Anne was seeing a fella who didn’t call, so she went out anyway

Anne is a 50-year-old administrative assistant who lives near the St. Lawrence Market. She says, “I like a classic look: a nice shirt and jeans with heels and a blazer, plus earrings. Always earrings!” Anne is “very friendly and outgoing, but introverted. I’m a good friend. I’m very loyal, kind, generous, happy and accepting, and I love to laugh.” She says, “I love making a great meal — I love to cook! — with a glass of wine, and I love to get under a blanket and watch true-crime shows and documentaries, ever since I was 11 years old!” Anne says she is “super relaxed, probably a little too relaxed.”

I always wanted to have a long and good relationship. I wanted someone who treated me with respect, someone funny and someone that I could trust completely.

When I met Colin, I was kind of seeing someone. It was Valentine’s Day, and he didn’t call, so after sulking for a bit, I decided at the very last minute to go out anyway. My local bar was nearby. I knew my friends would be there and my brother worked there, so it was comfortable.

About an hour before the bar closed, a group of guys came downstairs from the upstairs section of the bar. I recognized Colin as this cute guy I’d noticed earlier that night, talking to my brother, who was the bartender. He was wearing a greenish top, with a black kind of tuxedo vest, black jeans.

They went to the jukebox — yes, the jukebox — and put songs on and then walked passed our table full of girls. We’d had quite a few drinks by then. When they passed us, Colin put his hands on my friend’s shoulders to kind of squeeze by, so we decided they may as well sit with us. We casually told them to join us, which they did.

Colin happened to sit next to me. I loved that he had an English accent, which I told him. We were instantly connected and laughing, at least when I could understand him. We talked a bit about where he was from. At one point, he held my hand, and it was lovely.

We all decided to go to the after-party at a friend’s house. I was very excited that Colin would be there, because at this point I really liked him.

At the after-party, we were in the furnace room, talking about an operation he’d had, and he showed me his scar. Then we made out, which was a very lovely and sweet moment. It gave me butterflies!

We ended up leaving together and going back to my place because we were talking so much, and because Colin is such a gentleman that he wanted to walk me home. We really didn’t want the night to end, so he came in to watch a movie. I wasn’t too worried about my parents being home, because they were really laid-back when it came to having friends over. He slept on one side of the sectional, and I slept on the other.

When we woke up, I made him a salami sandwich, which took him a while to eat because I didn’t use any butter or anything. He was a trooper and kept eating it until it was all done.

I introduced Colin to my parents that morning as a friend I had known for some time, which of course was a lie. He was so good with them. My father can talk forever! I went into the living room, abandoning Colin in the kitchen, because I know how much my father loves to talk. I assumed that Colin would be in to join me in no time, but that wasn’t the case: he sat and talked to my parents for an hour. I thought he was so amazing for doing that.

He finally left with the promise that he would call later on, and we would do something that night. He was living in Parkdale at the time and came all the way back to my parents’ house in Christie Pits to pick me up, just to take me back to his apartment. That told me so much about his character. It made me like him even more, and it made my mother love him.

We had a fantastic night and the rest is history. We have four incredible, fabulous kids. I’m so glad I went out that night.

Anne rates her date (out of 10): 10