I met a woman on an online dating site a few weeks ago. We chatted, spoke on the phone a few times & decided to go out on a date last night. I was to meet her at a local restaurant / bar around 8:00.

About 7:50, as I'm getting to the place, she calls & tells me that something has come up & she won't be able to make it. Not cool. I decide to make the best of it & go in for a few beers & listen to the band.

I did just that. I was kind of pissed & put out about the turn of events & decided to pay my tab & go home. As I was putting my wallet back in my pocket, this older lady comes up to me & asks me why I'm leaving. I give her some bullshit story, but she insists that I come hang out with her & her friends. She was mid 50's, not bad looking. I'm mid 30's. So I hang out with her for about an hour. We dance, drink & laugh - have a good time.

While I'm sitting in the cougar den, I notice these two women come in who were closer to my age. They were both looking good & hanging alone at the bar. I politely excused myself from the cougar & told her that a couple friends had shown up & that I needed to go see them.

I walk over to the bar, approach the two women I had my eyes on & told them point blank - I need your help! See that table over there? Those cougars have latched on to me & I've got to get away from them! You've got to help me!

They both crack up & were like, hang with us... which I did.

We had even more fun, laughing, talking, dancing, drinking.

As we're leaving I trade numbers with the one lady I had ended up gravitating towards. I called her while we were in the bar & saw her phone ring. I was very happy.

So...

TL;DR - even when you get stood up, good things can still happen. Be positive & use your situation to your advantage.

I have never met a woman at a bar ever. Recently divorced & just trying some new stuff. I was planning on giving her a call Sunday evening & saying hi - I think that's long enough to wait?

Not to sound like an absolute idiot, but what's the best way to open a conversation with her when we get on the phone? I feel like had I met her anywhere else I would know what to do... but we were both drinking and, while she did give some good info about herself, much booze was involved & it's a little foggy.

If I get her voicemail when I call, what are a few good things to say so that I don't sound like a total tool?