The outside tables at Figaro Bistrot are far too close to one another. A group of women is seated beside us, drinking white wine and leaning together to murmur while giving me side-eye. My date gets up, excuses himself and heads to the bathroom. One of them leans over: “So is that your dad?”

I’m pretty sure I turn bright red and simply reply: “No.”

When he gets back, he places his hand on the thigh poking through the slit of my dress. The women’s eyes widen, and they look at one another and giggle. I’m not sure if I’m really into him. There’s a part of me that twists with disgust at the whole situation. But I ignore this — and ignore the giggles.

The conversation up until then revolves around a film he once wrote. “I spent about 10 years trying to get it picked up. But hey, it worked out in the end,” he says. His film won a number of awards and was widely critically acclaimed. “Everything I’ve written since then I haven’t really cared about.”

It shows. He hasn’t written a single film since his first that wasn’t panned. But I still feel a sense of pride that he wants me, this lowly grad student; maybe this is what it really means to date in L.A.

Until then, most of the men I’d dated in L.A. (who were around my age) were starving artists, aspiring filmmakers and musicians who worked in the meantime as grips and waiters.

Their dreams were always endearing, and having money doesn’t particularly matter to me. I was just never a part of their dreams. The previous men I dated always told me that I deserved better, that they weren’t looking for anything serious (always after a few months of dating, and it always turned out that I wasn’t the only one they were dating). I wasn’t sure whether I was looking for something serious either, but what I really wanted was someone who would see me as girlfriend — or perhaps even wife — material. There’s nothing more important than being lovable, even if the basis for this is being young and decently attractive.

My date is about two years younger than my father (who didn’t have me at a particularly young age). However, he has an Instagram and an iPhone and is a writer, which makes me feel like he isn’t too dissimilar to me after all. He finally asks me about myself: “What is your research about?” As a master of none, I never really know how to answer this question, so I recite a list of areas I’ve dabbled in. One of them is the bildungsroman.

“What’s that?” he asks. My image of him crumbles a little.

It dawns on me that the real reason I’d taken the upper limit off my Hinge settings and agreed to this date is that I thought I might find someone like my former professor, whose class on the bildungsroman was my main motivation for applying to grad school. I had a major crush on him; he had the exact same taste in music as me (think classic college-radio male manipulator), made stupid jokes and had a smile that made me melt. He was from Los Angeles, and I can’t deny that some of the motivation for me applying to USC was a subconscious desire to trace his steps.

But this man, my date, clearly wasn’t him.

Then he asks me if I want kids. “No,” I firmly reply. But then I find myself backtracking: “At least, not now.” I’m surprised that I say this. Am I scared that he won’t want me anymore if I don’t want kids, even if I’m realizing that I don’t want him?

“Women always say that. Why is it that every woman I’ve met has said that?”

“I don’t know. I guess I’m not really in the position to support a child right now.”

“But I am.”

He grins, and the twist of disgust grows. There’s something sinister about his smile that makes me realize that maybe this wasn’t such a great idea after all. But I find myself ignoring this.

“I guess we’ll have to see.”

The evening turns into night, and we end up inside the restaurant, sharing the same side of a booth. At one point, he asks to take a selfie. I oblige.

Should I be on a date with this man? I’m not attracted to him and I don’t find him interesting. But he seems like a man who actually wants me even if he doesn’t really know who I am. The other reason I agreed to this date is my deathly fear of aging and losing my attractiveness to men. I remember the first time I looked in the mirror at age 21 and realized that I was deteriorating.

Since then, I’ve religiously followed a retinol and sunscreen regime, but I still found the bags under my eyes growing and growing. I asked Reddit what I should do about this, and I was recommended under-eye filler. I debate the pros and cons of this every day. It pains me to know that one day it’ll be too late. As a decently attractive but still somewhat average woman (r/Rateme classified me as a 6 or 7, and in L.A., that means a 4 or 5), youth is mostly what I have going for me. And I know all too well that L.A. men aren’t interested in my pursuit of a PhD in comparative literature, which might even be intimidating.

The next day I apologize to him over Instagram. I never got his number. I tell him that I had a great time, but I don’t think we have enough in common.

“I think we have more in common than you think. I’m always here if you change your mind.”

A few hours later, he sends me the selfie he took.

Beside him, I look like his teenage daughter, and in a sick way, that makes me happy.

The author, a comparative literature PhD student at USC, lives in Studio City. She’s on Instagram: @sarahgarrodwrites

L.A. Affairs chronicles the search for romantic love in all its glorious expressions in the L.A. area, and we want to hear your true story. We pay $400 for a published essay. Email LAAffairs@latimes.com. You can find submission guidelines here. You can find past columns here.

VIENNA — A third teenager has been arrested in connection with a foiled attack on now-canceled Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna, Austria’s interior minister said Friday.

Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said an 18-year-old was taken into custody Thursday evening in Vienna after allegedly being in contact with the main suspect. Karner announced the arrest during an unrelated news conference Friday.

Investigators are scrutinizing the “networks” of the suspects, the Austrian interior ministry told The Associated Press on Friday, adding in a statement that investigators have turned to evaluating physical and electronic evidence.

The 19-year-old main suspect and a 17-year-old were arrested Tuesday, while a 15-year-old was also interrogated but was not arrested. Officials said Thursday afternoon that no additional suspects were being sought. They did not immediately offer further details Friday.

Authorities say the plot appeared to have been inspired by the Islamic State group and al-Qaida. Investigators found bomb-making materials at one of the suspects’ homes. Officials say one suspect has confessed to planning to “kill as many people as possible outside the concert venue.”

Officials say the main suspect and the 18-year-old arrested Friday both pledged “oaths of allegiance” to the Islamic State group.

“He had been in contact with the main perpetrator, but is not directly connected to the attack plans,” Karner said. “But, as was found out a few days ago, he took an oath of allegiance specifically to the IS on Aug. 6.”

The 18-year-old “comes from the social environment” of the main suspect, Karner said.

Three sold-out concerts were canceled Wednesday because of the plot, devastating Swifties from across the globe. Many of them had dropped thousands of euros (dollars) on travel and lodging in Austria’s expensive capital city to attend the Eras Tour shows at the Ernst Happel Stadium, which sat empty Thursday morning.

Europe is enamored with the American superstar: The German town of Gelsenkirchen renamed itself “Swiftkirchen” before its mid-July concerts.

Concert organizers in Austria said they had expected up to 65,000 fans inside the stadium at each concert and as many as 30,000 onlookers outside, where authorities said the suspects planned to strike. The foiled attack was planned for Thursday or Friday, according to Austria’s interior minister, Gerhard Karner.

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer defended the decision to cancel the concerts, saying the arrests of the suspects took place too close to the shows, scheduled for Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

“I understand very well that those who wanted to experience the concert live are very sad,” Nehammer told a news conference Thursday. “Moms and dads are looking after their daughters and sons, who were full of enthusiasm and anticipation for this concert. But it’s also important that in such serious moments as now, it’s inevitable that safety comes first.”

Swift is also scheduled to perform at London’s Wembley stadium in five concerts between Aug. 15 and 20 to close the European leg of her record-setting Eras Tour.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said that while he understood Vienna’s reasons for canceling, “We’re going to carry on.” Khan said the capital’s authorities were prepared for shows there following lessons learned from a 2017 attack at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, that killed 22 people.

A suicide bomber had set up a knapsack with explosives in Manchester Arena. The bomb detonated at the end of Grande’s concert as thousands of young fans were leaving.

Last month, an attacker in England killed three girls and wounded 10 people in a knife attack during a Taylor Swift-themed dance and yoga class. Swift at the time said she was ‘’completely in shock’’ over the violence.

In Austria, the main suspect confessed that he had started planning the attack in July, authorities said. The 19-year-old just a few weeks ago uploaded to the internet an oath of allegiance to the current leader of the Islamic State group.

He was “clearly radicalized in the direction of the Islamic State and thinks it is right to kill infidels,” said Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, head of the Directorate of State Security and Intelligence.

Haijawi-Pirchner added that the suspect “wanted to carry out an attack in the area outside the stadium, killing as many people as possible using the knives or even using the explosive devices he had made.”

During a raid of the suspect’s home in Ternitz, south of Vienna, investigators found chemical substances and technical devices that indicated “concrete preparatory acts,” said Franz Ruf, director general for public security at the Ministry of the Interior.

Authorities said they also found Islamic State group and al-Qaida material at the home of the second suspect, who is 17. That suspect, who has so far refused to talk, was employed a few days ago by a company providing unspecified services at the venue for the concerts.

Both teens were arrested Tuesday. Neither of their names was released, in line with Austrian privacy rules.

The suspects had undergone clear social changes recently, authorities said. The 19-year-old had quit his job but said he “still had big plans,” while the other broke up with his girlfriend. Neither suspect appeared to have a ticket to any of the shows, Haijawi-Pirchner said.

Karner said that Austria’s intelligence service had worked closely together with foreign intelligence services to capture the two teens. He did not identify the agencies, but added that the help was needed because Austrian investigators, unlike some foreign services, can’t legally monitor text messages.

The CIA declined to say Thursday whether U.S. intelligence agencies played any role in the investigation. The U.S. State Department and the broader U.S. government have been in contact with Austrian officials about the alleged plot, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.

No other suspects are being sought, though a 15-year-old who had been in contact with both suspects was also interrogated by police, Karner said.

“The situation is serious. But we can also say: A tragedy was prevented,” he said.

Concert organizer Barracuda Music said in an Instagram post late Wednesday that it had “no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyone’s safety.”

Barracuda said all tickets would be refunded. The same message was posted under the Vienna dates on Swift’s official website. Austrian rail operator OeBB in the meantime said that it would reimburse fans for unused train tickets for the concerts.

Swift has not spoken publicly about the plot or canceled shows. “Taylor Nation,” a verified Instagram page widely believed to be run by her team, reposted the announcement from Barracuda Music in a “story,” which is only visible for 24 hours. Her main account has not posted anything.

Swift’s biggest fear has always been that such large-scale violence could take place at her concerts, the superstar told Elle magazine in 2019 ahead of her Lover Tour, which was ultimately canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. The attack at Grande’s concert, as well as a 2017 mass shooting at an outdoor country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip where 58 people were killed, worried Swift as she prepared to circle the globe.

“I was completely terrified to go on (the Lover Tour) this time because I didn’t know how we were going to keep 3 million fans safe over seven months,” she told the magazine. “There was a tremendous amount of planning, expense, and effort put into keeping my fans safe.”

An official inquiry reported in 2023 that Britain’s domestic intelligence agency, MI5, didn’t act swiftly enough on key information and missed a significant opportunity to prevent the Manchester bombing, the deadliest extremist attack in the United Kingdom in recent years.

Terrorism expert Magnus Ranstorp, based at the Swedish Defense University in Stockholm, told The Associated Press by phone that any mass public event constitutes a potential threat now.

“So we shouldn’t be surprised that these extremely popular iconic popstars that attract a massive audience will also attract terrorists that want to create fear and destruction and mayhem,” he said.

British zoologist Adam Britton has been sentenced to 10 years and five months in prison after he admitted to sexually abusing dozens of dogs in Australia.

The 53-year-old leading British crocodile expert confessed to bestiality and a plethora of animal sexual abuse charges filed against him in Australia in September last year.

Warning that some of the details of Britton’s crimes were too graphic to be published, Chief Justice Michael Grant suggested members of the public leave the courtroom at the Northern Territory Supreme Court.

“Your depravity falls outside any ordinary human conception,” the chief justice told Britton, according to the Australian Associated Press.

The popular zoologist who has worked on BBC and National Geographic productions pleaded guilty to 56 charges relating to bestiality and animal cruelty.

The court observed that the British zoologist had filmed himself torturing the animals until almost all died. He also uploaded the videos online under pseudonyms.

Members sitting in the public gallery were seen sobbing and gasping as the details of Britton’s violence and extensive offences were being read out. At least 39 dogs, including nine puppies, died as a result of the abuse by the Charles Darwin University academic.

Britton both tortured his own dogs and managed to source other canines from unsuspecting owners from Gumtree Australia in the Darwin region.

He encouraged others online to commit similar offences and shared advice on carrying out bestiality, according to the agreed facts of the case read out in court.

Justice Grant remarked: “Your sheer and unalloyed pleasure is sickeningly evident from the recorded material.”

Britton has also been sentenced for possessing and transmitting “the worst category” of child sexual abuse material.

Britton did not visibly react to the sentencing remarks by Justice Grant as he stood in the dock in a black suit and grey shirt.

In his sentencing, Justice Grant said Britton was banned from owning any mammal species of animal, or having them on his property, for the duration of his natural life.

The court recorded Britton’s offences to have begun in 2014 until his arrest in April 2022. They first came to light when a video of his offences reached the Northern Territory animal welfare authorities anonymously.

Outside the court where hearing was underway, animal right advocates labelled Britton as a “zoosadist” and said he deserved the death penalty. Capital punishment has been outlawed throughout Australia since 1985.

Britton has also pleaded guilty to four counts of accessing and transmitting child abuse material.

“I was talking with someone else about why I love to hurt dogs,” he wrote in a secret chat group. “I wasn’t sure at first, but now I live for it. I can’t stop myself hurting dogs.

“I was sadistic as a child to animals, but I had repressed it. In the last few years I let it out again, and now I can’t stop. I don’t want to.” He added a smiley.

Britton’s lawyer – who has sought to remain anonymous due to the threats they have been receiving for representing Britton – presented a recent sentencing hearing with a fresh report on the zoologist’s “paraphilia”, a psychological term to describe a condition characterised by intense sexual fantasies, urges, or behaviours involving atypical objects, situations, or individuals.