Right before flying home from Texas, Farukh sent a rose to Gaukhar on Hinge. Fortunately for him, she received a notification because of that rose. To his surprise, after landing back home, he saw that she had matched with him! Within a week of talking, Farukh asked Gaukhar out on a date, and she said yes! The plan was dinner in the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The plan was set; Operation: First Date was a go! They met outside of a tapas-style Spanish restaurant; it was super packed. Being the planner, Farukh made sure to get a reservation. Even then, it was a crazy atmosphere; you could barely hear yourself think, let alone have a meaningful conversation. Between the fact that he couldn't read the menu (it was all in Spanish; he chose to study Latin instead) and that Gaukhar looked visibly uncomfortable with the venue, he hopped on his phone and immediately started searching for other restaurants nearby... and he found one! A Thai restaurant only a few minutes away! Open Table reservation secured; time to change scenery. It was time to let her know. Meanwhile, from Gaukhar’s perspective, it had already been an exhausting week. She had slept only two hours and had been working the entire day before coming to the date. Farukh seemed very cute, but once they sat at the table, he seemed uninterested. The fact that he was on his phone during the first few minutes raised some suspicion. At the same time, she had just gotten a call from work asking her to come back because of an emergency. But for once, she decided to prioritize herself and respect the date instead. Still, with Farukh on his phone and all the noise at the restaurant, she assumed he was simply scrolling. What she didn’t realize was that he was actually trying to fix the situation and change the plans. At that point, she was already thinking, “Maybe I should just head back to work." Then suddenly, he looked at her and asked, “Do you like Thai food?” She answered, “Yes?” surprised. That moment changed the energy completely. It showed that he had been paying attention to her mood the entire time and realized they needed a different atmosphere. From there everything just clicked! The Thai food was delicious, the conversation flowed, and so did the life stories. They talked for hours over dinner, giggling the night away. Two strangers felt like they could share every detail with each other. Things began winding down as the restaurant was nearing closing, but they didn't want the night to end. So they checked what movies were playing... and that's when they decided, "Let's go see Morbius!" It was as bad as the reviews said, but they had a fun time. Afterwards, Farukh drove Gaukhar back to her place before making the journey from Manhattan to Union City.