Name: O.
Age: 70
Status: Twice divorced and very bitter over the last one. Not sure how long ago his most recent divorce was, but you’d think it was last week from the way he talked.
Job: Critically acclaimed artist/painter, former art professor, locally very well known
Lives: In the lofts where I lived for 6 years – from the time I moved back to [my city] from the Great Midwest (2006) until the time I got engaged to Sexy Pants and moved in with him (2012). O. has lived there for 15 years. I knew of O. when I lived there, but he was going through some health stuff at the time and he’s also a somewhat reclusive person, in that he doesn’t make an effort to “hang out” in the public places like the rooftop pool and such. Plus, it is a MASSIVE warehouse building.
Length of Date: Close to 3 hours.
He Looked: Shorter than I’d even remembered. He has a very unique look, so I spotted him right away. He’s bald and wears specs with thick, round frames. He was dressed in shades of white/off white, a true male Virgo. Pretty hip, I think.
I Looked: …like his opposite! I was dressed all in black (hello, I’m a Scorpio). I wore super high heels as I almost always do on a first date just to see how they go over. Black textured tank over black textured skirt. Spiky (gold/black) jewelry and spiky clutch – also gold/black.
We Did: Had dinner and drinks at a fancy-schmancy Italian restaurant in town. It’s funny, I didn’t think I’d ever been there before, but as I drove to the place, I started thinking…yes, I have been here before, but it was for a business lunch about 20 years ago! Time sure flies when you’re having fun. Got there right on time and O. was already there, but standing in a crowd by the hostess stand. Seems they’d lost our reservation and didn’t have a place for us to sit! We stood there talking for about 10 minutes and then we were able to find a spot at the bar where we made friends with some wacko chick who wanted to talk and talk…until they finally got us a table. I really wanted to sit outside because the weather is sooooooooo incredibly beautiful, but I guess beggars can’t be choosers – but O. was clearly ticked off that they didn’t have a table for HIM. In the end, it was fine regardless of where we sat because we talked non-stop for hours. We talked careers and life and travel and relationships…pretty much everything but politics. And now that I think of it, we did discuss how liberal he is while I nodded my head in agreement to his thoughts. We had lots and lots of words. It was pretty intense. OH, and we ate. I wasn’t all that hungry knowing that we were going to be eating late, so I had eaten a veggie burger at the end of work at my office. We both ended up getting the spicy cauliflower soup (OMG, yum) and Caesar salads. I had champagne, naturally. He had a merlot.
First Impression: He is an older version of the Bulldog – not in that blow-me-away sexiness, but in the curmudgeonly way he communicates. He seems bitter about a lot of things, and that made me sad. He sells works of art for thousands upon thousands of dollars, and yet he’s a starving artist. Yes, I understand that it’s pretty much the way artists live, but it’s also the life he chose – tortured artist, dissatisfied, a little kinky (I could tell). There’s nothing wrong with any one of those attributes, but I just kept thinking, didn’t I just go through all of this before? - and that was with a guy who turned me on to no end.
High Point: It was not all doom and gloom, for sure. We had some lively discussions about massages and happy endings ;) We talked about people we both know from the lofts. We laughed about stuff. He gave me encouragement. He told me I was pretty about 32937589 times.
Low Point: Feeling a little uncomfortable about knowing that he is interested in romantic things and I am interested in romantic things too, just not with him.
How It Ended: We closed the joint! Seriously, we were the last customers in the restaurant and he still wanted to keep chatting even after the valet brought our car keys in and set them down on the table! We really did have a great non-stop talk session and he’s a very interesting guy. He said we should do it again, and I said sure…but I’m really NOT sure. Got home waaaaay past my bedtime. Slept hard.
Chances Are: I think that if there was an event like a gallery opening that he asked me to attend with him, I’d go. I don’t see any possible romantic relationship happening, but he’s definitely someone I’d like to get to know better – from a creative standpoint. Is that wrong? I suppose not if I’m up front, right?
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