I've told a story in here recently about a woman who stood me up twice, and how apparently I dodged some serious damage from it. This is not that story. This is the story that she made possible, by not dragging me down into the Loony Toons swamp of her craziness and stupidity. All names here have been changed to protect the silly.
(For those not interested in a long and drawn out story, skip to the next thread, or to the end of this one for a very concise summary.)
For many years, this one couple has been coming to my bar as what I call "tourist regulars": tourists who come in enough that we know them. This particular couple, Liz and Paul, are among the ones I've befriended, and gone out drinking with. I usually know when they'll be coming into town because Liz will text me directly. And they come to town about twice a year--and like me, they enjoy drinking.
For the last two years, Liz has been going on and on about her friend Diane, and how Diane and I would soooo hit it off. I politely smiled and nodded each time, while mentally rolling my eyes, because I've heard this kind of stuff before. Yeah, yeah....whatever. At the same time, Liz had been telling her friend Diane about their favorite bartender in Key West, yours truly. Diane thought the guy sounded vaguely interesting, but had no idea Liz was trying to set her up, and didn't really pay attention. Interestingly, during this time period, Diane had been on one or two of these trips with Liz and Paul, but for whatever reason, while I had seen those two, Diane had never ever made it into my bar or to any of the meet ups I had with the couple. These things do happen.
At the beginning of this month, the three of them were back in KW. And Liz reminded me about Diane, who she had once shown me a picture of, which I vaguely remembered. Looked kinda cute in the picture. But, whatever. Shrug. In any case, they promised I'd meet Diane this time. And on that Sunday, we did actually all meet up, and went and hit the town. And while Diane did look better than the okay picture I had seen, I didn't really think much about it initially.
But the thing is, Liz was absolutely right. Because Diane and I hit it off. Famously. To the point of kissing much of the night, seeming to the annoyance of Liz, who kept saying we were "being gross." In much the same way a four year old would say that to adults kissing. This amused Diane and I, but it did not deter us. We both knew Liz, and knew that she is a bit of a lunatic, though in the best possible way. And apparently she and Paul are not huge on public displays of affection. Diane and I don't share that particular hang up.
In any case, this all went on well into the night, and about 1:30 am, the three of them went back to their hotel, and I was left to dance down the street. Note: I am not being figurative here. I was actually dancing down the street. (Caroline Street, if you must know.) So I texted my friend Little Red, asking if she was out and about, and letting her know that I had just "spent most of the night making out with the hottest girl imaginable." As it turned out, Red WAS out, and we met up at one of our favorite bars, at which the only other customer was another friend of mine. So it was just the three of us and the bartender there, and I was going on about Diane, until both Red and my other friend told me, "Don't get too attached. You always get too attached." I've heard this before, and they were right. Because this is my history. And usually, being reminded of this, I attempt to reign it in. Usually.
But not that night. I just looked at them and said, "Hi, have we met? I'm Jester. This is what I fucking do. It may not always work out for me, but this is my nature, and damn it, I'm okay with that!" I was not to be deterred. And I was fucking happy.
The next day, after some training for an additional job I'm taking on (which, during the breaks, Diane and I were texting back and forth), I met up with the three of them again. And Diane and I picked up right where we left off. As did Liz, providing repetitive commentary of how "gross" we were being. We continued to ignore it. Paul continued to be amused. Interestingly, at one bar, as a group was leaving, one girl stopped and asked me, "Are you two married?" I told her, "No, I just met her last night." She said, "No, really?" I nodded and said, "Seriously. I just met her last night." She seemed incredulous.
Throughout the night, I'd been on a campaign of persuasion to convince Diane to not get on her plane and stay a few extra days. It wouldn't cost her anything extra, after all, since her flight was on points, and I had a place for her to stay. Yes, it was my place, but she knew that, as I'd made that quite clear. And she didn't seem to have any problem with that aspect of it. And from the early part of the night through the end of the night, around 3 am, it really looked like I was convincing her, as I was very persuasive, and she didn't seem to need much convincing. And they went back to their hotel, and I went back home, thinking I may have actually succeeded in my endeavors.
Alas, it was not to be. When I finally heard from her again, Diane was at the airport, and I was at work. Apparently there had been some issue back in California with her dog. (Yes, she lives in California. Did I not mention that part? ) And despite my best efforts to convince her not to get on that plane, she did. And she flew away.
A while later, Liz and Paul came into my bar for some munchies and to say goodbye, as they had to drive up to the mainland to catch their flight. (They live in Colorado, so they were on a different flight than Diane, who flew directly out of KW.) As I talked to them, I told them that I WOULD see Diane again, probably before I saw Liz and Peter again. Peter said that I "sounded a bit stalkerish." I just looked at him and said, "No. I'm just determined."
And I was. Because, holy shit balls, I was not about to let go of something that seemed so special, even if it turned out to be nothing. Especially because I've seen how much bullshit there is out there. And I won't lie, the level of determination surprised even me. But Diane and I stayed in touch. And within a short time, it became clear that I was not the only one so determined. And that the special feeling was definitely mutual.
We definitely have a lot of similar interests. Food, beer, cooking, silliness, having fun, a sick sense of humor, and as an added bonus, bicycling. I knew she was a runner, but last weekend it came out that she also liked riding. That floored me. And that resulted in an amusing exchange between my little sister and I the next day. Because I messaged her, "And this girl is even a cyclist!" To which Lil Sis said, "Now, don't take this as a sign from the cosmos that this is The One or anything." I said, "I'm not, you twit, I just think it's fucking cool!" Which it is. (I may or may not have actually called my little sister a twit.) As it turns out, this has re inspired me to get back in the saddle and on the road, and start riding again, as I had been ignoring and neglecting my bikes. Got the best one tuned back up and took it for what I thought would be a short test ride of a few blocks, and went ten miles. Pure joy. Got the tires of the commuter bike aired up, and rode to work for the first time in months the other day. Two out of three down. Will get the other road bike taken care of soon enough.
So, as we talked, we quickly started floating some ideas of getting together somehow, going over various possibilities. And we are getting together. Rather soon. Okay, really soon. Next Friday, I drive up to Orlando. That day, after she works, Diane will get on a red eye flight, and I will pick her up at the Orlando airport Saturday morning. And we plan on having a lot of fun. Roller coasters. NASA. Beer. Food. Bicycling. Because I'll be bringing up my best bike, and she'll be renting one in Orlando. The idea of riding together has both of us excited, almost more than other things. (I did say almost.)
And we are treating Orlando as a bit of a test. To see if this really has potential. If Orlando blows up in our faces, well, so be it. We both just walk away. We are, after all, both adults. (In theory, anyway.) And if Orlando goes as we both hope it will, as we both think it can? Who knows. We're both very excited, nervous, scared, and more than anything, happy. Her coworkers have noticed a marked improvement in her mood since she got back from Florida. Mine have noticed my general giddiness. On both coasts, the word "smitten" is being bandied about quite a bit. We're basically two fortysomethings acting like high schoolers. Though with far more intelligent conversation. It's nice to talk to someone I know is on my intellectual level. That's not a knock on many of the other women I've dated, as most of them have been fairly intelligent. But Diane is on a level only one other woman I've been involved with was. And that is pretty damn impressive, at least to me.
But we are not making any plans past Orlando. We're both thinking past Orlando, but we know that anything could happen. She thinks I could see her in person again and not find her as attractive. I think she could get a better psychiatrist and come to her senses about me. But we're both enjoying the ride, and both looking forward to what is yet to come. Not that we're counting down the days or anything (5 till I'm on vacation, 6 till I see her, 7 till she tries to kill me for the first time). But this one could be a keeper.
And that brings up the obvious question: how? With me being in Florida and her in California? Well, again, we're not worried about that yet. We'll burn that bridge when we come to it. But I do plan on moving back to Phoenix (was really gunning for this month at the start of the year, but am now perhaps more realistically targeting March/April), and now have even more motivation than before. And Phoenix is just a short flight (or long drive) from NoCal. And she may or may not stay there. There's a lot going on right now. And we both have jobs that we can do anywhere. (Bartender and nurse.)
But the short version is, at least as far as right now, I'd rather be with this girl who lives in California than anyone in Florida. Even while she is California. If the worst thing that happens is we have to start worrying more about travel plans, well, I'm fine with that. As is she. And as I said, we're both obnoxiously happy. So crazy as it may be to some, I am looking forward to a vacation with a girl I have spent less than 36 hours with. And I'm very much looking forward to this adventure, as it's already been one wild ride.
Stay tuned. More obnoxiousness may be on the way.....
(TL,DR: Met a great girl three weeks ago, meeting her in Orlando for four days of fun next week, think this could go somewhere.)
(For those not interested in a long and drawn out story, skip to the next thread, or to the end of this one for a very concise summary.)
For many years, this one couple has been coming to my bar as what I call "tourist regulars": tourists who come in enough that we know them. This particular couple, Liz and Paul, are among the ones I've befriended, and gone out drinking with. I usually know when they'll be coming into town because Liz will text me directly. And they come to town about twice a year--and like me, they enjoy drinking.
For the last two years, Liz has been going on and on about her friend Diane, and how Diane and I would soooo hit it off. I politely smiled and nodded each time, while mentally rolling my eyes, because I've heard this kind of stuff before. Yeah, yeah....whatever. At the same time, Liz had been telling her friend Diane about their favorite bartender in Key West, yours truly. Diane thought the guy sounded vaguely interesting, but had no idea Liz was trying to set her up, and didn't really pay attention. Interestingly, during this time period, Diane had been on one or two of these trips with Liz and Paul, but for whatever reason, while I had seen those two, Diane had never ever made it into my bar or to any of the meet ups I had with the couple. These things do happen.
At the beginning of this month, the three of them were back in KW. And Liz reminded me about Diane, who she had once shown me a picture of, which I vaguely remembered. Looked kinda cute in the picture. But, whatever. Shrug. In any case, they promised I'd meet Diane this time. And on that Sunday, we did actually all meet up, and went and hit the town. And while Diane did look better than the okay picture I had seen, I didn't really think much about it initially.
But the thing is, Liz was absolutely right. Because Diane and I hit it off. Famously. To the point of kissing much of the night, seeming to the annoyance of Liz, who kept saying we were "being gross." In much the same way a four year old would say that to adults kissing. This amused Diane and I, but it did not deter us. We both knew Liz, and knew that she is a bit of a lunatic, though in the best possible way. And apparently she and Paul are not huge on public displays of affection. Diane and I don't share that particular hang up.
In any case, this all went on well into the night, and about 1:30 am, the three of them went back to their hotel, and I was left to dance down the street. Note: I am not being figurative here. I was actually dancing down the street. (Caroline Street, if you must know.) So I texted my friend Little Red, asking if she was out and about, and letting her know that I had just "spent most of the night making out with the hottest girl imaginable." As it turned out, Red WAS out, and we met up at one of our favorite bars, at which the only other customer was another friend of mine. So it was just the three of us and the bartender there, and I was going on about Diane, until both Red and my other friend told me, "Don't get too attached. You always get too attached." I've heard this before, and they were right. Because this is my history. And usually, being reminded of this, I attempt to reign it in. Usually.
But not that night. I just looked at them and said, "Hi, have we met? I'm Jester. This is what I fucking do. It may not always work out for me, but this is my nature, and damn it, I'm okay with that!" I was not to be deterred. And I was fucking happy.
The next day, after some training for an additional job I'm taking on (which, during the breaks, Diane and I were texting back and forth), I met up with the three of them again. And Diane and I picked up right where we left off. As did Liz, providing repetitive commentary of how "gross" we were being. We continued to ignore it. Paul continued to be amused. Interestingly, at one bar, as a group was leaving, one girl stopped and asked me, "Are you two married?" I told her, "No, I just met her last night." She said, "No, really?" I nodded and said, "Seriously. I just met her last night." She seemed incredulous.
Throughout the night, I'd been on a campaign of persuasion to convince Diane to not get on her plane and stay a few extra days. It wouldn't cost her anything extra, after all, since her flight was on points, and I had a place for her to stay. Yes, it was my place, but she knew that, as I'd made that quite clear. And she didn't seem to have any problem with that aspect of it. And from the early part of the night through the end of the night, around 3 am, it really looked like I was convincing her, as I was very persuasive, and she didn't seem to need much convincing. And they went back to their hotel, and I went back home, thinking I may have actually succeeded in my endeavors.
Alas, it was not to be. When I finally heard from her again, Diane was at the airport, and I was at work. Apparently there had been some issue back in California with her dog. (Yes, she lives in California. Did I not mention that part? ) And despite my best efforts to convince her not to get on that plane, she did. And she flew away.
A while later, Liz and Paul came into my bar for some munchies and to say goodbye, as they had to drive up to the mainland to catch their flight. (They live in Colorado, so they were on a different flight than Diane, who flew directly out of KW.) As I talked to them, I told them that I WOULD see Diane again, probably before I saw Liz and Peter again. Peter said that I "sounded a bit stalkerish." I just looked at him and said, "No. I'm just determined."
And I was. Because, holy shit balls, I was not about to let go of something that seemed so special, even if it turned out to be nothing. Especially because I've seen how much bullshit there is out there. And I won't lie, the level of determination surprised even me. But Diane and I stayed in touch. And within a short time, it became clear that I was not the only one so determined. And that the special feeling was definitely mutual.
We definitely have a lot of similar interests. Food, beer, cooking, silliness, having fun, a sick sense of humor, and as an added bonus, bicycling. I knew she was a runner, but last weekend it came out that she also liked riding. That floored me. And that resulted in an amusing exchange between my little sister and I the next day. Because I messaged her, "And this girl is even a cyclist!" To which Lil Sis said, "Now, don't take this as a sign from the cosmos that this is The One or anything." I said, "I'm not, you twit, I just think it's fucking cool!" Which it is. (I may or may not have actually called my little sister a twit.) As it turns out, this has re inspired me to get back in the saddle and on the road, and start riding again, as I had been ignoring and neglecting my bikes. Got the best one tuned back up and took it for what I thought would be a short test ride of a few blocks, and went ten miles. Pure joy. Got the tires of the commuter bike aired up, and rode to work for the first time in months the other day. Two out of three down. Will get the other road bike taken care of soon enough.
So, as we talked, we quickly started floating some ideas of getting together somehow, going over various possibilities. And we are getting together. Rather soon. Okay, really soon. Next Friday, I drive up to Orlando. That day, after she works, Diane will get on a red eye flight, and I will pick her up at the Orlando airport Saturday morning. And we plan on having a lot of fun. Roller coasters. NASA. Beer. Food. Bicycling. Because I'll be bringing up my best bike, and she'll be renting one in Orlando. The idea of riding together has both of us excited, almost more than other things. (I did say almost.)
And we are treating Orlando as a bit of a test. To see if this really has potential. If Orlando blows up in our faces, well, so be it. We both just walk away. We are, after all, both adults. (In theory, anyway.) And if Orlando goes as we both hope it will, as we both think it can? Who knows. We're both very excited, nervous, scared, and more than anything, happy. Her coworkers have noticed a marked improvement in her mood since she got back from Florida. Mine have noticed my general giddiness. On both coasts, the word "smitten" is being bandied about quite a bit. We're basically two fortysomethings acting like high schoolers. Though with far more intelligent conversation. It's nice to talk to someone I know is on my intellectual level. That's not a knock on many of the other women I've dated, as most of them have been fairly intelligent. But Diane is on a level only one other woman I've been involved with was. And that is pretty damn impressive, at least to me.
But we are not making any plans past Orlando. We're both thinking past Orlando, but we know that anything could happen. She thinks I could see her in person again and not find her as attractive. I think she could get a better psychiatrist and come to her senses about me. But we're both enjoying the ride, and both looking forward to what is yet to come. Not that we're counting down the days or anything (5 till I'm on vacation, 6 till I see her, 7 till she tries to kill me for the first time). But this one could be a keeper.
And that brings up the obvious question: how? With me being in Florida and her in California? Well, again, we're not worried about that yet. We'll burn that bridge when we come to it. But I do plan on moving back to Phoenix (was really gunning for this month at the start of the year, but am now perhaps more realistically targeting March/April), and now have even more motivation than before. And Phoenix is just a short flight (or long drive) from NoCal. And she may or may not stay there. There's a lot going on right now. And we both have jobs that we can do anywhere. (Bartender and nurse.)
But the short version is, at least as far as right now, I'd rather be with this girl who lives in California than anyone in Florida. Even while she is California. If the worst thing that happens is we have to start worrying more about travel plans, well, I'm fine with that. As is she. And as I said, we're both obnoxiously happy. So crazy as it may be to some, I am looking forward to a vacation with a girl I have spent less than 36 hours with. And I'm very much looking forward to this adventure, as it's already been one wild ride.
Stay tuned. More obnoxiousness may be on the way.....
(TL,DR: Met a great girl three weeks ago, meeting her in Orlando for four days of fun next week, think this could go somewhere.)
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