SATC Episode I

After feeling so lonely and really missing my friends back home (it sounds funny to call it home), a friend here asked me to hang out last night.  I, of course, wore a cute dress because I have a crush on him.  We had gone to lunch the first Monday I was here and then to dinner too, and he said he felt only a friend vibe, not the fireworks he was expecting.  But I am still attracted to him and he knows that.  So...in no uncertain terms, he told me that he needed me to maintain my professionalism and no getting wasted.  I had no intentions of getting wasted because of not knowing how the evening would go and not wanting to be that girl...the one that gets sloppy drunk and starts flirting but keeps getting rejected.  I wanted to play it cool.

A quick glass of wine at his favourite corner bistro, then off to the Meat Packing District to a biergarten.  By cab, which was my first cab ride in NYC.  The biergarten was really crowded and so we bought our beer tickets and he took my hand (I so felt like a little kid whose dad didn't want her to get lost) and we made our way to his friends.  He was on the look out for a girl to talk to, and we talked to some of his friends.  He was bull shitting with the birthday boy (who turned 30, was married and had a 19 month old boy) and then turned to me to tell me that was just something he had to do, not something that he liked doing (the bull shitting bit).  It was amazing how easily he turned on the BS (and how well, I might add), then turned to me and it would be the real him.  Then he expounded on the fact that between us both, we had more brains than all the women combined there.  Brains, he said, were the single most important attribute he was looking for in a woman.  

I am not even sure what happened or how, but long story short....we somehow managed the fireworks that evening.  At one point, a girl walked by and told us what a cute couple we were.  Neither of us really said anything; I was still playing it cool.  Some guy also walked up to me and said, Wow, you're really short!  I think he meant it as a pick up line or something, because he postured in a way that meant he wanted to talk to me.  My friend swooped in (rather quickly, I might add), put his arm around me and steered me away.  

He has always taken care of me well when we go out, making sure I'm not hungry or thirsty, makes me take vitamins (ha!), and generally just "coddles" me as he says.  He makes sure I know which train to get on, walks me there, wants me to tell him when I get home.  He gives me advice on being safe in the city and what to watch out for.  The first time we went to dinner, I insisted on paying my half (he let me).  I even offered last night, but he took care of everything.  He is polite, opens doors for me in a not showing off way, but in a natural, I always do this sort of way.  Good manners are important to him.  It's the first time in a long time that a man has taken care of me so well and I must admit that it is hard to let him do so.

That's not to say the situation is not confusing.  We agreed to see each other again and we did discuss a little bit why the sudden change of heart on his part.  He knows that I have remained interested in him.  The thing is, I played it cool all night.  When he was on the look out for smart birds, I showed no distress and humoured him.  But perhaps my brain and my charms won him over...

Ah....seems like an episode of Sex and the City.