Meet Alex, wavy, curly red hair, cute freckles, 34, 5’10, very charming with his amazing hazel almond eyes. Alex lived in Hammersmith, which wasn’t far from me. In fact, I’d first met Alex at my first speed dating experience a few weeks back. We were given each other’s details by Julia (the speed dating organiser), exchanged a few useless texts there and there, and we forgot about each other.

But on a Sunday afternoon, I received the following text from Alex. < Hey! How are you? Still single? > I responded straight to the point, < We should go for a drink sometime? > He replied immediately, < What about this Saturday? > I would decline a first date on a Saturday, but I'd been in touch with this guy for what I felt was ages and was now so curious to know more about him, I accepted.

Saturday morning, Alex sent me a text asking for my address, as he wanted to pick me up for a surprise date in town. I found the approach romantic; I couldn’t wait to see this man finally and gave him my details.

I was impressed by his organisation. Alex texted me an hour before, to confirm our date, I had no excuse to be late and I wasn't. 6:59, I was like a child waiting for her Christmas present, dressed up, pampered, and perfumed for him. Alex called me upon his arrival. I came down and Alex was standing up in front of my porch waiting for me. I smiled. Alex was cute.

“Hello, nice to finally see you,” he shouted, hesitantly, giving me two kisses on the cheeks.

“Happy to see you too! I wonder where we’re going. I love surprises.”

“What?” he yelled again.

“I wonder where we're going,” I said, with a questioning face.

“What was that?”

“I can't wait to know where we're going!” I shouted back.

“I know! Everybody loves my car!”

Well, I just smiled. Alex took my hand and opened the door of the vehicle.

Both inside, he added, still screaming, “I understood you like to dance, so let’s go to a salsa class.”

The chauffeur shot back, laughing, “Honey, you need to lower your voice; the lady can hear you.” I looked at the driver, incredulous, and he pointed to Alex’s ears. I saw that Alex had a hearing device.

Alex added, “This is just an aide. I can hear you correctly."

Well, except the fact that Alex couldn’t hear or understand me, he was handsome, slimmer than I remembered. Full lips, high cheekbones, sexy eyes, and beautiful red hair. Mega bonus: he was behaving like a gentleman.

In the car, Alex and I didn't speak to each other because the driver decided to tell us about his blind cousin who married a beautiful lady who didn't care about his condition. A story I was very uncomfortable to hear. I was glad when we finally arrived.

The music was mega loud. We grabbed drinks and waited for the class to start. Alex tried to talk to me, but I couldn't hear nor understand him and same for him. I’d never “sorry” myself as much in my life than this night. Same for him; our date was interspersed of innuendos, misunderstanding, and irrelevant statements. I already planned my way out after the class. I couldn’t possibly have dinner with someone I couldn’t understand. At some point, I thought that I could maybe disappear during the course, as the date was clearly a joke.

But when the class started, the fun commenced as well. Everybody was supporting each other; the teacher was fun to follow and very patient as well. We had so much fun dancing that I thought that maybe Alex and I should have dinner somewhere quiet. I blamed the music for the misunderstandings.

So, Alex's chauffeur was waiting for us, we got into the car, and headed towards the Claridge’s.

The Claridge’s is one of London’s most iconic luxury hotels in Mayfair. It is or was best known for being at home of famous chef Gordon Ramsay, its amazing cooking master classes, and for its opulent art deco interiors. We were eating to its Fera Restaurant that night.

This time, Alex was much more talkative and seemed to have lowered the volume of his voice. We shared our point of view on the salsa class and the small party afterwards. We were now all excited and couldn't wait to eat. I was relieved; things were getting normal, and I was glad I didn't sneak out of the party.

Every time Alex looked at me, I felt like his eyes were trying to tell me something deep. He was so expressive and I could tell he was also hiding some sensitivity. I couldn't wait to know more about him over dinner.

We arrived in front of the Claridge's. I had a big smile, and Alex said, "I understand you like great food. I hope you'll enjoy our meal here." He listened attentively to what I said upon our first meeting. I was euphoric that he made such an effort to please me and remembered almost everything I said that first night.

While our table at Fera was getting ready, we started the second part of our night with a cocktail at Claridge’s Bar. Out of the blue, Alex caressed my face and delicately kissed me. It was so random. He had such soft and eatable lips that I wanted more. We kissed until our cocktails were served.

Alex and I, then reached our table and I can't explain why after going to the bathroom, Alex went back to his yelling self again.

"Your dress is fabulous. I can't stop admiring you." This time, I jumped on my own chair.

“I can hear you, Alex. You don’t need to be that loud,” I said discreetly, as everybody was looking at us.

“What?” Alex shouted again.

God, this was embarrassing. I was blushing scarlet red. All eyes were on us. I decided just to nod.

“I could tell that everybody was jealous of me having you. Those men were salivating,” Alex, yelled.

“Alex, I think all the restaurant can hear us,” I whispered.

“You were indeed fabulous.”

I gave up.

“I like you very much,” Alex barked, kissing me again awkwardly. I wasn’t expecting this. I felt like everybody was looking at us.

“Listen, Alex,” I started. “I don’t think it’s going to work between us.”

“We are glamorous, aren’t we? I am glad you think the same.”

“What? That’s not what I said! I am done, Alex. It’s not working.”

“What? You are not breaking up with me, are you?”

Oh my, people were staring this time. I nodded a yes and decided to go. Whilst I was getting my purse to pay for the bill, Alex just left. Well, I just had to stay alone, mega embarrassed, and finish my meal and his. Everybody was looking at me.

A few minutes later, Alex’s chauffeur arrived and asked, “What happened?”

“I am sorry, I can’t do this.”

“Because she has a hearing impairment? She's good looking. She's intelligent and smart. Why must people make a judgment?”

A pang of regret washed over me and I barely noticed that he was referring to Alex as a “She.”

“He can’t even understand me!” I said in a voice full of remorse.

“You know, Mrs Valérie, Alexandra has been through a lot and she was looking forward to…”

“Alexandra????????” I questioned.

“Yes,” the chauffeur said timidly.

“Alex is Alexandra????? A woman????”

“You didn’t know? But she’s…”

Oh, my… I thought I'd seen it all… I felt my stomach gallop. Why did she lie to me?

I didn’t let the chauffeur finish the discussion, but some of his words were resonating in me: "hormones," "a penis soon ” always felt like a man.”

I left about £200 on the table and headed flabbergasted to the cloakrooms without looking back.

Then three handsome men came to me almost running. One grabbed my arm.

“Don’t go, Mrs. Beauty. I am Michael,” said confidently, a blond head.

I looked at all of them confused.

“We understand you’re popular after breaking up with red-head, you had grandpa after you? You’re a heartbreaker!” I don't even remember replying back to that joke. I was still looking at these men so lost and puzzled.

“Meet Faisal, 35-year-old, dark, handsome, entrepreneur, and he likes you,” said the other man without introducing himself.

I finally started to smile and regain my composure.

“Would you date him?” queried Michael.

“He’s good looking,” I reacted.

“Here’s your next date then,” he laughed.

I blushed. Faisal was cute. In truth, he had the look of a model.

“Well, here’s his business card. Would be great to call him sometime. In fact, very soon,” added his friend.

“I will do,” I answered with a shy grin, still baffled by the evening.

Business card in my bag, coat taken, I was rapidly in a cab wondering if I could have gotten a real relationship with Alex if it wasn’t because of the whole awkward situation. The response was and still is I have no idea, but she was hot as a man!

I have never met Alex since and never heard back from him. That night, I lost a date and gained another one. Who said one needs online dating? Next…