A little bit more
For our fourth date, I invited N to my house. I was dog-sitting and used this as an excuse to show him my house and how perfectly our lives - via our shared decorating sense - would match each other’s.
“Okay,” I warned him before he walked in the door. “Please just bear in mind that nothing is finished yet. Try to see it through an “unfinished” lens.”
“I’ll reserve judgement,” he promised.
He complimented at least three of my choices - he likes my vintage bar and my coffee mugs. He wants the same speakers I have. (I had intentionally purchased more knowing he was coming over.) He recalled what I had told him about my crown moulding. “I see what you were saying now. You’re right, it looks really great. I might have to steal that idea.”
--
We took the dog on a walk around the neighborhood.
“Are you getting excited for Christmas?” I attempted small talk.
“Very excited. I love Christmas,” he told me. “What about you?”
“Totally.” I told him about my plans to go to Australia to visit April.
“When is that?” he asked.
I told him the dates. He is going to visit his mom in Michigan for Christmas, but will be back for New Year’s Eve.
He loves New Year’s Eve.
“Why?” I had to ask. I’ve always found it to be a difficult one - I usually stay up with my family (nice, but not exciting), and had a rough experience the one year I tried a pay-for-tickets party.
He told me about his future plan to host a New Year’s Eve party every year. The idea is for each of his friends to claim a holiday and hold the annual party. “That way you only have to host one big party per year, and you can really make it count.”
--
We went to a dog-friendly bar and ordered pizza.
After a few half-attempts to start a conversation here, I had to fess up to him. “I’m really terrible whenever there is a TV on. I can’t focus on anything else.”
--
We went to a dog-friendly bar and ordered pizza.
After a few half-attempts to start a conversation here, I had to fess up to him. “I’m really terrible whenever there is a TV on. I can’t focus on anything else.”
“Oh my gosh, me too, “ he said. “I’m useless. And it doesn’t matter what it is - even if I’m not interested, it’s distracting.”
I actively tried not to watch the Blazers game over his shoulder.
“I forget, do you follow sports?” he asked me.
“Just basketball. Well, just the Blazers, really. And even then I’m not as good a fan as some. Thank goodness you asked, because I know we talked about this, but I forget. What do you follow?”
“Baseball,” he laughed. “The Detroit Tigers. Did you play any sports in school?”
“I tried to! I was always asked to be on the teams because - you know -” I waved my arm up and down my torso, “the height. But once they see me start playing it’s all over.”
He laughed.
“No really. I played volleyball my first year in high school, but it conflicted with marching band practice. So, you know, priorities.”
“You were in marching band?” he asked.
“Yep.”
“What did you play?”
“Percussion?” I waited for his reaction to my marching band roots.
“Oh, so you were cool,” he said.
“I mean... cool for marching band. We thought we were, anyway.”
“I played clarinet.”
This is a paradigm shift for me. He’s a band nerd.
Guys, he’s a band nerd.
--
He thinks my bed is comfortable. He thinks I’m pretty. Or at least he tells me I am. “You’re pretty,” I tell him. Very original.
--
“I really want glasses,” he told me.
“What, why?”
“I like them! I look really good in them.” He checked himself, “I think I do anyway.”
I laughed.
“I have a friend who is an optometrist. I went in for a check-up, but I have perfect vision. She found something really obscure I could get a prescription for, but I felt too silly.”
“You could just get frames with glass in them?” I offered.
“No, they have to be real. It would be too ridiculous to get fake glasses,” he asserted, without irony.
--
My only brunch recommendation in Vancouver was closed in the morning, so we drove into Northwest. I took him to a scuzzy haunt Matthew showed me way back when I was still new in Portland. He ordered an omelette, I got a benedict.
I walked him back to his car on our way out. I recalled his events for the upcoming week, hopefully demonstrating interest.
“It was good to see you,” I told him.
“You too.”
“See you again soon?” I asked.
“Sure,” he said vaguely, but with a smile. “Bye!”
I rounded quickly on my heel and walked toward my car as my face started to fall. “Sure.” What?
Dating Soundtrack:
Walter Meego, Forever
You know I'll wait forever
If I have time to
But I don't have forever
To wait for you, yeah
So when I say I want
Us to be together
Just say you want me too
And I'll be yours forever
I actively tried not to watch the Blazers game over his shoulder.
“I forget, do you follow sports?” he asked me.
“Just basketball. Well, just the Blazers, really. And even then I’m not as good a fan as some. Thank goodness you asked, because I know we talked about this, but I forget. What do you follow?”
“Baseball,” he laughed. “The Detroit Tigers. Did you play any sports in school?”
“I tried to! I was always asked to be on the teams because - you know -” I waved my arm up and down my torso, “the height. But once they see me start playing it’s all over.”
He laughed.
“No really. I played volleyball my first year in high school, but it conflicted with marching band practice. So, you know, priorities.”
“You were in marching band?” he asked.
“Yep.”
“What did you play?”
“Percussion?” I waited for his reaction to my marching band roots.
“Oh, so you were cool,” he said.
“I mean... cool for marching band. We thought we were, anyway.”
“I played clarinet.”
This is a paradigm shift for me. He’s a band nerd.
Guys, he’s a band nerd.
--
He thinks my bed is comfortable. He thinks I’m pretty. Or at least he tells me I am. “You’re pretty,” I tell him. Very original.
--
“I really want glasses,” he told me.
“What, why?”
“I like them! I look really good in them.” He checked himself, “I think I do anyway.”
I laughed.
“I have a friend who is an optometrist. I went in for a check-up, but I have perfect vision. She found something really obscure I could get a prescription for, but I felt too silly.”
“You could just get frames with glass in them?” I offered.
“No, they have to be real. It would be too ridiculous to get fake glasses,” he asserted, without irony.
--
My only brunch recommendation in Vancouver was closed in the morning, so we drove into Northwest. I took him to a scuzzy haunt Matthew showed me way back when I was still new in Portland. He ordered an omelette, I got a benedict.
I walked him back to his car on our way out. I recalled his events for the upcoming week, hopefully demonstrating interest.
“It was good to see you,” I told him.
“You too.”
“See you again soon?” I asked.
“Sure,” he said vaguely, but with a smile. “Bye!”
I rounded quickly on my heel and walked toward my car as my face started to fall. “Sure.” What?
Dating Soundtrack:
Walter Meego, Forever
You know I'll wait forever
If I have time to
But I don't have forever
To wait for you, yeah
So when I say I want
Us to be together
Just say you want me too
And I'll be yours forever
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