love-purpleI was propositioned by someone online. I know what you’re thinking: I got an invitation to do some kinky backdoor action. Nope! I was invited to the opera. The guy had a free ticket, and since I like listening to an aria every now and then, I accepted.

Meeting someone on a date for the first time can be really stressful, but it can be even more nerve-wrecking when you’re standing alone in front of the theater and your date is running late with an usher next to you yelling, “THE PERFORMANCE WILL START IN FIVE MINUTES! ONCE IT STARTS YOU WILL NOT BE SEATED FOR ANOTHER 50 MINUTES!” I stood alone feeling desperate and unwanted, watching couples hurry through the doors. Bastards.

A minute later my date hurried up to me but we didn’t even have to time to really introduce each other. I didn’t even get a chance to take a good look at him-all I could sense was that he was really tall and had a beard. We dashed up the stairs (I stumbled once- new heels) and got into our seats. The theater was dark and cool, and we could now relax, except I’m stuck panting like an overheated dog in the dark sitting close to a complete stranger who can sense every time I cross and uncross my legs. Sexy.

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Since this was actually a special invitation to the dress rehearsal of the opera, they served wine and cheese at the first intermission. I was glad to see that he immediately grabbed a glass of wine and we made some getting-to-know-each-other small talk. Should I have been worried that he gulped another glassful right before we headed back to our seats? My logic said no, because 1) he was super tall and therefore it would take him longer to get drunk; and 2) this is a sign he likes to party.

After the second intermission we drank more wine and made more small talk. He was likeable; he hadn’t said anything that made me want to run away…yet. No uncomfortable silences, but no conversation chemistry either. It was pretty late when the opera ended, but since we both rushed from work, we didn’t have a chance to eat so we decided to get dinner.

It was nice. We made plans to meet again a few days later and we did. The second date was alright. More getting to know each other, and more time to realize that we didn’t have a lot in common, except for the fact we had a lot of outside projects that kept us both busy. Plans for a third date fizzled as it was right before the holidays, and the momentum was lost. But if we were really interested in each other, either one of us would have made the effort, right? I’ll leave that open for debate.

Purple

Update- Mar 09: At the end of February he emailed me out of the blue and we went to another performance. Afterwards we had dinner and dessert. I’m sensing we’re heading down the path to “friend zone”, but I’m not sure. But we haven’t spoken since then so I will just leave it at that.

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