Saturday 27 February 2010

Date 42


"Still, I must speak frankly..."



A boozy evening and one of my most enjoyable first dates. We'd hardly had any contact beforehand so I was probably the most nervous I've ever been before meeting someone off Soulmates. Thankfully, we got on well and yet again drank a lot.

However, when I e-mailed her a couple of days later to ask about another date she said that she didn't 'forsee a romance' between us. I was a bit disappointed, but I appreciated her honesty.

We've stayed in touch and still see each other on a fairly regular basis two years later and she's definitely one of my favourite drinking partners and a lot of fun to hang out with.

Saturday 20 February 2010

Date 41


"Under the iron bridge we kissed, and although I ended up with sore lips."


I had a very pleasant evening with this teacher and budding actress who had a penchant for roller discos. She'd lived in LA for quite a while and had some really funny stories to tell which involved some random encounters she'd had with Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro while she was there.

At the end of the evening and after a good few drinks had been put away, we both got the same train back and just before she was about to get off at her stop, and much to my surprise, she grabbed me and kissed me.

I'd really enjoyed the night but wasn't surprised when she e-mailed me a couple of days later to say she just wanted to be friends, which was fair enough. We then met up in Wimbledon a week later and had another fun evening which again surprisingly ended with her passionately kissing me at the top of the stairs above the train platform and we agreed to another hook-up. I never saw or heard from her again.

I'm not a piece of meat, you know.

Saturday 13 February 2010

Date 40

"I say no, I'm gonna kill my dog."


I had a very pleasant afternoon and evening's drinks with this University lecturer who lived locally. She had wanted to bring her dog along which I thought was a bit weird for a first date. I'm not a huge dog lover and I do like some but I was quite relieved when in the end she wasn't accompanied by him. Although, there weren't any flying sparks in the air between us, I enjoyed her company so I thought I'd e-mail her to see if she wanted to do it again as I thought that at least she would be a good local drinking buddy if nothing else and I was very impressed that she matched me pint for pint. I ended up mailing her and a few days later I'd still not heard back from her, and then, bizarrely, I randomly bumped into her. I was out for a jog and she was walking her dog down by the river near where we both lived. It was a bit awkward but we exchanged pleasantries and I told her I'd mailed her and she said she hadn't checked her inbox for a few days. We then parted ways. She replied to me a couple of days later and said that she'd be happy to be friends but she wasn't ready to be dating. This last statement has been trotted out to me by quite a few women in the past and it constantly confuses me as to it's validity when I still see their active profiles on Guardian Soulmates. If they're not ready to be dating then why stay on the site? She also said I should have gone with her and her dog for coffee when I'd bumped into them. I found this a bit strange also as she hadn't replied to my e-mail and so I thought she wasn't interested, plus I was in my sweaty jogging kit, without any money, so the last thing I would have suggested would have been to go for coffee. I replied to her e-mail as she'd asked if I was free on a certain date to go for drinks and I'd said 'yes.' The day came when we were meant to meet again and I'd heard nothing so texted her to ask if it was still on. She replied by saying she had a cold and had forgotten to text me to tell me she was cancelling. Well, thanks for that. I decided not to contact her anymore. Then, out of the blue, she mailed me a couple of months later to apologise for not being in touch and asked me when I was free again. I replied telling her when and then I never heard from her again. Yawn.

Friday 12 February 2010

Date 39


"Oh, but plans can fall through and so often they do."


Another date and another dead-end, despite a good start.

I'd been in contact with this person for a good month or so before we'd actually met. I'd asked her out for a drink quite early on but she'd said she was busy as she was leaving her job and could we wait. As it turned out she'd actually been dating someone with Asperger's syndrome hence why she was busy but I didn't find this out until later on.

When the date actually came we got on splendidly and really hit it off. We had a lot in common although when she told me that she was due to go to a Kasabian gig that week with her ex, the alarm bells started ringing. Not really because she was going with her ex, but more to do with the band she was going to see.

The evening was much better than I could have imagined and we drank a hell of a lot. We got on so well that she wouldn't let me go due to the fact that her lips were clamped to mine. Consequently, for the first time in my life I missed the last train home. Living in the sticks, I'm always very careful about this and in the end I was just a minute too late getting onto the platform. I was absolutely screwed. She didn't live too far away, and after I got her into a cab, I then spent a good hour or so trying to find one myself that would take me to my far flung destination, and that proved not to be easy. In the end I did get one although it cost me over £40 and add in the drinks and food we'd had, this date had cost me over £100. Still, I felt it had been worth it as we'd agreed to see each other again and she really seemed to like me.

During the course of the night we'd been reminiscing a lot about all things 80's and she was convinced that she was being stalked by Tony Hadley. I'd happened to mention that a friend of mine was going to be starring in A-Team: The Musical and she'd asked me if I would take her. I love it when a plan comes together.

So, the next day I texted her just to confirm that she still wanted to go and see said musical, and she did but the texts seemed quite cold in comparison to how she'd been the previous night. I then booked the tickets, let her know the date and then didn't hear from her again until the night before the musical was due to be staged (about 2 weeks later) when I contacted her to remind her.

The night of the event came and things got off to a bit of a rubbish start. Door to door it took me over 2 hours to get to the venue in Hampstead and although she only lived 10 minutes away she still managed to arrive over an hour late. So, when she eventually rocked up it was just about to start and we had to find the last 2 seats which were hidden at the back of the theatre in complete darkness. The musical was very entertaining and she really seemed to enjoy it, and afterwards we had a few drinks and I introduced her to my friend who'd been in it. We then went for a meal at Carluccio's and all in all it was a very successful evening, or so I thought. As I was about to set off on my long journey back home she kissed me and told me to ring her in a couple of night's time to arrange our next date. I duly did so and her phone went straight to voice-mail. I rang her again the next night and the same thing. I then sent her a text asking how she was and how she'd like to go on another date and I heard nothing.

By now I was getting that same sinking feeling I'd experienced many times before so I waited a week or so more and e-mailed her. This time she replied and said very matter of factly that she was busy and didn't know when she was going to be free again. I tried contacting her again at a later stage but I never did hear from her again. So, another fruitless, disappointing and ultimately expensive waste of time.

Monday 8 February 2010

Date 38


"Bigmouth strikes again."



A really great evening and I'm still struggling to comprehend why it ended so badly.

I had a lot in common with this Blackpool lass and I was very attracted to her as well, which is always a bonus. We had very similar music tastes and she'd just moved down to London after living in Newcastle for the last few years so there was plenty to talk about.

The evening got off to an amusing start when I found us some seats in a really busy bar. We were happily enjoying our pints, when after a while a guy leaned over to her and said 'I've just seen Bob (I can't remember what his real name was) arrive. Pass it along the line as we need to sing him happy birthday.' She just looked at him with a blank expression and said: 'who's Bob?' He then got quite annoyed and informed us that we were sitting in reserved seats for a birthday party. She asked him if he wanted us to move and with a very deadpan expression he looked at her solemnly and said 'yes.' We stayed in our seats for another 5 minutes or so out of principle then we upped and left when I spied some nice armchairs for us so we could go and laugh at our minor indiscretion and sit and speculate as to which person at the bar was the legendary yet enigmatic Bob.

We then went for a meal and continued drinking late into the night. I really enjoyed the evening and she was hilarious despite me being the butt of every joke, and everything so far had gone very well until we got to the station. I then made the fatal error of having the absolute audacity of telling there that I'd had a great time and would like to see her again and would she like to do the same. Her face then turned to thunder. She looked at me with complete contempt and accused me of taking things too seriously. Being slightly taken aback I told her that I was just laying my cards on the table in saying that I 'd be really happy to do it again. She then intimated that I was a weirdo and stormed off. Which was a shame as I was just about to ask her to marry me.

I felt awful all the way home and even worse the next morning as I'd really enjoyed her company and I felt I'd completely blown everything by being honest and not playing by the rule book of Swingers by saying nothing then contacting her three days later. That would have been money. As it turned out I mailed her a week later, as it's possible I'd imagined the whole thing, and told her I'd enjoyed our date and would she like to hook up again. She never replied.

Friday 5 February 2010

Date 37


"Some girls' mothers are bigger than other girls' mothers."



My first experience as a proper toy boy here after this date with a woman 8 years older than me!

Joking aside, we both lived near each other and met for a few drinks in a local haunt of mine. I found her quite attractive and we had a pleasant evening, but she just didn't do it for me and she kept trotting out the old line (every other sentence) about how her and her daughter were always being mistaken for sisters and how they shared their clothes etc., which got a bit tiresome. She was very nice company though, and, yes, I'm a complete bitch, but that's all I can remember about her.

Date 36


"What she said."



A fellow Adam and Joe fan, this date contacted me first with a message which simply said 'Stephen!' I, of course, replied with 'Just Coming!' And those of you who are A & J aficionados will know exactly what that means; what a brilliant ice-breaker.

We only shared a few very brief messages when she asked to meet me and we had a really nice evening that lasted about 5 hours. I asked her at the end of the night if she wanted to meet again and she said she'd had a lovely time but it felt like she'd spent it with a good mate, which was fantastically honest of her. I left the ball in her court and said that I wouldn't contact her, but if she wanted to go out for drinks another time then I'd be up for it. I never heard from her again but we had a good evening and her honesty was very refreshing.

Wednesday 3 February 2010

Date 35


"There is a light and it never goes out"


This day stood out for me more for the fact that my beloved Newcastle United were relegated and also due to my absolute amazement at receiving an out of the blue text from date 28 (4 months after I'd last seen her). An obvious parallel can be drawn between my football club and the aforementioned red wine swilling fantasist; and that would be that I adored them both and gave them my unswerving loyalty but ultimately all I got back in return was disappointment and pain. It's hard being a male of the species.

With all this going on I met up with date 35 as well (although thankfully the above events took place when I was on my way home)! We had a very pleasant afternoon and I asked her at the end if she wanted to hook up again and she said she'd let me know, which wasn't a good sign. Thus, she contacted me a day or so later and said she did want to meet up for drinks, but only as friends. We're still sort of in touch but I haven't seen her again since.