2:02 NSG - First Date: Through The Looking Glass

When [2:01 First there was T|T] pulled the metaphorical handbrake on our dating and told me to see other people, I was not immediately hopeful for the prospect. But then I had a surprising response to a text that I just couldn't ignore...

Ordinarily, my chatting with women online is mostly about wading through small talk until I can find an opportunity to say something real and vulnerable. Most of time they are speechless, but some are quietly intrigued. But this one reacted quite differently:

"I’m having an interesting and strong reaction to your reply. The words you chose and the way you constructed them somehow have a direct line into my feeling world."

This... this was a hypnotic result for me. I asked if we could meet, and she agreed.

Originally we planned on meeting at a rooftop bar downtown, and had some charming self-deprecating text banter in the run-up to the date. Then the day before the date, she mentioned an alternate meeting idea - a concert in the rose garden at Washington Park. Looking it up, I saw that it was the Portland Cello Project playing Radiohead and Beck and such. So I responded that, if she didn't mind the logistics of trying to find each other in a large crowed, it sounded like a pretty special thing to share.

After an eternity, the time of the date finally arrives, and I catch a Lyft to avoid having to park downtown. She gave good directions to where she's already waiting at the venue, but we also use the Find Your Friends function on iPhones to converge. And I meet her in person.

And she's a motherfucking 10.

Tall, athletic, kind eyes, dark wavy hair with just a sweet taste of grey. All wrapped in a little blue sundress that showed off just how perfectly proportioned she is. Her profile pictures were at the cute end of the spectrum, but generally softened by dorky math t-shirts or de-emphasized by unflattering angles. In person, I was having to remind myself to breathe.

Right on top of that arrived more magic. Her demeanour was entirely laid-back and modestly reassuring, which gave me just enough social oxygen to recognize that our personalities are extremely similar. The sat down on a blanket on the grass and settled into chatting, and the metaphorical clicking was profound. Our navigation of emotional space was facilitated by her kind negotiation of physical space. It was just so extremely nice to be around her. In that state, we listened to some lovely music, and stole more moments of delightful conversation to talk about everything possible on a regular date.

All too soon, the concert is over. The desperate look in her eye reflects my own wishes for this not to be over yet, so we wonder about what else we could do - walk, go somewhere for drinks, anything. She gets a sly look, and says that she has an invite to an exclusive house party, and that I could be her plus-one. But that there's something I should know about it - it's being run by a local group called...

Sexual Positivity Portland.

Of course I say yes.

Indeed, some time shortly after meeting her in person, I recognized that some part of me was going to insist that I say yes to everything she ever suggests.

Oh, this is just getting started.