She’s a vivacious woman who made me feel totally at ease

DATING PAST?

Most of my previous relationships have been with older women. However, recently I’ve been dating women who are my age or younger. Most of my relationships have ended as I was moving around a lot with work. After being single for seven months, I have more confidence in my work and feel able to find a better balance.

PRE-DATE NERVES?

I wAs really excited and looking forward to the date. I wore a blazer and a smart shirt and shoes. I arrived 20 minutes early.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS?

LAurA definitely wasn’t what I expected — it was a pleasant surprise. she radiated confidence and independence, and walked up to greet me with such enthusiasm. Her outfit was lovely, too. she made me feel completely at ease.

EASY TO TALK TO?

sHe was so easy to talk to and we delved deep quite quickly into our lives and what has happened. we have both lost our fathers so we talked about grief, our backgrounds and how we got to where we are. It was a fascinating conversation. even though she’s from Leeds and I’m from washington DC, we had very similar upbringings and found we had a lot in common. there was a lot of banter.

EMBARRASSING MOMENTS?

Not at all. I was well-behaved.

DID SPARKS FLY?

tHere wasn’t exactly flirting going on. I’m normally a flirtatious person, but we started off our conversation on quite a deep personal subject and then chatted about our goals, so it was quite intense, but in a good way. we’re both very passionate about our dreams.

At the end of the meal, Laura suggested swapping numbers and Instagram handles — although if she hadn’t, I would have. she is an incredible woman and I’m so impressed with everything she has achieved.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO MEET AGAIN?

AbsoLuteLy. we’re chatting online so hopefully we can soon.

WHAT DO YOU THINK SHE THOUGHT OF YOU?

sHe seemed to be interested in what I was saying and hopefully thought I was a decent guy.

WOULD YOUR FAMILY LIKE HER?

oH, yes. she feels like she comes from the same background as my family so they’d definitely get on.

Interviews: ALANA KIRK