The Perfect Date

Let me tell you how my perfect first date has always gone in my mind: we meet (maybe organically if I’m being honest), grab a drink at a dive bar or a coffee at a cafe and talk for hours without really noticing the clock or having any lulls in the conversation. There is flirty banter, some deeper content, and a lot of laughter.

Cut to last Saturday. I had met R Bar (no relation to the now-shuddered LES haunt) at a party the previous week that a mutual friend hosted (met organically - ✅). Our mutual friend had whispered to me how much of a dream guy he was. Her provocation of “he’s serious, he wants to get married” I take with a grain of salt because she wants everyone to get married, but her positive review did put a little wind in my sails for this guy (good egg - ✅). I gave him my number at the party - and then we proceeded to text all day, every day that week.

ALL DAY. EVERY DAY. I do not do that with men, especially ones I’ve just met. I normally find that annoying because it feels demanding on my time, but it never felt like that from this guy - just felt like banter and genuine interest (good vibes - ✅).

So we made a plan - we were going to grab coffee at a famous cafe on Saturday afternoon. Maybe not the ideal time of day but a great location and fitting for an already-emerging body of inside jokes. And you know what? It was a perfect date.

We chatted seamlessly, about our families and lives, jokes and work, about thoughts and feelings and it FLOWED. Never a dull moment. Never a lull. We don’t agree on everything - politically we are quite far apart, but he is foreign, so maybe that’s ok? But he’s thoughtful about that and non-judgmental. He made excellent eye contact, asked good questions, and paid at the end. 10 / 10 would repeat.

Now the texting continues and I have the opportunity to explore what comes after that perfect first date.