His disappearing act needed a getaway girlfriend

He told me he did close-up magic, which sounded fun until the check arrived and he asked whether I could cry on command. I said no. He said, “Okay, adaptable. I like that in a girlfriend.” We had met forty minutes earlier. His plan was for me to point out the window and yell that my fictional car was being towed while he made our dinner bill “disappear.” I explained that leaving a restaurant does not erase its accounting. He tried a smaller trick: hiding the check under a napkin. Our server lifted the napkin. Incredible crowd work. Then he announced he needed something from his car and asked me to hold his jacket as collateral. The jacket was a restaurant coat from the rack. Its actual owner stood up. I paid for my meal and left while he explained his philosophy of illusion to the manager. He later texted, “You ruined the reveal.” Honestly, I thought revealing he was my last date with him went perfectly.