On Dating -
It’s not always supposed to work out.
I met a lovely man. We were set up by a mutual friend who swore we were the same person. Two sides of the same coin with similar interests and witty senses of humor. It was refreshing- a sweet meet cute in a world of right swipes.
Everything started off promising. He sent me a message after I gave my blessing to our friend, and we just never stopped texting. We kept an effortless flow of conversation going. He remembered all the small things I mentioned in passing, was quick to share memes and made me laugh. His name would pop up on my screen, and a sneaking grin would turn up the corners of my mouth. Cheeky interactions and daily anecdotes from our workdays became an evening ritual, and the eagerness to meet was electrifying.
On the first date, we met up and sampled bottles of red at the local wine bar. We laughed for hours and swapped stories until closing. I walked home in a zig-zag, drunk from wine, drunk from the giddiness of meeting someone new.
On the second date, just a week later, we met up for dinner and arcade games. We quickly found our familiar jocular pace, but something felt a little off. I couldn’t quite put my finger on what exactly until about halfway through our date, my stomach sunk with realization. I wasn’t romantically attracted to this person even though I…
