The Brent Dates

(Yes, another A- date rating). Brent was great on our initial Match.com emails, and even impressed me in setting up our first date. Yes there is a sad commentary about me being delightfully surprised when a guy does what he says he’ll do… like, say, call you when he says, show up on time, follow-up with you afterward… but I digress. I am not a jaded Raggedy Ann. Yet.

We met at 6pm to grab a drink after work. As I was walking up to meet him he said, “Wow you definitely stand out in a crowd.” From the tone in his voice, I couldn’t tell in the least if that was a compliment or his poorly disguised shock that I am a tall woman. No, I’m not super-Shaq-sized, but tall men typically aren’t used to looking at a girl eye-to-eye. Takes them a while to optically adjust. Or that’s the story I’m sticking to.

Thankfully I was prepared for the up-front hug - not that I feel any better about it. Body to body contact with a stranger must be a California thing. I had friends for years in New England and I’m confident I never even shook their hands. Hi-fives, maybe. (Kidding!) Brent was definitely taller than me, a handsome face in a Colorado-cute-way, and pretty skinny. We sat and ordered beers. Three hours and an order of nachos later (he definitely won points in my book that he liked nachos!), we both were impressed at how quickly time had gone by. What’s that age-old saying about ‘time’ and ‘having fun’…?

Was I having fun? We talked volleyball, which he dabbles in. We talked mountain biking, which I’ve dabbled in. We talked Colorado, California, owning houses, the blessings of family… it went on and on quite easily. Not a barrel-of-laughs type of fun, but interesting-conversation fun. I left not sure if there was a romantic chemistry between us, but definitely feeling like I had experienced a great conversation with a good guy. We did hug goodbye, and I was happy when he followed up with a text the next day.

We’ve been on a second date. Apparently still not sure enough about each other to actually order food, so this one again was just meeting for drinks. The conversation got a little deeper – about religion. It was highly entertaining, as we both have very strong educated opinions on the matter, and the two hours moved just as quickly as the first date. About the not eating thing… maybe part of his strategy is to make sure I am slightly calorie deprived so I’m not thinking clearly and easier to impress. Or maybe he’s a total cheapskate. My intuition thinks neither though. I put my bets on the fact that we are slowly feeling each other out. Slow and steady. It’s a turtle race.