I thought my date was lying about money – then realised he’s the one

My first ever Hinge date didn’t get off to a good start.

It was July 2022 and my date, Antonio, and I were at a small shop near Greenwich Park, picking up snacks and drinks for our romantic picnic.

At the time, I’d just come out of a two-year relationship, and was dipping my toe back into the scene. 

I didn’t know then that I’d met the one. 

I’d been looking forward to our date, but when we reached the till Antonio suddenly froze.

‘I’ve lost my wallet,’ he said, patting his pockets repeatedly. His bank cards, ID, driving licence and student card were all missing. 

My first instinct was to roll my eyes – assuming it was either a bad joke or worse, a genuine attempt to trick me into paying for our mini spread.

After all, the picnic idea – getting a few beers and snacks from the shop – had been his, and it had only cost around £15 in total. 

Luckily, we weren’t asked for ID, but I still felt put on the spot, as if I was suddenly expected to cover the entire date.

But I needn’t have worried – Antonio eventually realised he had a solution all along, and simply paid with his phone. 

My relief wasn’t because of some outdated idea of a man paying on a first date – I’m very much a ‘going Dutch’ person – but because I realised it wasn’t some strange macho power move.

Ironically, I was more worried about Antonio’s lost wallet than he was. 

As I fretted about retracing our steps and contacting the bus company, he simply shrugged, cancelled his cards online, and suggested we head to the park to continue our date. 

I couldn’t believe how relaxed he was. If it were me, I’d already be on the phone crying to my mum, with my date presumably running a mile. 

But Antonio was different – calm, and mildly entertained by the situation. 

It was so unexpected that it threw me off and, weirdly, that’s when I realised his zen-like approach to something going wrong was a green flag I didn’t even know I was searching for.

Those flags had felt hard to come by in the daunting London dating scene – but Antonio was different. Our chats on Hinge had been easy, and he was the only potential date I’d actually been looking forward to meeting. 

After the wallet incident, we carried on to the famous viewpoint of the park and sat there for hours, sipping the beer we’d bought and talking about our lives, universities, families, and dreams for the future.

We discovered we had a lot in common – both European (Antonio is Portuguese, I’m Italian), raised with strong family ties, and navigating life in a big city that didn’t quite feel like home yet. 

As the sun began to set, we walked along the river, conversation flowing easily. 

When we reached the Cutty Sark, we went our separate ways – without kissing goodbye.

But that night, we kept messaging, planning our next date. I went to bed smiling, thinking how natural it had all felt.

In the following weeks, we met every few days, cooked together, shared playlists, and slowly blurred the line between the casual situation we’d planned and something more.

I could feel myself getting attached, but both of us were still dealing with past entanglements.

And this started to take a toll.

Antonio was in touch with his ex – he was upfront from the beginning that they were friends and saw each other fairly often, which made me constantly aware of a potential threat – and I hadn’t fully closed the door on mine. 

We’d had an on-and-off situation for a long time, and when he reached out in September, a few months after I’d met Antonio, we saw each other a few times.

Seeing my ex only made me more confused. We never truly got back together, but I struggled to fully move on; and in the end, that made me decide it wasn’t fair to keep dating Antonio. 

Letting go of someone I’d had strong feelings for for almost two years wasn’t easy. But months later, I found myself in a better place. I wasn’t speaking to my ex anymore, and I felt genuinely ready to take advantage of the London dating scene again.

I was back on Hinge with a new profile – and up popped Antonio. 

I couldn’t believe my eyes. I stared at the screen for a good few seconds before replying.

We started talking again, this time with a little more honesty about what had gone wrong before – like my insecurities about his ex and the fact that it hadn’t been fair of me to project those insecurities onto him when I was still caught in an on-and-off situation of my own.

Circumstances meant we didn’t meet up immediately. I was abroad that Christmas and busy finishing my final year of university, but I couldn’t stop thinking about him, and we talked on and off through the winter. 

When I got back to London in February 2023 we met, talked about everything that had happened, and it just clicked.

A month later, after several more dates, I invited him to my 21st birthday party. 

Antonio met my friends, who all liked him instantly – and we’ve been together ever since.

In fact, now we live together.

It’s been three-and-a-half years since that sunny day in Greenwich when I thought my date was trying to trick me into paying. 

Turns out, the clumsy guy who lost his wallet is the person I now choose every day.

Much later, I confessed that I had thought he was trying to scam me out of £15. 

Antonio looked slightly puzzled, then laughed it off. 

And no, he doesn’t have a wallet anymore. 

He bought a phone case with slots for his cards and IDs after that incident – ironically meaning if it happened again I would have to foot the bill. 

But this time, I’d be ok with it.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing Ross.Mccafferty@metro.co.uk. 

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