He invited me back to his place — on the first date
Samantha is a 38-year-old teacher who lives in the Annex. She says: “I’m short, curvy, and my style is simple, soft and delicate, with a touch of rock ’n’ roll. I’m artistic. I love to travel and have been all over the world. I have two dogs and two cats. I’m good with plants, too. I love a long conversation over beers. I like to watch documentaries and read science fiction.” Samantha is “generous, moody, quick-tempered, loving and insightful.”
When I met Brody, I had a pretty active dating life. However, years of dating had gone by without a real relationship. I hadn’t felt a strong enough connection with anyone to commit, which was fine by me.
Brody contacted me on a dating site. His messages were funny and smart and I was intrigued, but he didn’t include a proper picture.
He said that he preferred to talk online or email for a while. I explained that I always insist on meeting right away, rather than building a person up in my imagination.
He seemed annoyed with me for pushing and I was annoyed that he was annoyed. In my mind, I had already written him off, but I like to keep my list of “what ifs” short, so I insisted we get together. We decided to meet the next day for a drink.
When I arrived at the bar, Brody was already there, locking up his bike. I could tell that he recognized me, so I knew it was him. He was absolutely not my type in any way. He immediately dropped his bike on the sidewalk. His backpack and helmet went spilling into the road. He tripped and almost fell onto the pavement. I walked up, said hi and suggested I go inside to find a seat for us.
The bar was packed and there were no seats available. I went back outside and watched Brody from a distance. I wasn’t digging him.
I had been dating tall and swarthy bad-boy types and Brody was not that at all: cargo shorts; big running shoes; pale complexion; very blond. I told myself it was just one drink.
We decided on a nearly-empty patio across the street. Brody observed that it was funny that one place could be so popular compared to its neighbour, when they both serve the same drinks. He said that our bar was better because we got to watch the crowd instead of being in the crowd.
I liked this perspective. I laughed and he visibly relaxed. His smile was delightful, with bright white, straight teeth. His eyes were the lightest blue I had ever seen and his lips were rosy and full. He was all compact muscle.
Our conversation was so easy. Nothing felt like small talk and nothing felt awkward. Before I knew it, a few hours had passed.
Then he invited me to see his house. It’s a rule of mine, especially on online dates, to never go to a man’s house. I can’t explain it, but this time, I just went. Entering the house, I immediately felt warm and at peace.
It also revealed the bachelor that Brody was: the house was sparsely furnished and there was a real “make-do” quality about everything.
We settled into a couch upstairs and Brody put on some music. We continued our conversation for several more hours. He seemed genuinely interested in me. He was so interesting and our values, goals and philosophies seemed to sync. I liked how easy it was to be myself. I could see how he did have a real beauty to him.
It got really late and it was time for me to leave. Downstairs, I needed to pass him in the narrow hallway to get my jacket and purse. We had to do a close turn to get around each other.
He put his hand on the small of my back and I held his forearm as we did this tiny dance move together, naturally and without thought. We fit perfectly together. I fell in love at that exact second.
After I climbed in my cab, Brody leaned in and gave me a small peck on the cheek and another dazzling smile.
Arriving home, I was intent on sending him a little note to make sure he knew that I liked him. There in my inbox was a message from him already. This was happening.
Since then, we have built a full, adventurous life together. Turns out he was exactly my type.
Samantha rates her date (out of 10): 10 Want to be a dating diarist? Email datingdiariescontact@gmail.com