Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Random Memory: Not being asked out on a first date

We met:  during the second week of classes my second semester at college; he was a junior, tall, charismatic, and (looking back, I realize) moderately full of himself (haha); we'd been smiling at each other for a few days across the room; I wore a tight shirt and a skirt, black clunky heels and tights; it was an upper level lit. course on James Joyce; our professor had just played the film version of "The Dead," and, as class let out, I wiggled quickly past people to be leaving the room at the same time as him: 

     Me:  "That movie was terrible." 
     Brad:  "I thought it was pretty good." 
     Me:  "Oh." 

I'm nothing if not sauve. 

He asks me out:  After class now, standing outside in the mid-January cold; laughing and leaning into each other; he offers to read my fiction some time, I decline vehemently due to embarrassment; then, 

     Brad:  "There's a reading tonight, in Bloomfield, some poets, a bunch of us are going." 
     Me:  "Oh, that sounds awesome, but I'm going home tonight - I have an appt. for a haircut." 

A month later:  Now we've been dating for, well, a month; we're cuddling at his apt., fully absorbed in beginning-relationship-bliss, that amazing species of feelings; we're trading compliments, probably of the "I loved it when you" variety: 

     Brad:  "I loved that you didn't change your plans that day we met, like, that you didn't cancel your hair appt. just to hang out with me." 
     Me:  "I guess it didn't even occur to me - it's not like I was being all kick-butt independent or something. I obviously would've really loved to go with you though." 
     Brad:  "Go with me?" 
     Me:  "To the reading. You know, like to go on the date with you." 
     Brad (laughing, shocked):  "I wasn't asking you to go with me! I was telling you about it so you could like, take the bus over, and then I would see you there. I wouldn't have wanted to get stuck being there with you the whole night if I didn't like you." 

Ahh, now that information will put a damper on the romantic story you tell your grandchildren about how you and Grandpa met.

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