RAD: S. S. in These Foolish Things

After my string of bad dates, this is how I know it’s not me. It only takes one…

Name: S. S. His real initials. I wanted to use his real first and last name - it’s so badass!

Introduction Platform: Bumble. And it’s funny, he only had one photo in his profile, but it was a full-on photo of him standing somewhere in Europe with a smirky grin on his face. It was a combination of the great first name with the photo and the way he wrote his profile that made me reach out to him and send him a hello.

Age: 49

Relationship Status: Divorced. But we didn’t talk much about relationships at all. I need to get a little more clarification around his actual status. The only thing I know is that I’m the second woman he’s been out with from Bumble. He has one adult daughter in college and one 17-year-old daughter who has been accepted to every Ivy league school as well as offered full-rides to pretty much any other school she wants

Job: Tax attorney - he went out on a first date with me during his busiest time of the year. That’s saying something.

Lives: About a 15-minute walk from my place, if I felt comfortable walking there

Length of Date: 3.5 hours

We Did: Met at an outdoor dive bar “patio” (which really just means an outdoor area with picnic tables). It’s close to where Martini’s doggy daycare is, so it was easy for me to just swing by after I picked her up. It’s also close to both of our apartments. He had a few beers, I had a few glasses of bubbly (which is super funny for as divey as the place is, but they had it!). We talked and laughed and ate burgers and listened to some live music and got close (!) and held hands (!!!)

He Looked: Super cute. His vibe is young even though he has graying hair that is cropped really close. In his only profile photo it was a bit shaggier, but he told me that when he’d grown his covid beard it grew kind of out of control along with his hair, so when it was time to cut it all, the way to do it was just to crop it all down. I don’t really know how to explain it, but it works for him. He’s a big marathoner, so he has that kind of thin-ish athletic runner’s body, which made me feel chunky and out of shape next to him. He was wearing jeans and a nice patterned woven shirt, brown loafers, beautiful watch. Exactly my type.

I Looked: What I wore to work - denim, a pretty floral flowy sheer top over a tank, tall wedges. Brought my dog, which made him wish he’d brought his baby Frenchie puppy. We both were like, next time, for sure!

Convo: This is a little weird because we talked for hours, but I don’t remember everything we talked about. I think it’s because I was distracted over feeling such a connection and chemistry. It’s been a long, long time since I’ve felt chemistry with someone. If you’ve read my RADs, you’ve seen that I’ve struggled for quite some time because I wasn’t feeling any attraction with anyone. I think I was so happy that sparks were flying that I was breezing through the talking part. But here’s what I remember…we talked about our families and the places where we grew up; we talked about work stuff and some of the bullshit; we talked about his daughters; we talked about animals; we talked about music; we talked about how great the venue was and what a lovely night it was. We did NOT talk about politics or religion (except for the fact that his ex and daughters are Jewish so they celebrate Jewish holidays) or much about Covid. It was as close to a pre-pandemic type evening as I can remember.

High Point: Us both sitting on the same side of the picnic table, our legs on both sides of the bench, facing each other with the tiny dog between us in that space between our legs and holding hands. Oh my, it felt just amazing to touch another human being’s hands in a romantic kind of way. It was exactly, exactly what my soul needed.

Low Point: Just that twinge of feeling Covid-blobby and the brief second thinking about how possibly Covid dangerous we were being by being so close together. But I also know that I was the bigger threat than he was since he’s been isolated and I’ve been the one to be more out and about at my office, etc.

How It Ended: This is weird, but the music started getting a little loud and the place started getting a little crowded, though we were still outside and not close to anyone but each other. Still, it seemed like a good time to call it a night. It was 10:30, so it was before any craziness could possibly happen. He walked me to my car, but Martini was pulling at her leash, so he took her leash and started walking her over to a grassy area. She kept pulling and pulling so I walked with them down the sidewalk and on the way over to his car he pulled me in for a kiss. It was not a huge kiss, but it was a sweet, romantic kiss nonetheless. We didn’t linger, but it was nice to kiss another human being, pandemic or not.

Chances Are: Pretty decent. I want to meet his baby Frenchie, and I think he wants to hang out some more. He sent me a text that said in case I was wondering, he’d had an “awesome” time, so there’s that.

Date Rating: Solid A