dating here. So the day of the date arrives and he asks me if he should come and pick me up. I had never met the man before so I felt it to be more appropriate if I went there on my own. I wanted to be fashionably late so I showed up 15 minutes after the decided time. When I got to the restaurant I saw Ricky sitting there with a drink in hand which I thought was a little weird. I chalked it up to nerves and ordered myself one too. I started making small talk about his day, work, etc but he responded with a string of monosyllabic words and changed the topic to the menu which he wanted to talk about incessantly. 15 minutes passed and the server came by to take our order, without missing a beat Ricky started ordering all the most expensive dishes at the restaurant, followed by a bottle of their most expensive champagne. I didn't think anything of it and just went back to asking him questions about his high school and university life. He answered my questions as briefly as possible which I thought was weird because usually people love reminiscing about those times. As soon as he finished answering he started asking me very detailed and pointed questions about my work (at no point had I told him that I work in my family business). I answered his questions but as soon as I'd finish there was a follow-up. At this point I felt a little awkward cause none of the questions were about me or my role but rather what the business does as a whole. After some back and forth Ricky proceeded to ask me what my share was in the business. At this moment I realized that not only had he stalked me on LinkedIn but he probably also googled my family. I laughed and made a joke but basically side stepped his question. He seemed like he got the hint and started asking me a couple questions about my hobbies and interests.  After about 3/4 discussion points he looked me dead in the eye and said "so given that you probably have a stake in the business how much money do you make?" I was shocked and honestly perplexed by the directness of the question. I asked him why it mattered and he just mumbled a few words and let it go. By now our dinner was being served. The second our server came to our table Ricky declares that he'd like another bottle of champagne, wants 3 dishes as take-away and that I'd be getting the bill so when the time come the server knows who to hand the cheque to. I was in shock and also fuming. I wouldn't mind paying the bill but this was no way. I would have 100% offered and probably even gotten the cheque at the end if this guy had any etiquette. I started to eat my dinner but I just felt to irritated by this guy and I knew I didn't want to be there for another second so I excused myself and went to the bathroom. While I was sitting in the bathroom I realized I could just leave and have to no longer deal with this ass and that's exactly what I did. I had my purse on me so I just walked out of the restaurant. I went home and called my friends to tell them about this idiotic man and the horrible date that I had but they claimed that I was in the wrong to abandon Ricky and that I should have at least finished the date and then I was free to never see him again. I personally believe that there should be no free lunches in this world. He picked the place and it seemed like he just wanted a nice, fancy, free dinner and had no interest in me. I wouldn't have minded covering the bill or splitting had it seemed like a genuine date but I just started feeling super used. Am I the asshole for walking out on him??

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