Date No.2. Lesson learnt: A beautiful soul is more precious than a beautiful face
Indy. 28 years old, 5 ft 8, built like a Greek god with a personality equally sized, cheeky smile and an infectious laugh. Gorgeous.
Probably the best first date I've ever had, not because of where we went but purely because of the company. It just goes to show it's people that make a place.
He lived in Angel, London and worked as a graphic designer. I was visiting London one weekend and we decided to meet up on my last evening in London before my midnight coach back to Devon. I had my massive weekend bag with me so we hatched a plan that when I met him in Angel we would drop my bag at his flat and then head out to dinner.
So I arrived excitedly in a casual dress, heeled boots, face pristine and.... he was late. I was waiting at Angel tube for half an hour. Apparently he was caught up at work. Then a guy who looked vaguely like him appeared across the way, holding a bunch of flowers looking like he was waiting for someone. 'Oh no' I said to myself, that can't be him, he looks nothing how I imagined him to be, 'please god let that not be him, let that not be him.' I rang his phone and I let out a big sigh of relief as the guy ahead didn't reach to answer...there's still hope yet I thought. Finally I get a phone call. 'I'm so sorry i'm late hun, i'm here now, where are you?' I turned around and he was just how I imagined him to be. He gave me a big bear hug (all I could feel were muscles-thank you god) and we turned and walked. 'Nice of you to turn up!' I joked.
This ploy of having to drop my bag at his flat meant I had an early insight into his mind, after all every girl knows how a guy lives is a how a guy works. It was actually very nice and clean. His bedroom was very orderly, and surprisingly minimalistic. It was white washed, had a poster of the godfather on the wall and a few family photos in frames, then a desk with a giant apple desktop. He had a black duvet cover, with shoes neatly arranged in a line next to his wardrobe. I immediately thought perfectionist.
He turned and said 'Right, shall I show you a good time?' I looked at him shocked, 'errr yes?!' I muttered. He burst out laughing, that deep laugh which sounded like it was echoing around his chest, 'I'm talking about hitting the restaurant silly.' 'Of course!' I squeaked back and now I look like a pleb I thought...
He took me to a meat restaurant and failed to realise that I was a a fussy meat eater (in other words i'm a vegetarian for convenience). By this point I was a lot more comfortable and the nerves were settling, we ate and there was a lot of banter. We talked about each others careers, how long we had been single and what we were looking for. The conversation just flowed so nicely. He paid (as he should!) and we headed on to a bar and had a few drinks, there was a lot of flirting and he put his hand on my arm or leg every now and again. As the night went on I realised I had to catch my bus back to Devon. Noticing me looking nervously at my watch every now and again he said, 'Don't worry, i'll get you there safely and on time,' and I instantly relaxed back into the evening. He took control and I liked that.
We walked back to his place to get my bag and he pointed out a mobile phone advert he had designed at a bus stop which impressed me. When we reached his flat I went up to his room and grabbed my bag. He went to the bathroom and I remember sitting on his bed thinking if i missed my bus right now it wouldn't be such a bad thing. Before we left he took my hand and said 'I've had a really good time tonight i'd like to see you again. Come on let's get you to the station.'
On the walk to the station, as a test, I said 'You know I don't have to go if you don't want me to.' (not that I would stay- i'm a good girl!) and he suggested that maybe we should toss a coin. Heads was to stay and tails was to catch the bus. 1st toss was tails, 2nd was heads and 3rd was tails so the coin had spoken and it was back to Devon I went.
On the walk to the station, as a test, I said 'You know I don't have to go if you don't want me to.' (not that I would stay- i'm a good girl!) and he suggested that maybe we should toss a coin. Heads was to stay and tails was to catch the bus. 1st toss was tails, 2nd was heads and 3rd was tails so the coin had spoken and it was back to Devon I went.
The second time I saw him he came down to Devon and stayed the weekend in a hotel where I lived. Any guy that travels 5 hours on a coach on a 2nd date means he's interested. I took him to the countryside and walked him through a muddy forrest (it was all a test to see how the city boy coped with mud- you have to do this girls) and took him to the beach where I bought a little picnic of hot chai and sandwiches. He was really touched with how much effort i'd put in and as we lay there on the sandy beach blanket looking at the sky we talked about our travels. We did the whole cheesy 'try and push each other in the sea game' and on the way back to the car he flung me over his shoulder and carried me back up to the car.
The most embarrassing moment though had to be that evening. My mum and sisters were so excited to hear the gossip that they wanted to see what he looked like, so I begrudgingly let them drive me to meet him at his hotel in town. Yes, I had my mum, my sister, my brother in the back and my older sister driving... Horrific!!! Might as well have had my dad in the boot. We pulled up outside his hotel and my mum asked me to call him outside whilst they waited in the car. I called but he didn't pick up so I wandered into the hotel reception whist my family waited in the car. He came out of another entrance and lo and behold wondered over to the car containing my family as he mistakenly took the girl behind the drivers wheel to be me (me and my sister look very alike) and he came right up to the screen and had a good look in. Needless to say mum got more than she bargained for in terms of a good look!
We dated many more times and eventually got into a turbulent relationship which only lasted 3 months. I realised he was immature. He was jealous when I went abroad with my sisters on holiday saying that it had been 2 years since he had been on holiday and that it was unfair. He was ill tempered and stubborn and he had no other interests other than drinking beer and going to the gym and working on his abs. I realised that although physically very attractive mentally we did not meet. He didn't stimulate my mind. The other difficulty that he faced was that he was turning 29 very soon and he was getting pressure from his family to settle down. He wanted to get into a relationship which had potential to lead to marriage. He talked about us moving so we were closer together, saying that he couldn't move away from London as his company only had offices there in the UK, which would have meant me having to compromise and having to move. At that point in time my work contract was based in Devon for two years and to be honest I didn't see me moving to London afterwards. We grew further apart as our minds saw things differently and in the end we decided to call it a day. In retrospect I realised that a beautiful soul is more precious than a beautiful face.
