It was a PayPal request for $37.25. At first, I assumed it had been sent by mistake. Then I opened the invoice and stared. Andy had charged me for gas, parking, vehicle depreciation, and even a “cleaning fee” for puddle splash marks. Apparently, my charming romantic evening had quietly transformed into an itemized business transaction.

I couldn’t stop laughing. This man had opened doors, brought flowers, listened to me all evening—and apparently expected reimbursement for every expense associated with being my date. So I sent him exactly $50. In the payment note, I wrote, “$13 tip for opening the doors. Cheers.” Then I blocked him.

When I told Marcus what happened, he was horrified but could barely breathe from laughing. The story got even better when he discovered Andy had been telling his pickleball friends about our “rom-com” date, presenting himself as some kind of flawless gentleman. Marcus shared the screenshots with the group, and suddenly everyone knew about the world’s most aggressively itemized date.

A few weeks later, another woman posted a TikTok showing an almost identical invoice she had received after going out with Andy. I immediately sent it to Marcus, and we laughed all over again. I never found my perfect guy that night, but I got something almost as valuable: a ridiculous story, a reminder to trust my instincts, and a very clear lesson about dating. When someone sends you a bill for romance, always remember to tip yourself by walking away.