In early June of 2012, following the ending of a long distance relationship and a horrifying rebound, a co-worker of mine suggested I go out with her boyfriend's brother. My co-worker's boyfriend was two years younger than her. Making his brother three years younger than me, but four years in school. I hesitated initially. He was still in college, still two years off from graduating. He sounded great, but I wasn't quite sure I could let the age gap go. I politely declined. Repeatedly.
My co-worker was persistent, though. She mentioned his good qualities constantly and noted things we had in common. Finally, she convinced me to meet him one night when we were all out at the Cabana Bar so there wouldn't be the pressure of a totally blind date.
Anxiously that night, I fretted about the excuses I could make up and keep me from looking like a total jerk. Even though I wasn't sold on the idea, I still curled my hair and changed my outfit thirty or forty times. Hanging around the bar with my friends for the first hour or so, I thought I might have gotten away with avoiding this awkward situation when my co-worker tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around. And there he was. Absolutely gorgeous.
My co-worker was right; we hit it off. With the sweetest smile, I couldn't say no when he asked me for my number, specifically so he could take me out to dinner. No games, nothing left hanging. He was taking me to dinner and needed my number to set up plans.
When he arrived the night of our date, my date came to pick me up AT THE FRONT DOOR. (Men, take notes.) He said hello to my mom and walked me to his car. While texting trying to determine plans, my date pulled out of me different types of food I would be interested in. He took me to an Italian restaurant in his town. Italian food is absolutely the way to my heart. This date was headed in the right direction.
Throughout dinner, my gorgeous date did a fantastic job of keeping the conversation going. We talked about what he was studying and his time on the football team. He talked about his family and how close they all were. The younger guy in front of me was well put together and, seemingly, perfect. It unnerved me and intrigued me.
After dinner, we piled back into this car. My date paused, putting his food in the backseat of his car. Sitting in the front, I was unsure whether I should have placed my food in the back as well. He slowly opened his door and got in. He looked at my lap which held my takeout container. I asked him if I should have put it in the backseat to which he shook his head.
Pulling out of the parking lot, my date's jaw seemed to tense up. So I did what any girl who thinks she's just offended her date should probably not do: start yapping. I tried my best to fill any silence, asking questions or trying to continue conversations from dinner to which he replied pointed and quick. I nervously fiddled in my seat, rewinding the moments leading us to the car desperately searching for the answer.
Slowing at a stop sign a loud shriek erupted from the back of the car. Turning around just in time to see a lanky boy in his tighty-whities hop from the trunk, writhe about on the back seat shouting and singing before opening the door and fleeing down the street into darkness.
We sat at the stop sign for a few moments before erupting into laughter. Quickly apologizing, my date admitted to knowing the boy; he was a friend of his younger brother's. Upon getting to the car at the restaurant, he noticed him scrunched up in the truck. He thought he was only there to spy on us so he didn't comment. He figured he would get out when we got to my co-worker's house and I would never know he was there. That's why he tried to keep me from discussing too much in the car.
I laughed all the way to my co-worker's house and it was the first thing we told them as we walked in the door. Everyone howled along and slapped my date on the back.
Heading into another room, feeling pretty good about my date, my friends started to tease me about our age difference. The good, happy feelings from moments before started to dissipate. I started to doubt myself, glancing over at my date standing in the doorway. He was gorgeous, sweet, a true gentleman. But he was so much younger. Still in college younger. I couldn't talk myself out of that one.
Upon arriving home, he offered to walk me to my door but I shook my head. As someone unaccustomed to such kindness from a date, I felt awful "making" him walk me to my garage. I hopped out of his car, waved goodbye, and quickly punched in the garage key code.
Of course, my date followed up. I was going on vacation shortly and we agreed to meet up after I returned, but I knew I wasn't going to reach out again. My bias and my friend's teasing were ridiculous reasons, but I went with them nonetheless.
I didn't give my date a fair shot. Looking back, the things I thought would keep us apart were so minor and insignificant. Those friends aren't major factors in my life anymore. Their relationships have long since fallen away while my co-worker is now engaged to my date's brother. I have never laughed so hard, been treated so well, or been so sure of a date's interest since that night.
So, my date will go down as the best first date I ever went on with someone I didn't end up dating.
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