Date 133

"And when a train goes by, it's such a sad sound."

This date and I had first made contact about 18 months previously through Tinder. We had been going to meet up but she cancelled last minute and disappeared.

Then a couple of months ago she contacted me out of the blue and we got chatting again, spoke on the phone then finally decided to go on a belated first date.

As she lives in Kent, we worked out that Hastings is roughly half-way between us so met for lunch. I'm sorry if any Hastings residents are reading this but it is an absolute shithole. Although I'm only quoting lyrics by The Smiths for this blog, it's a shame I can't use one of Morrissey's solo efforts and describe it as 'the coastal town that they forgot to close down,' as although that song isn't about Hastings, it really could be.

I know Hastings a little bit through Date 99, so I found a cafe in the old town area as it is actually quite decent and different from the rest of the place. So, we had coffee and lunch and then she announced to me that she had a chiropodist's appointment so had to go. I genuinely think she did but I'd have appreciated a bit of notice as I consequently missed my train, had to wait an hour for the next one then ended up getting home 3 hours later due to the vagaries of Southern Railways.

Before she left though, we made plans for a second date a week or so later in Lewes, which is a lot easier for me to get to. However, that never took place as she cancelled at the last minute and when I suggested rearranging she said yes, but she saw me in the role of friend rather than anything romantic.

I was a bit disappointed as I was looking forward to seeing her again but she is one of the flakiest people I know. I've not seen her again but she sporadically contacts me then disappears; as is her wont. She's also a bit humourless at times as I found out when I was being a bit jokey in some text messages and she got quite passive aggressive and told me in no uncertain terms that I was annoying her and she didn't appreciate me besmirching her character, which I really wasn't doing. On second thoughts, I'm probably better off without her!

Date 132

"Too freely on your lips."

This was the first and hopefully the last time that I get absolutely shit-faced on a first date. You'd think I'd know by now. I really can't comprehend what came over me or what happened.

She asked me out for a drink with her first email and apparently we'd exchanged a good few messages a couple of years back and then she'd disappeared; she was actually a bit put out that I couldn't remember this!

When we first met, I thought I'd only stay for a couple as my first impressions told me that there wasn't really a connection. However, we kept ordering large glasses of red wine and we were there until closing time. By this point we were both pretty drunk but inexplicably we found another pub which was open late. I don't remember what we talked about but I do recall towards the end of the night ordering straight cokes as I wasn't feeling too clever.

Upon leaving the pub and walking up a long, steep street with her, I just can't recall what happened in between. However, my last memory before I got into a taxi at the top of the street was us snogging! I don't know how the night led to this, I don't know who instigated it and I don't know how long it lasted. My memory was hazy at best.

I woke up the next morning with a moderately bad hangover and a feeling that I wasn't fussed about seeing her again. I didn't know why but I had a couple of flashbacks to some things she'd said towards the end of the evening that I found a bit odd, but I couldn't remember what exactly. I texted her in the afternoon to see how she was coping and she replied to my first text but not to my follow up. I didn't pursue her any further, nor did I hear from her again.

I was also quite regretful about getting so drunk, but more because there were parts of the night that I couldn't remember as opposed to anything embarrassing happening. Never again...

Date 131

"Do you see me when we pass?"

I don't think this person really knew what she was looking for. She'd recently moved back to Brighton after living in America for a number of years, in which time she'd been married and divorced.

She was quite hard to pin down at first. After I suggested we meet up, she insisted on talking on the phone first. After giving her my number, she kept saying she'd call on certain nights and never did. In the end we never spoke on the phone but ended up meeting for a quick coffee one afternoon weeks later, after she'd messed me around a bit.

The coffee lasted less than an hour but I think we got on well and she talked about meeting again for a second date. Although, I wasn't very keen on one of her suggestions, which was to go and see a Country and Western band; however, I didn't outwardly show my lack of enthusiasm for that idea. Saying that though, I would have gone along if asked as I had a good feeling about her and wanted to see her again.

A couple of days later my Mum went into hospital with pneumonia and never came home, although she's now doing very well in a Nursing home in Hove. On the day this happened I got a text from Date 131 asking if we could meet up the following week and I also explained the situation to her.

I didn't hear from her until 2 or 3 weeks later when I got a message saying:

I was a bit disappointed that she'd changed her mind, but as I said at the beginning: I don't think she knew what she wanted. As it happens, I did actually bump into her briefly about 6 weeks later just as I was about to meet Date 132! I've not seen her since though.