Shoegal steps out

It is 1:33 am on Saturday*. I just got home from meeting Mr. Blue Eyes. I had been thinking about the meeting a lot during the week going between fits of nervousness and excitement. By Friday I was ready for anything.

I wore my black, long sleeve-off-the-right-shoulder top with dark wash Guess jeans and round-toe black boots. I decided it might be nice to give myself a manicure. Manicure was completely destroyed after wrestling with the straps of the special bra required for wearing an off the shoulder top. I removed all traces of nail polish and departed.

Mr. Blue Eyes was there first. When I arrived I looked forward and thought I saw him, but wasn't sure. Then I looked to my right and he was walking towards me. I was glad I was wrong with the first guess. Blue Eyes is tall, but I knew that. His profile said he was 6'5. I do not encounter many people an entire foot taller than I am, so before the meeting I held a ruler to the top of my head and tried to imagine what this would look like. It looked very high.

Shortly after we sat down, three girls he knew walked up to say hi. He told me they were just trying to embarrass him, because he usually does it to them. I felt like I was being sized up. I tried to sit taller.

We ordered the nachos and drinks. I stuck with regular iced tea because I didn't want to end up sleepy or overly chatty. He went with beer. He seemed nervous, which made me relax a little. He was cute and agreeable. Very open and frank.

The conversation was sporadic but not painfully awkward. I was surprised at the number of interests we had in common, but I was getting frustrated with myself because I couldn't seem to remember details to anything--basic stories, favourite movies, books. Everything seemed to come out flat or anti-climatic. Further complicating things was the fact that it was so loud in there it was hard to hear and I started to lose my voice. I had switched to water and was sucking up the melting ice cubes to try to soothe my throat.

By one we were both tired. Magically, the waitress reappeared and left us the bill.

Outside, I deeply inhaled the cold air and we walked toward his car first. He offered to drive me to my car, and so for the third time in my life I accepted a ride from a person I barely knew and lived to tell about it. I am sure there cannot be a fourth time.

The car ride was my favourite part of the night. Finally, it was quiet, and some how I didn't feel like I had to say something interesting or funny. I relaxed completely and I think he did too.

He plugged in his iPod and searched for this funny song to play for me. I'm not sure what made him pick the song, but I thought it was kind of nice he had a soundtrack in mind for the end of the night.

I had parked about four blocks away (I always manage to find the farthest possible parking spot).

He pulled right up to Truck and put the car in park. He offered his hand and said, "thank you" and then he asked for a hug. I said, "sure," because it seemed appropriate, but I think he thought I was agreeing to be polite.

Neither one of us said, "see you later" or anything to suggest that we'd see each other again, so I'm not really sure what will happen.

I came home, changed out of my pretty clothes and into my pjs, and started up Mac, knowing that Vince and Rob, and you guys too, would be waiting for the story.

I realize now that online dating is kind of like setting up your own blind date. It's asking a lot to put together two people who have never met before and hope that they can find some way to connect and capture one another's interest. Then again, attraction can take a while to develop the old fashioned way too.

Imagine instead that the cute singles had met while out with a group of mutual friends. They might have been surprised and intrigued by the new face at the table. After deciding that the new person seems to be friendly and quick with a good comeback, maybe they start stealing glances or trying to engage one another in a one-on-one conversation. And maybe, if the personalities were agreeable, a spark would fly, and the two people would go home with a secret smile and the hope that they will meet again soon.

Maybe next time I'll bring my friends.

*Note that I edited and added to this post a few times after publishing it.