Travelling man liked to move fast
Beatrice is a 23-year-old student who lives downtown. She says she is “fun-loving” and that she has “definite wanderlust.” Her friends would say she is “strong but sweet, hard-working, emotional, honest and romantic.” She loves travel, and did a semester abroad, but spends most of her time “studying or going to class.” Beatrice says, “In my spare time I try to get outside and be in nature, and be with people. I love to work out, go for long walks, walk my friend’s dog, get coffee and cook with friends.”
A while ago, Jay led a workshop I had to go to for a part-time job. I didn’t think anything about him at the time. He was just the leader and the “expert” on the topic, and there were no vibes whatsoever. It was a beautiful day and I was only interested in getting out of there as quickly as possible.
After that, I saw Jay around through my work friends. We had one good friend in common. I was surprised Jay knew this guy, because Jay is more of an athletic, confident, success-oriented person and our mutual friend is more of a shy gamer. But as I got to know Jay, I realized he is actually kind of an odd duck; he has a definite quirky side.
One night, the two of them were going on a late-night walk and I invited myself to go with them. I was very intrigued by Jay at this point. We had a lot of fun on the walk and ended up hanging out by the lake for hours. I got home as the sun was rising. It had definitely sparked a huge interest in Jay. I thought he liked me, too. It just seemed like he did, I don’t know why. I started thinking about him a lot.
Unfortunately, Jay was about to leave to go travelling for almost three months. He mentioned this on the big walk, but I didn’t clue in that it was happening quite so soon. I didn’t see him again before he left and I thought, “OK, that was that.”
One day I randomly got a phone call from Jay. He told me he would be home the next week and asked me if I wanted to go out. He actually said he had been thinking of me while he was gone. I was flattered and instantly turned on and said yes, I wanted to go out with him, definitely. We made plans for lunch for the day after he got home. I was so excited I was embarrassing myself.
When we met up, we hugged, and I noticed that he was freshly showered and his hair was still wet. I also noticed things about him I hadn’t paid attention to before, like the sexy scar he has on his face, and how he is muscular but doesn’t show it off at all. I loved what he was wearing, this bright blue sweatshirt. I told him I liked it and he said it was his sister’s. I couldn’t tell if he was kidding or not.
We sat down at the café and started talking even before we’d ordered anything. Jay showed me photos of his trip as well as some postcards he’d bought. I liked that even though he was well-travelled already, he was so enthusiastic about his trip and meeting new people and doing fun new things.
We went up to the counter to order. It was more of a deli with lots of delicious things to choose from, so we got a bunch of sides to try and share. It felt so romantic and date-y. I grabbed a lemonade and Jay got an Italian soda. We settled back into our seats. Jay picked up my hand and told me he had thought about me a lot while he was gone, and said that he had assumed I would be “the one that got away” and that I wouldn’t be single when he was back. I was totally stunned by this and had butterflies like crazy in my stomach. I thought, “Is he talking to
me?”
After lunch, Jay asked if I wanted to wander around downtown for a while. We went to a park and he put his arm around my shoulders as we walked. It was definitely strange, in a way, but it also felt totally natural and normal. He invited me to have dinner with his family that night. We walked around until it got dark and I went home feeling like I suddenly had a boyfriend, out of the blue.
Beatrice rates her date (out of 10): 8
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