The Meeting

I walk over to the restaurant, expecting to find her in the lobby waiting. She had sent an obviously old picture of herself, and then another, more recent face shot. I have a hard time identifying someone from pictures, anyway, so I was worried I wouldn't be able to spot her. There was no one waiting in the lobby, though, and I had a few moments of worrying that I had been stood up. The phone in the lobby rang, and the waiter called out my name and handed me the phone. The first time I heard her voice! It was gruff...she sounded like a smoker. She told me she habitually runs 10 minutes behind and today was no exception. Ok, it was a last minute date, so understandable. I grab a table and wait. And wait. And wait. Texting DH, who knows I hate waiting. Surfed the net and texted DH again.

She finally showed up 1/2 hour later, looking NOTHING like her picure. Really, nothing like it. It was obvious the pictures she had sent were taken several years and quite a few pounds earlier. But even that was forgiven. I have always said I am not hung up on looks, and she just proved my point. I stood up, gave her a hug, and was ready to get to know her.

She started right off by showing me a picture of her daughter. Ookkkayy. I am meeting this woman to possibly have an intimate encounter, and she starts off showing me pictures of her daughter. And dogs. But I had posted that I was looking for a friend as well, so ok. I show her a picture of my daughter and DH and we start talking about relationships. Her marriage had recently ended and so she had a lot of bitterness there. I have the most wonderful husband on earth, so I try not to brag. But it can't be helped.

I ask her how she knows a woman kisses better than a man (as she has now told me several times). She says she met a young exchange student last spring on facebook and had a couple of intimate encounters with her, which is what lead to her marriage ending. She goes into detail about her marriage and what was wrong with it. She talks about labels and how she doesn't identify with being a lesbian, but that the encounters she had were really great.

Several times throughout the lunch I have thoughts of what am I doing...I have a great marriage, a wonderful husband and what am I doing trying to find something more? Who am I to need, want or deserve something more?

As the lunch wound to an end, she offered to drive back to my office, which was only around the corner. I could tell she wanted to have a more private conversation than we could have at the restaurant, so I agreed. She did not, after all, strike me as an ax murderer.

After she moved all of the fast food containers from the front seat to the back seat, I hopped in and she drove me to the entrance to my office, telling me that a relationship with a woman is different than with a man. She explained it was really more about an experience than pure sex. As we parked at the entrance, she asked what I thought. I told her honestly that I didn't feel the connection that I hoped I would. No sparks at all. Perhaps that's the answer that I was looking for. She asks if there's some place private where she can leave me something to think about. I know where she's leading, so I direct her to the far corner of the parking lot.