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Tempered Optimism

I don’t want to get too excited about my date last night with my new “lady-friend”. She is a lovely person, we had a good time (I thought), but I just don’t know what she’s thinking. Here’s how things went:

A few hours before we were scheduled to meet, I got a text message from her. She just wanted to make sure she was reaching the right person. We went back-and-forth, trading messages and our excitement for the evening. She asked that I meet her out front of the restaurant so she didn’t have to walk in alone. My response: “Of course”.

I got to the restaurant a few minutes before our scheduled time (I like to be early) and waited only a minute or two before she arrived. I sent her a message as I sat in the Adirondack chair asking where she was. Her response: “pulling into a parking place now”. I looked up to see about 3 cars making their way into parking spaces. She got a spot right up front – in a very NEW looking Jaguar.

We walked in and found there was about a 20 minute wait so we idled over to the small bar area to look for a seat. There were two empty seats but just not together. It was a minute or two before some folks at the bar were called to their table and we were able to sit down. We both ordered a glass of wine.

The conversation came easy between us and so did the chuckles. It was all superficial stuff while we tried to “feel each other out”. It was 20 minutes later when they called us to our table but it felt like only 5. When we got to the table the conversation was even easier. We talked and laughed almost the whole time. It wasn’t until the end of the night that there were some pauses in the conversation. I paid the check at the restaurant and we walked to a bar that was in the same complex.

We each ordered a Mojito at the bar and talked some more. It was nice, she was nice and the whole situation was, well… nice. She paid for the drinks.

Now for the important questions: Could I see myself with her in a long-term situation? Yes.

Will she want to go out with me again? I don’t know.

The only bad thing I can say about the whole night is that I felt like she was rushing us along. It was her mention of leaving that made us leave the restaurant and it was her statement of “I need to leave” at the bar that made us leave there. Yes, I used the word ‘leave’ or ‘leaving’ 4 times in that last sentence.

It ended in the parking lot with each of us getting in our vehicles. I told her that I would like to go out with her again but that I would leave it up to her. She asked me if I was “into watching movies and stuff”. I told her “sure” and she responded “okay” and then climbed into her car. Probably the only awkward moment in the whole evening, for me.

As I write this, I’m awaiting (breathlessly) her response.

[Update: Got her response. I am, once again, relegated to the "Friends" zone. Boo.]

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