As some of you may know, I had another first date. The basic outcome is the same as the previous 1st date, but this time it's interesting to see how much I gladly put up with, keeping in mind that I was smitten with the girl. We had met each other previously, which is one point that differs from the previous date.
This smittenness (sp? word even?) changes the way the date even starts. I made sure I shaved this time and also brought a small gift. Now hold on, it's not like that... she had heard about the "Clean Plate Club" tshirts, and I had extras, so I thought it would be fun to give her one at the end of the night (or in the morning - wink wink nudge nudge). I also made sure that the location of the date was new to her, something she would like, and a surprise until arrival. This took some extra effort, but I felt it was well worth it.
I met her at her doorstep and we took a cab to the restaurant, ship-shape. She even made a funny comment as we got out of the cab, knowing I had still kept the location a surprise - something like "What, is this where we get on the bus now?" As if I had arranged a change of vehicle just to keep up the surprise. Well, I didn't. We were at our spot, a small little Italian place that gets good marks in my book (and others).
It's a BYOB place too, so I had brought wine (Malbec all the way from WI... yeah, this is taking place in Chicago). She finally said "Are you gonna pour me a glass?" And once I put the menu down, I poured. Dinner went as it should, and only 3-4 times did she spit something delicately out of her mouth or dribble water down her chin. Not kidding. This wasn't the same kind of food issues as First Date #1. This time neither of us could leave it alone and we made funny comments about each incident. This time it added to the fun, go figure.
We started with a nice, two-person antipasti plate (parmigiano reggiano, mortadella, salami, prosciutto, etc), which we ate mostly with our hands. Always funny with new people.Then each of us had our own entree (no halfsies or splitsies). She even felt comfortable enough to bat clean-up on my fries with basil aioli. I had no problem with this, esp since I was so stuffed from the 2 courses and bottle of wine. So stuffed in fact, we could only split dessert, a good tartufo, with a shot of hot espresso thrown over top. All in all, a very nice, relaxed meal with good conversation, laughs, comical food spitting, etc... just like when I was growing up. I can't ask for more than this on a first date.
But, all good things must end, and she had had a long weekend (this was a Sunday night). After 2 hours at dinner, it was getting late. She had to get to sleep, and I had to drive to Milwaukee. Once outside, we walked a little bit, but jumped in a cab when the Windy City's wind broke us down to shivers. The cab is where she pulled out her gifted tshirt (which was timely b/c we had talked about the Clean Plate Club at dinner. I wasn't even the one to bring it up). As we got to her 'hood, she wanted to make one stop at Walgreens. Sure, let's go. We walked right back to the prescription counter so she could pick up her... birth control refill. No lie! Did this offend me? Not in the least. I couldn't have cared less... not even when we made our way out and she led me through the "feminine products" aisle. Nothing like some "super absorbent wings" to cinch the first date. Still, did I care? That'd be a big "NOPE".
We walked the couple of blocks back to our starting point, her stoop. She fiddled with her keys, even dropped them on the ground for me to pick up. We both said we'd had a good time and wanted to do it again, gave each other a quick peck, and then I watched her get into the warmth of her foyer. I ran the half block to my truck. That was it.
A good first date in my book, but in the end it wasn't enough. There was no 2nd date and I'm not expecting one. Funny how two similar first dates can be so different. Finding that connection at the right time, with the right person, isn't always so easy. It's a challenge that I'll gladly accept though.
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