Adventures in Dating – Tall, Dark and Silent, Part 1

Tall, Dark and Silent, Part 1
by Tammy Schubert

When I was in my mid to late twenties, online dating was just starting. Despite the social stigma associated it, I jumped at the chance to meet new people. The experience was fun, and I met a lot of nice guys—along with some strange ducks.

Let me take you back to one of the more memorable first dates.

Chuck, my blind date, was the only customer. He had taken over a corner booth in the dimly lit hotel bar. Judging by his stretched out legs, he had to be about six feet tall. Very much a good looking guy for anyone who went for the tall, dark sort. The Braves game on television held his attention, so he didn’t see me approach.

“Hi,” I said.

He didn’t look at me until the batter struck out. Not a good sign.

“Hello.”

“I’m Tammy, you must be Chuck.”

He nodded.

Not getting the warm, welcome feeling. I took a seat anyway so we could at least converse without me standing over him.

Talk about awkward.

The bartender, a blond cute guy, showed up and took my order. It wasn’t until much later that I realized his questioning look had nothing to do with getting my drink order. Sometimes I’m a little slow on the uptake, if you know what I mean. Heck, I’m optimistic. There was nothing to worry about here, right?

So while Chuck split his time between the game and me, I filled the silence with chatter like most people do when faced with uncomfortable silence. Every so often, Chuck looked over. He even spent some time looking at me during commercials.

Now, by this time, the Mr. Cute Bartender started giving us odd looks. Apparently, he was just as bored as I was, only he didn’t have to entertain.

Mr. Cutie brought another drink over for me and lingered for a second. He never did offer to get Chuck a refill or anything.

Never one to give up easily, I tried engaging Chuck in a conversation again. Apparently, I must have said something strange because he looked over and focused on me for a few seconds.

Can you believe it? An entire few seconds all of my own. My heart skipped a beat. Moments of achievement play havoc with my heart. Kind of like guys when the achieve a touchdown in football, they do the funky chicken and slam the ball down. Yeah! Score. One point for me.

Eventually, I stopped talking and started thinking. Not necessarily a good thing in situations like this. It took me a few minutes to accept my defeat in the entertainment department before I excused myself.

He followed me to the bar.

It wasn’t the fact that he let me pay or that he strolled ahead of me or even that he waited until I held the door for him. Nope. Odd, but whatever. It was when he got to the outside doors that solidified my decision to forget him. Pay attention here, dear readers.

He paused. “It’s raining.”

No joke. He was initiating interaction. OMG. What should I say. It wasn’t a question, so should I say something?

“You’ve got an umbrella. Walk me to my car,” he said.

Huh? A man who wants an umbrella. Folks, I’m spoiled, so this threw me. After spending several years around military men who never used umbrellas, I didn’t know what to say. It wasn’t like he was wearing a designer suit he needed to protect. We’re talking jeans and collared shirt here. Nothing special.

He walked out the door, I followed and stood on tip toes trying to share my small umbrella. So much for my hair.

He opened his car door and was halfway in when he stopped. “I’ve got tickets for the Braves game next week. Come with me.”

What? “Thanks, but—”

“It’s my birthday,” he said.

Sigh. So his friends weren’t celebrating with him. How awful. So what’s a girl to do?

“Sure,” I said. “Sounds fun.” Not really, but he shouldn’t be all by himself. On a positive note, I’d get to go to the game for free, which was a big treat because I was broke.

“I’ll call you.” He got in his car and took off.

~ Date Over ~

So is anyone else a sucker for a sorry character? Things like this have gotten me into trouble more times than I care to remember.

I’ll share our second date the next time we spend the day together on the blog. It gets better. Really. I promise.

When have you been unable to say no to a request? How did it turn out?