Date 125

"And time is against me now."

Having met a woman 11 years older than me on my previous date, I went the other way this time and met someone 7 years my junior through Tinder again.

After minimal contact I suggested a drink and she said she could do a Sunday late afternoon as she was in Brighton for something beforehand. That seemed fine to me, however, on the morning of the date she messaged me to say she'd forgotten that she would be going to a gig the same evening, so as it turned out I was only allowed to see her during a brief one hour window in her busy schedule.

It's a shame that I couldn't book a longer 'appointment' as I really liked her, although I don't think that the feeling was mutual. I thought that we got on well and despite the age difference we had similar reference points. To top it all off as well, she was an absolute stunner.

I texted her the next day as I thought I'd made a good first impression on her however, she didn't want a second date as she felt that there wasn't a romantic vibe between us. She did say she'd enjoyed meeting me a lot and suggested we hook up for a beer. So, I contacted her a couple of times more for said beer but she had other things on so I just left it. I'm sure her turning me down had nothing to do with her being a Psychologist either...

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.