We sat down for brunch a little after ten this morning, discussing her plans for moving here. She's in town for a week and wanted to see me before I leave to Alaska tomorrow, so brunch seemed like a good idea.
This would be our second time meeting in person. The first was over a month ago, only after weeks of speaking with her over the phone. We got to know each other pretty fast through our brief and flirtatious calls. Our first meeting was over dinner in her hometown in Florida, and although I was there to see other people, I made a side-trip to meet this intriguing, sultry woman over the phone. It was a wonder she was only 24.
Our meal was fine, punctuated with a few glasses of fresh-squeezed orange juice and coffee. We talked about her desire and drive to find a place in Manhattan over the next week, me offering her a little advice about apartment hunting.
Later, we drove and went to a few open houses, the whole while covering the main areas of Manhattan in the least amount of time possible. To save time, we looked up listings on my phone and called and e-mailed as soon as something fell into her price range. We drove through all the desirable areas-- Spanish Harlem, Upper East Side, Upper West, Alphabet City, Lower East Side, SoHo, Hell's Kitchen. We even took a side trip to Brooklyn and she squealed in excitement over her first trip over the Brooklyn Bridge while she called her mother, teary-eyed. It was a nice moment for me because I thought back to my first moments in the city almost 10 years ago.
We drove to the pier in DUMBO and took a little walk, while she explained her reasons for wanting to move here. I could feel something in the back of my mind bothering me, a subtle reason as to why I should give up this secret little crush I had for her.
I had wanted to like her. A lot. She's strong, vivacious, funny. Very intelligent. And driven. Qualities I like in a woman. And I found myself developing affection for her over the last few weeks since our first dinner together, making the time to talk to her here and there over the phone. But I couldn't deny that something was holding me back, and that little voice inside my head started talking again. You'll only be friends. Don't try too hard.
We finished our tour around three o'clock, with time for me to go home and start packing for my trip. She thanked me for the day, we hugged, said goodbye, and I drove off. I smiled knowing I did something useful today helping a new friend out.
My ride down the FDR was peaceful. I thought more about what it was about our last two meetings that made me decide to just be friends...
When the check came earlier today, she didn't offer to pay or leave a tip. And the first thing she said when we were on our way was that she didn't have any cash. I even suggested we go to an ATM and she balked, saying that she would rather go to her bank to save on the fees. Since her bank was out of our way, she declined my offer to drive her there. The only thing she paid for was the New York Times she picked up for today's classifieds, but that was after I gave her $1.25 and she realized the paper was $4.00. ($4? For a newspaper?!? C'mon, really?)
(To offer a little perspective on this, being single I've been out with my share of women, young and older, and not just in New York. Friends and dates alike, they always offer to leave something after dinner, if not deciding to split the bill. More impressively are the ones who pay alternately with me. Even PG would buy for me.)
And the last time we went out it was the same thing: she didn't pull out her card or anything. And it was her suggestion to meet for dinner. Both times she kept quiet until I paid, then thanked me.
And while discussing how much to budget for living here each month, when I brought up the subject of going out and setting aside money for that she said, rather princess-like, "Well, I'm a girl, so I shouldn't have to pay for drinks."
It made sense. She was... shrewd. And while it's a quality I admire in some people, I found it to be mildly irritating with her, like a blemish that's noticeable yet doesn't (entirely) ruin a pretty face. But it does turn you off. A bit.
So that being said, I have a plan next time we decide to go out. We'll see if I can get her to pay for dinner and a movie. I'll even make it easy on her-- dinner can be catered by a hot dog vendor.
No comments:
Post a Comment