Strip-club visit set the mood
Louise is a 24-year-old graduate student who lives in the west end. She describes herself as “short, passionate, kind-hearted and funny. I’m usually the go-to friend for life and relationship advice.” Louise likes to read poetry, draw, meditate and work on her bullet journal. She says “With friends, I do dinner a lot. Our ‘no phones allowed’ IRL conversations are always so vibrant and hilarious that dinner is our go-to activity.” Louise says “Before Travis, I was single for about four months after a two-year relationship.” Asked what she is looking for in a relationship, Louise says “Everything Travis is.”
Travis and I met on a dating app. His profile said he was interested in film and that he liked dogs. At the time, that was enough to make me interested. Travis was charming and eager. He seemed romantic. We talked about our past relationships and our careers. He had obvious integrity and character. I was giddy every time I heard the notification telling me that he had messaged me. I felt his heart through my phone.
We had been chatting online for a few days before he made the jump to setting a day for us to meet. Deciding to meet him wasn’t really a decision because it felt like I’d already met him.
The night of the date, I walked up to the agreed-upon corner to see a man-shaped blur lit by the street lamps. Music blared from his parked car and I watched him pivot from the passenger door to the back seat door and back again as he rearranged the stuff inside. My heart raced as I got closer. He apologized for his car being a mess. We hugged a bit awkwardly. I told him to take his time cleaning and he offered to take my bag, which was heavy, and put it in the car.
He told me that he didn’t have much planned for our date. I couldn’t care less. I’m a very go-with-the flow, low-maintenance kind of girl. We agreed to walk around the neighbourhood aimlessly until something caught our eyes.
Travis was rugged, dark-haired and handsome, but in a way that didn’t intimidate me. As we walked around, we talked about film and books. It was random small talk, but it kept my attention. He was open, honest, funny and seemed to want to follow my lead.
Soon enough some fluorescent lighting hit my peripheral vision. It was a strip club. My eyes widened.
“We should go in!” I blurted out. Travis laughed and then asked if I was serious. “Yeah, why not?” I said. I’d been to an adult-entertainment club once before, but it was male-dancer-specific. I didn’t know exactly why I wanted to go in, but in the moment I decided that I wanted to experience something new for this first date.
“Wow. Uh . . . OK,” he said. For the first time in a very long time, I felt like I could be myself with a guy almost immediately.
We went inside and made our way to some empty seats. Travis slumped beside me and put his arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer into his body. We ordered drinks and once they arrived, he asked me what I thought of the experience so far. I loved the atmosphere. Everything shimmered. I felt empowered, being there. I could sense Travis getting excited and I was getting ready to jump his bones. We lost track of the entertainment because we were so focused on each other.
About an hour later, we left and made our way to get something to eat. I knew I had hit the jackpot with Travis.
At the restaurant, he sat beside me instead of across from me. Every time he spoke, I cocked my head awkwardly to the right to catch a view of his profile. He was gorgeous, but he didn’t seem aware of it. I could tell he was nervous, even though it was clear that he had dated a lot. I wasn’t nervous. I felt like I had known him forever.
He was gentle and listened to everything I was saying, replying with compassionate, thoughtful comments. No topic was off-limits.
He wanted to impress me and let me know that he cared. We laughed at each other’s jokes and asked about the other’s family. We reviewed the restaurant like we were on a cooking competition show and we tried each other’s food and shared our drinks as if it were already our daily routine.
I didn’t want the night to end, and thankfully, it didn’t. We went back to Travis’s car and talked until we could barely stay awake. We kissed and then kissed and then did more than kiss. We’re still together.
Louise rates her date (out of 10): 10 Want to be a dating diarist? Email datingdiariescontact@gmail.com