cheap trick

The very first date Sonia, my last girlfriend, and I went on was dinner at a Jamaican restaurant in Boerum Hill. It was a nice enough meal, but not too expensive. However, when the check arrived she made no effort whatsoever to contribute to it. It was a first date, and I like to be gracious, especially with someone I was trying to woo. So, gentleman that I am, I made no allusion to it and let it slide.
But somehow it stuck with me.

As the relationship progressed I began to notice how, um, aggressively “economical” Sonia was regarding matters of money.
(Trust me, I could go on, but that would require an entire, separate post.) And yes, it bothered me. But one trip to the movies really clinched it, in my book.

At the time I wasn’t doing too well financially so we always tried to find cheap scenarios for our entertainment. In those days, the Virgin Megastore in Times Square—RIP—had a movie theatre, which showed second-run movies for $5, so it was a logical choice.
One Saturday evening, we got there cutting it close to showtime, so one of us got in line at the ticket window, while the other did the same at an ATM-type ticket dispensing unit right across from it. I don’t recall which one of us was on what line but Sonia eventually got the tickets before I did; we dashed inside and managed to catch the last preview before our intended film.

As we’re walking home afterwards, she non-chalantly states, “Hey, since I got the tickets for the movie, you owe me $5.”

Huh?!

I was dumbfounded, but I immediately regained my composure and upset that she would bring up such a thing, when it was always a split check or I would pay whenever we went out, despite the fact that I was barely making any money and Sonia had a cushy office job with a hefty pay check, I brought back the early restaurant scenario with a vengeance.

“Remember that time we went to dinner at that Jamaican place and you did not make even a feeble attempt to share the check?
Well, I think I have you more than covered for this.”

I mean, I should’ve known: this was a woman who would come over to watch her favorite cable shows—she wouldn’t pay for the service over at her place, which btw, she only went to about 5 days a month, since she was at my apartment ALL THE TIME—and then give me grief for spending money on cable. It’s like someone bumming a cigarette from you and then chastising you for smoking. What kind of bullshit was that?! We broke up not too long after the movie incident.

Recently, Sonia came up in a conversation with an old friend of hers I “inherited” via our relationship, and whom I remain good friends with. (I don’t speak to my ex. Haven’t in years. Not my style.) It turns out that Sonia now lives in Manhattan, where she found herself a sugar daddy and has assumed a materialistic, Sex and the City-type existence, excising from her life all past friends who don’t fit her new lifestyle, including our once mutual friend.

Can someone tell me how the fuck I fell in love with this girl?