A Lie About My Age

I'm a software engineer who's been single for as long as I can remember. Not that there's anything wrong with that, it just means I've had a lot of time to focus on my career and personal hobbies without the distraction of relationships or dating drama. One day, I was at a coffee shop near work when an attractive woman walked in. She seemed friendly enough, but also clearly busy with her own work. We made some small talk about the local tech scene while she waited for her order, which turned out to be decaf herbal tea and a blueberry scone. When it came time to pay, I saw that she had an employee discount. At first, I was just curious because I didn't know they offered those to customers. But then the realization hit me, she must work at this coffee shop. My heart sank, as I've always felt a bit of an inferiority complex working in tech while so many other attractive women seem to have 'stable' retail or service jobs. Feeling insecure about how I might come across as just another stuffy engineer, I lied about my age. It was a ridiculous and petty move, but I told her I was in my late 20s when really I'm in my mid-30s. To make it sound plausible, I pretended to be surprised by the employee discount too. We exchanged numbers, and she asked if we could grab lunch together sometime. As soon as she left, I felt sick with shame and regret. What had I just done? Why did I feel the need to misrepresent myself like that for a stranger? Over the next week, I avoided her calls and texts, not because I didn't want to meet up, in fact, I wanted to badly. But I couldn't get past how cheap and immature my lie was. It wasn't just about looking younger; it felt like I was trying to prove something. I've since stopped lying about my age altogether. But every time a new person asks, 'So what do you do?' my mind flashes back to that coffee shop moment of insecurity and dishonesty. It's embarrassing how much thought went into that one small fib just to feel good for an hour. I wish I could turn back the clock and be proud of who I am regardless of my age or her job.