friend date

I went on a friend date. That's an outing with someone that you've met at an event and you're kind of auditioning each other to see if you could become friends. It's very much like a date except without the possibility of sex.

We met at the luau back in May and then we sat across from each other at lunch on that train trip last month and made plans to see a play at a local town. She originally wanted to get to town fairly early in the morning to check out the farmers market but I wasn't up for it so we met for lunch instead.

It can be fairly uncomfortable to try to pick a restaurant with someone that you really don't know and she decided that the decision should be mine. Talk about pressure when you have no idea what the other person likes to eat and they just say "you decide" whenever you throw out a suggestion.

I finally settled on a place I'd never been to before but had always wondered about. When we walked in it looked so different from how I'd imagined it. It was basically a bar with some booths but I loved the ambiance with the tin ceiling, exposed pipes and brick walls. The menu was varied enough for just about any taste and I enjoyed the food we ordered.

My companion suggested we share a couple of entrees and that's what we did even though I'm not really a big fan of sharing.

As an introvert, I figured out a long time ago the secret to making small talk seem less awkward - you just subtly ask questions until you find a subject that makes their eyes light up and then sit back and let them talk. Most people LOVE talking about themselves so all you have to do is nod and smile. They never even notice that an hour can pass and they've not asked you a single question about yourself. Maybe that's why I keep thinking about the train guy, he actually seemed interested in getting to know me. 

Speaking of men, my lunch/theater companion showed me some text messages she'd gotten from another guy in our social group...a guy who has a girlfriend but is sending her super suggestive, kinda creepy messages. And then she shared stories of another dating disaster she's had in the last year. Makes me very disappointed in what's out there and I'm now pretty sure I'd better find a way to live with the loneliness. 

After lunch we made our way to the theater and found our seats. It's an old restored theater from 1935, quite intimate and cozy. It was the first movie theater in Central Florida. You know I love buildings with history so I was excited to see anything there. I also love live theater so even though I wasn't in love with the vocal talents of some of the cast and the story was dated, I loved the '80s music and really did enjoy the experience. I would love to go back for some of the other plays during the season. Before this, Taz and I had only been in this theater for a couple of classic Alfred Hitchcock/Grace Kelly movies.

We said goodbye just as soon as the play ended and made vague promises to do this again sometime.

See, exactly like a date.

Now I'm back at home with someone who is always interested in me. Who needs more friends than that?