Agree to check in with a friend at a certain time. if you don't want to worry about calling someone at a preset time, have them call you. Decide beforehand language you can use to say if it's going well or not. ("Yes,the food here is fantastic,"or" Oh, I'm so sorry to hear you're sick!" won't sound strange to your date, but your friend can pick up on what's going on.) Having your roommate call you because she's "suddenly sick" is a great way to slip of a bad date early.