The first few dates are crucial—they can make or break a budding relationship. While you hope for the best possible outcome, there are times when things just don’t go your way. But there’s no need to fret. Even the most awkward dating fails make for funny icebreakers, and hopefully, cute stories to tell people down the road. Below, four girls share their dating fails that surprisingly led to loving relationships a.k.a. their #OneTruePair:
"For my fourth date with this guy who loves food just as much as I do, we went to a hole-in-the-wall restaurant that has rave reviews from the foodie community. We met up the next day for our fifth date, but we were both feeling a little queasy. We tried to put brave faces on, but we eventually started to sweat buckets trying to hold everything in—while stuck in heavy traffic, at that. We turned right back to my house and did our business in peace. We’ve been together for two years, and since then, we’ve been more careful about choosing the restaurants we go to." —Peach, 27
"I got a haircut just before my first date in years, thinking that I could use a good blowout as a confidence boost. While I was at the salon, my hairdresser convinced me to get the cut-and-color package. I had never dyed my hair before, so I stressed that I wanted a subtle dark brown color. When they finished, it was brown, sure, but not subtle at all! I got the opposite of the confidence boost that I wanted. My date noticed the change and said I looked nice. When I told him about what had happened, he said I would look beautiful even if I shaved off all my hair. Such a line, I know, but he sounded so sincere and seemed almost shy to say it. We’ve been together for a year and a half, and my hair is thankfully back to its natural color." —Ali, 28
"When I first met my current boyfriend, I thought he wasn’t interested in me at all. I was used to things moving quickly, and here came this guy who kept his hands to himself. We had great conversations, but since he wasn’t making a move, I thought he was just looking for someone to hang with—like a food buddy. I friend-zoned him in my mind—call it a defense mechanism of sorts—but I went out with him again because I genuinely enjoyed his company. Turns out he’s really just a gentleman who wanted to get to know me before anything else. We just celebrated eight happy months together, but it feels a lot longer!" —Em, 29
"My friend set me up on the one and only blind date I had ever been on. I was running late and the only ride I could get was a passenger-sharing one. Amidst all the one-way streets in Makati, the driver got lost on the way to pick up the other passenger. I was in the car already, messaging my date to apologize for being late. He assured me that it was okay since his meeting was also running long. When we finally arrived at the other passenger’s pickup point, the passenger was nowhere to be found. We also had to go around the building because it was a no-waiting area with a lot of enforcers on patrol. By that point, I was already an hour late. My co-passenger apologized profusely when he finally got in the car, but I was so pissed that I could barely look at him. We got off at the same place and realized that we were there to meet each other! It’s been more than a year since then, and the story of how we met still cracks us up." —Nikki, 22
These stories only prove that you can meet the one for you in the most unexpected of ways, just like in Jollibee’s One True Pair series. In “Checklist,” a perfectionist wedding planner is forced to work with a spontaneous guy who’s simply too carefree about everything. She comes to realize later on though that while he may not tick off the boxes of her perfect guy checklist, he’s Mr. Right in the ways that truly matter.
In “Fight or Flight,” a flight attendant and a passenger meet by chance and try to make a long-distance relationship work. Through the ups and downs of their relationship, they realize that chance encounters can only do so much—they have to choose to work on their relationship every day.
The road to your one true pair is filled with twists and turns, but it’s all worth it in the end.
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