When I had last left off, the cute ice cream guy had mentioned getting together again "sometime". The casualness of the question, mixed with the slight awkwardness of him getting it out left me thinking that he would chat with me at Bible study next Friday and then maybe bring up something causal we could possibly do together later the next week. I was not at all prepared to receive an invitation on Wednesday to do something that Saturday.
Saturday arrived and he and I went to Oaks Park to go roller skating. How fun! We bonded over shared memories of the 80's music and the old all-school skating parties we used to attend in elementary school. I knew we had attended the same high school, but I was surprised to learn that we also went to the same jr. high and elementary school. Turns out we were practically neighbors in our childhood days. Weird.
Roller skating was a fun and original date idea. And very smart. We were able to talk but during those times when we were not talking, we weren't sitting in awkward silence looking around the room wondering what to talk about next. Instead we had crazy 80's music and the desire to remain on our feet to keep us distracted. I think it's truly amazing that I can run around in vertigo-inducing heels like they are tennis shoes, but throw eight wheels on the bottom of my shoe and I become a total klutz.
After roller skating we went to a nice little family-owned Italian restaurant and discovered a shared fondness of pineapple on our pizza. He's more traditional with his pineapple, pairing it with the customary Canadian bacon, while I like to flirt with a more daring side and throw on pepperoni, but the common pineapple bond was a happy discovery.
Sunday was church and the "Party Because None Of Us Have To Work In The Morning" thrown by his roommates, which I happily attended and enjoyed. Terry and I taught him to play Kings while other partiers watched "That Thing You Do" or played Cranium games in the other room. At least, I think that's what they were doing. Terry said that a few of them seemed almost more interested in watching our game and the silly banter going on between me and each of the guys. I'm kind of glad I didn't notice that part.
Monday was Memorial Day and as such, a free day for those of us who work for the government. And Derrick (because Monday's are always his day off). I was planning on going to see Iron Man 2 on Tuesday and wanted a quick refresher, so I had asked if I could borrow the movie and somehow along the lines ended up agreeing to letting him come over and watch it with me. Yikes! Derrick assured me that we could get the house cleaned up enough for me to feel okay with this new interest of mine to come over without worrying that he would get eaten by monsters. I can't say I was at any point ever perfectly happy with the house, but at least Derrick was right and he made it in and out all in one piece.
*Bonus points for the guy: he came bearing popcorn, Coke, and a small ball to distract Jade from barking at him. Very sweet and very smart.*
On Tuesday he sent me a note asking if we could get together during the week and talk about "our relationship". To me, this is right along the lines of saying "Deema, we need to talk. . . ." Nothing good could come of this! For the rest of the day I pondered what on earth I could have done already to scare him off. No, not pondered; I obsessed. Maybe it was a bad idea to introduce him to my brothers so soon. But then again, he was the one who wanted to meet them. Maybe it was something I had said? Or something I didn't say? Did I forget to do something that is vital in this stage in a relationship? He was doing the pursuing, so it couldn't be that I was chasing him off by being too aggressive, and I thought I was being receptive enough to not give the impression that I wasn't interested. . . At this point, I reverted back to my standard postion that dating just SUCKS.
But I agreed to get together with him anyway. I figured it was better to get it over with sooner rather than drag it out. Like peeling off a band-aid: fast and with little mercy. We agreed on dinner at his place the next day. That struck me as an odd way to have the "talk": "Here, let me make dinner for you at my place. Oh and by the way, I've decided that I'm not interested in pursuing this any further. Have a nice day."
Actually, only a small part of me thought that. In reality, I realized that I hadn't had a chance to do something wrong and it was very unlikely that the conversation was going to go like that. That's dramatic Deema taking the control and I decided to reign her in before she went too far.
As you might have suspected, I had nothing to worry about. The conversation was nice and honest and very positive. I found him to be very different from any other guy I've ever known. There's no indecsion or hesitation with him. He doesn't seem to be running the customary tally of pros and cons on me. He seems to have no desire to hide me away or deny any kind of relationship with me. And he hasn't needed me to do anything to convince him to move forward. In fact, if anything, I'm the one stepping lightly and cautiously and each time finding it an unnecessary precaution.
At this point I realized that I'm going to have to give him a name in my blog. I could continue referring to him as "the cute ice cream guy" but it seems rather clear that he intends to be involved enough in my activities that it would get a bit tedious writing that out each time. But like I said at the beginning, I was still hesitant due to the last time my leading man got a real name.
Still undecided about the name issue for my blog (by the way, I hope this also explains a little of why it's taken so long to write all this stuff up), I agreed to go with him to play miniature golf for a birthday party. I thought it would be a good way to see how he did this dating thing when other people are around. He's very sweet and attentive when we're out together, but how will he be with me with his friends around? How would he deal with me in a crowd of people I don't know? I gave myself permission to leave him nameless in my story until I observed the answers to these questions.
He's just as sweet and attentive in a crowd of people as he is when we are alone. He didn't make me play, but allowed me to take pictures instead (I hadn't told him how much I really HATE miniature golf, but did express a hesitation about playing). He would come over and stand with me if I seemed to be lingering back from the crowd (which I actually didn't do as often as I normally would) and wait for me to feel comfortable enough to jump back into the group. And he held my hand without even a little trace of embarrassment.
And if that wasn't enough, the next day he met most of my family. And he still seems to like me!
So, I guess that means he's proven himself worthy of a name. Meet Jeff:
I'm a little excited to see what kind of leading man he turns out to be in my story. :)
2 comments:
Awesome! I love that there is a picture of BOTH of you! Very sweet!
Deema, you crack me up w/ your self-doubt, we all must have faith sometimes... I do sincerely hope it works out in your favor though :)
Post a Comment