Met with Beaker last night. I can’t say I was looking forward to it. In theory, dating sounded like a great idea, but the reality is that all the meeting up with people you dont know, making the same small talk is…eh.
I took my sweet time at the gym, swimming way longer than I should have. Then I rushed home, gobbled down dinner, and then quickly changed and headed out. I really did not spend any effort into my appearance. Typical tshirt and jeans with unbrushed hair.
We were to meet at a bar called Dalva in the mission. I drove. Dumb move. Thing is, C and I had planned to meet up after our dates at no later than 10:30pm to watch Tivo and eat ice cream. I was on ice cream detail, and wanted to be stop by after the date to pick some up. So round and round I drove, as the clock ticked. By about 8:20 (we were supposed to meet at 8), I found a place all the way in BFE. I parked and walked as fast as I could to the bar, thinking that for sure he would have left.
He was still there.
After the intial seconds of confusion where I frantically scanned the room, he warmly greeted me, bought me a drink, and I despite my onslaught of apologies, I felt instantly comfortable with him. (WEIRD)!
First off, he sorta looked like his picture, sort of didn’t. I dunno. I was definitely expecting one thing (more reserved, more button down, more dorky), but he was completely different. Taller, uh strangely more built than i thought, not as dorky, way more outgoing, really laid back…and even though Im not sure he is someone I would be initially physically attracted to, I actually found myself to be…uh…attracted? Well, not attracted, but I guess there was something there. That X factor, I guess, that made me want to talk to him and made me laugh a little harder, and made him kind of touch my arm for emphasis. Anyway, I told him I was sorry over and over, and he said that he had called his friend asking him how long he should stay. Then he said he had already started composing the next email to me in his head, wondering if he should take the jerk approach or the nice guy approach, and had finally settled on “so i guess you walked by, saw me, and kept walking, huh?”
Our conversation was relaxed. I felt like he was truly just being very genuine and I dont know how to describe it, but he seems like a really warm person. I didnt feel like I was getting a front, or that he was trying to be someone he wasnt, or any of these things. it just felt natural…which…is…rare…and confusing…and what?!?!?!
There was a point during the night when he started doing fake sign language. He stopped himself and said, “oh my god, I can’t believe I just did that. This is prob the point of the date that I’ll be thinking about when I get home tonight wondering what the hell I did.” Then there was part where I had to go to the bathroom. I swear to god i was not drunk, but i could not, for the life of me, find the light switch. I was totally feeling all around the inside of the bathroom like a blind person, and finally had to open the door so that i could see the layout of the bathroom, memorize, and then proceed to find my way around in the dark. GOD. It took me like 15 hrs in the bathroom, and again, I had yet another thing to explain to beaker.
Like I said, it was easy talking to him, and surprising bc we did sort of hit it off. I guess the moment of realization was when he was telling me about other dates hes been on and how you can tell w/in 10 minutes if its going to go somewhere or not. Then he paused, “Like us for example, I know we’ll be going out on a second date.”
For once, I found myself speechless. Wow, that was quite a bold statement…and I have to admit that level of confidence was pretty attractive. Not cocky, just confident. After stuttering around for a while, I said, “oh, what makes you think I want to go on a second date with you.” And he just looked at me like, I’m not an idiot.
We didn’t really drag on the date the way I did with RBA. It ended at 1030 as planned. We walked out of the bar, and he just walked with me. I asked him where he was going, and he said, “oh, I was just planning to walk you to your car, then grab a cab…or if you want, we can get a cab now, take it to your car, and then I’ll just go from there.” We ended up walking…which i found to be extremely refreshing and extremely genteel. Do you see how little it really takes?
I gave him my phone number. We hugged. He said he had a great time and that he was glad I showed up after all. And that was it.
Very strange date. Strange in that it was totally not what I ever expected.
