Confessions of a Singleholic Archives • Page 3 of 5 • Madeline Olsen

Chapter 27: The Runaway, Part II

Sometimes people come back into your life…

Sometimes men come back into your life right when you need a new story, and that’s what Elijah, The Runaway, did for me.

If you don’t remember, Elijah was the guy from Orlando that I went out with last year, had a great time with at the arcade bar, but then on our second hangout he literally got up and walked out of my apartment without a word when he realized that I wasn’t going to put out that night. Here’s a refresher if you need it.

So, are you ready to hear about his reappearance into my life? Good, because I’m ready to tell you.

Not too long ago, I woke up to a text from Elijah simply saying, “Hey.” I was bored, so I responded, and he asked me if I was in Boston still, and I said yes. We started talking a bit, and eventually when I had the perfect moment to do so, I called him out on what he’d done to me a year before and asked if he was going to do that again. He said no, and he apologized for the way that he’d left things that night.

We talked for a bit, and he really seemed to have changed. He seemed genuinely sorry for what had happened, and kept saying that he was surprised but very happy that I had even responded to him. I told him that while it sometimes bites me in the butt, I do try to give people two chances most of the time. But, after those two chances, you’re done.

Ultimately, after talking for a bit and catching up, we made plans to hang out. Elijah is not the biggest movie buff, apparently, and he has a whole list of movies he’s never seen and was asking me for my favorite Halloween movie so he could add it to the list. Mine is the original “Friday the 13th,” and he said he’d never seen it. So, we decided that he’d come over and we’d watch it together and maybe I could help him cross some more movies off the list as time went on.

He kept telling me how excited he was, and honestly, I was, too! I had really enjoyed my first date with him, and while in the moment I was too drunk and too focused on my hash browns, I was disappointed when he walked out on me. He was funny, we had a good time, and it wasn’t fun to have him disappear like that. I was really looking forward to getting together again.

He came over a few nights later, and pretty quickly we picked things right back up where we left off. It wasn’t weird at all, and even though just to be safe I had my pepper spray in my pocket, I realized pretty quickly that I didn’t need it. I felt comfortable and safe, and it was really fun to just have someone to hang out with, joke around with, and cuddle.

I made a bunch of chocolate chip cookies for him and opened up a bottle of wine, and after catching up for a bit, we started the movie. After a bit of watching, we ended up cuddling, which was totally fine with me. I’d told him going into the night not to expect anything, and he kept saying that he’d be happy even if he got to hold my hand. When I got scared, he hugged me, when he got scared, I hugged him, we laughed at the amazing fashion featured in the movie (apparently I have a thing for jorts?), and he got to cross a movie off of his list.

My cookies are better than these.
Photo by Oleg Magni on Pexels.com

While we were talking before the movie started, he was telling me a bit about some things he’s been working on in therapy, and explained how something they’d spoken about recently made him think of me, which is why he reached out. I don’t want to violate HIPAA and tell you what that is, but I thought it was sweet that he still thought about me and that I was the one that came to mind when he realized he needed to take some responsibility for things. He kept saying he was grateful I’d answered and that I’d invited him over, and I said there were no hard feelings – it was in the past, we can’t change it, we were both drunk, and it was okay. Let’s move on.

After the movie, he started to give me a massage. He’d offered beforehand, and I’m never one to turn down a free massage, and he said like how I bake for people to show affection and appreciation, he offers massages. Plus, he wanted to show that he really did appreciate me forgiving him. The massage was amazing, and it definitely relaxed me even more, and it was just really nice to be close to someone again after almost 7 months of social distancing. After a bit, he asked if it was okay if he kissed me, and I said yes.

We kissed, and after a bit, we decided to go into my room. I made it explicitly clear that we would NOT be having sex that night – I wasn’t ready, and it was not an option – and he kept saying that even by kissing me he’d already gotten to do more than he expected. We kept things pretty PG-13/high school for the most part, but it was actually kind of fun and very different from what I’m used to with guys trying to go straight to third base.

We realized that the T was not running that late, and I didn’t want to make him get an Uber, and honestly I was happy to be borrowing some body heat from a human body and not my pillow so I said he could stay. He ended up spending the night, which was nice for me, the cuddle queen, and in the morning, I made waffles, we ate, and then he left.

While we were eating, I told him about my blog and that he was on it and he thought it was cool, and pretty funny, though I’m not sure he’s going to think it’s very funny now.

Over the next few days, we talked a bit via text and actually, a few times, he even called me on the phone just to say hi, or because he missed my voice. It was so sweet and given how some guys I’ve dealt with make me feel like asking for a phone call is like asking for a marriage proposal, again, it was just nice. A breath of fresh air.

Even though we had already made out and everything, I did try to keep the talks not too flirty. I didn’t want him getting the wrong idea, but at the same time, I’d said multiple times at this point that I wasn’t ready to have sex, and wanted to take things slow right now, and he’d agreed. But, I felt like it was okay to be kind of flirty from time to time, and I just made sure to reiterate that this was an “if/when” kind of thing, not a “next time I see you” thing.

Photo by Maria Lindsey Multimedia Creator on Pexels.com

We made plans to hang out a few nights later, the night of the NBA semi-finals, because I have access to cable and he wanted to watch. We also decided to play Never Have I Ever, and since I’d recently been apple picking and had so many apples still, I made us mini apple cobblers and apple cider moscow mules (which were amazing). He did come over with a backpack, which I thought was kind of presumptuous, but I brushed it off.

We played Never Have I Ever, which was fun to spend more time getting to know each other after playing the question game last time, my moscow mules and apple cobblers were delicious and gone very quickly, and it was nice to just hang out. We cuddled and he gave me another massage, and just like last time, he asked me if he could kiss me, and I said yes.

After a minute, he asked if we could go into the kitchen. I said yes, because I figured a change of scenery is nice, plus this way, none of the neighbors in opposite corner units from me could see me like I’m sure they’ve caught me having solo dance parties before. On the way there, I said again that we wouldn’t be having sex, and it wasn’t personal. He basically scolded me for saying that, saying that saying “it’s not personal” makes it sound like it is personal, so I apologized. I think that was the moment when it started to really kill my vibe.

Once we were in there, though, I could tell even with that there was something he wanted me to do. While I did consider doing so for a minute, just to get it over with, honestly, I realized that I didn’t want to, and just because in the past I’ve given into things because it was easier than causing a scene or having a fight, I didn’t want to do that anymore. I wasn’t in the mood, and I still wasn’t ready.

He could tell I wasn’t in the mood, but instead of reading the room and being like, “Hey, let’s just not do anything tonight,” he then directed me back to the couch and asked if I wanted to show him the kind of porn I watch. Honestly, I don’t watch porn, it’s just not my thing, but I’m not naive enough to not know where to find it or what the types of categories are, and I figured that this was a much more hands-off approach and more my speed at the time, so it was a better alternative. Then things got weird in a way I don’t even want to write about, and AGAIN he could tell I was not feeling it, but AGAIN he tried to steer the night into the opposite direction from where I wanted.

This time, he asked me if I could show him my toys, and I just went with it because I figured if I did this right and made some juvenile jokes or something, maybe I could kill his mood. I did not succeed in my mission, unfortunately, and we ended up getting into my bed.

Pages: 12

Chapter 26: I Ain’t Afraid of No Ghost

Just because it’s spooky season…

How to survive being ghosted, and why I don’t ghost

You meet someone, most likely on a dating app, you go out and have a great time, talk a bit after, and then as soon as you ask them to hang out again, they seem to have suddenly disappeared into a deep abyss, never to be seen again.

We’ve all had it happen to us. And worse, a lot of people have done it completely unintentionally.

So, how do I survive being ghosted, and why do I not ghost myself? I’m glad you asked. Since quarantine has kind of put a damper on my dating life and I’m currently working with a small pool of stories I haven’t already told (don’t worry, I’m working on getting more soon), I figured that this would be a good time to address the one aspect of modern dating that is probably the absolute worst.

I honestly would love to know who was the first person to ghost someone and make all of this a thing, because I’d like to have a serious talking-to with them. Let’s all establish right now that ghosting someone, whether you’ve been on a first date or not, is rude, inconsiderate, and unnecessary.

I have been ghosted – and trust me, it’s happened a lot – and at every stage of a relationship (including the infamous ghosting by The Cheater at literally the most cruel moment a girl could ever be ghosted) so I know that it sucks and sometimes it hurts, a lot, at first.

But then I just tell myself that clearly this person was just way too intimidated by my beauty and general amazingness and that’s why he disappeared.

Just kidding, that’s not what I do.

First of all, I give myself one day to have a mini pity party. Even if you haven’t been out yet, or you’ve only been out once, it is still definitely a blow to your ego and confidence to have someone that you really thought you were vibing with just disappear. Also, just throwing it out there, that most of the time when I give myself a day to just be sad about it and focus on making myself feel better – wine, bubble baths, face masks, the works – they usually end up texting me the next day.

But for those who don’t, I move on to stage two. I do like to give people second chances – clearly this is a pattern of mine, and it’s up for debate whether or not this is a good quality – but after my pity party day, when most of my negative emotions have already been drained, I reach out to them one more time. Here’s the key, though, you have to reach out CALMLY. Listen, I have gone from my slow simmering level 2 of craziness to a straight up 10 in about 30 seconds flat before, I get it, it’s hard not to, but again, this is why I give myself a day to just feel the feels so that when I try one more time, I’m not going full on psycho. Also, sometimes people do have genuine reasons to disappear for a bit – family emergencies, work, etc.

Photo by Ryan Miguel Capili on Pexels.com

First of all, if the person is extremely rude, makes you uncomfortable, or this is not the first time you’ve tried to break things off, then I give you permission to go full on ghost mode. However, if none of those things are true, then I recommend using my line.

Usually, I’d say something like, “Hey [name], I really don’t want to assume anything, but I haven’t heard from you in [insert general time frame, we don’t need the seconds]. I hope everything is okay with you, but also, if you’ve just lost interest I would appreciate it if you could just be upfront with me about it.”

I do tailor this to the person a bit if needed, and let me just say this – while I have not had the misfortune of being ghosted by someone just after sleeping with them for the first time, if that happens to you – DO NOT TEXT THEM. At all. I don’t care if he/she was the hottest person ever, best sex ever, or had amazing Ninja Turtles bed sheets. Sorry, but anyone who does that is scum and doesn’t deserve even one more ounce of your attention or energy. No excuses. In that case, call your best friend to come over, eat lots of comfort food, and watch some good movies until you feel better.

Overall, the point is not to be rude. You know the phrase, “You kill more flies with honey than you do with vinegar”? This applies to being ghosted, too. I get it – you want to be a bit sassy/petty/bitchy, and of course I have felt the same way on occasion. But they are not worth it. Not at all. And people who ghost like that probably want a reaction and when you give them any level of sass they’re just going to be like, “Wow, glad I ghosted that one.” Think of Juan Pablo after Clare told his ass off on the finale of “The Bachelor.” While that was amazing, this is not the time to do that. Just be the bigger person and let it go. Say something, and don’t be a doormat, but be nice enough that they feel a little guilty about what they’ve done.

This is something I used a lot at Disney, actually. When guests were yelling at me about how I ruined their vacation, I would just give them my best Bambi-eyes and then smile and put on my super over the top customer service voice and it was hilarious how quickly they would start being nice to me. People don’t like being mean to nice people.

The next step is to remember the most important of all of this – it is nothing to do with you, and everything to do with them. You didn’t do anything wrong, and even if you did, adults should be able to talk about that sort of stuff, not just storm off and disappear. It doesn’t mean you’re unworthy, or unlovable, or that you aren’t good enough. In fact, it means the opposite. Why would you want to be with someone who ghosts people? Personally, good communication skills are a major turn-on and I can’t imagine a relationship with someone who’s unable to talk about and work through issues, so someone who ghosts really isn’t worth my time. Lacking the courage and decency to tell you that they lost interest is a them problem, not a you problem. I promise.

So, after you remind yourself of all of these things while you wait for the text back from them that in all honesty, will probably never come, it’s time for the last couple of steps. First, get your girl or guy friends together and hang out – I don’t care if you just watch Netflix or if you go out to a club (remember when we could do that?), or if you just Facetime your best friend while drinking a glass of wine, the important thing is to not spend too much time alone with yourself and be in your own head. Let your friends build you up and tell you how great you are (you are pretty great) and just have fun with them.

And finally, get back to dating. Don’t ever let someone who’s too immature to use their words get to you or keep you from finding someone who does deserve you. They’re out there, I promise.

I feel like it’s pretty easy to sum up why I don’t ghost people unless I have a safety concern or I’ve tried to tell them to back off and they haven’t so I was left with no choice – I’m just not a crappy person.

But, it’s more than that. Admittedly, some of it is a bit selfish in that I hope that by making sure I do not ghost people, I won’t get ghosted or have my heart broken anymore. So far that has not proven to be a good tactic, but I still try to be a good person because it’s the right thing to do!

Really, most of it comes down to the fact that I know how it feels to be ghosted. It’s aggravating, frustrating, upsetting, disappointing, all of the above. It’s hard to not feel like it’s a personal attack or wonder what’s wrong with you. I know how it feels to be on that side of it, I would really never want to make someone else feel that way if I can avoid it.

I have talked about my “go to” line before, but I’ll say it again. Whenever I realize that the person I’ve been talking to isn’t the one for me – which I usually try not to do until after at least one date – I say, “Hey! I had so much fun [insert date activity or “talking to”] with you. You seem like a great guy/girl, but I wanted to be upfront and let you know that I just didn’t feel the spark that I’m looking for. Best of luck!”

You can add more if you feel like it, but I believe that less is more and for the most part, I’ve had good success with saying just these short three sentences. Most guys have appreciated the honesty and responded pretty well. It’s just a good, concise way to send the message that you had a good time (even if you didn’t, again, just be nice) but you didn’t feel it – but still wish them luck in their future dating endeavors, because if nothing else, you can at least offer them that.

Moral of the story, be nice. Do unto others as you wish to have done to you. And whether it’s spooky season or not, don’t ghost.

ghosting

For an upcoming post, I’d love to do a Question & Answer piece! So, ask me your questions in the comments – no topic is off limits!

Chapter 25: The Scientist and a review of EHarmony

Just because someone’s a scientist doesn’t always mean there’s chemistry.

I have always sworn to myself that I would never sign up for a paid dating app. No, I don’t have anything against using them, and I think it’s amazing how many people have met their significant others on an app – it just isn’t for me.

I blame Disney for a lot of that, because in my head any relationship I have that does not involve some adorable “how we met” story is illegitimate. Which is probably why I decided it was a good idea to fly across the country to spend a weekend with Tony after one meeting. I didn’t like that we met on Bumble so I wanted to up the romance factor a few notches to make the story better.

In any case, my parents – mostly my mom – disapprove of my aversion to paid dating sites. Especially after the excitement and novelty of swiping through my Bumble choices with me wore off, they started to see how extremely slim the pickings are nowadays. My dad, who has teased me for years about being single, finally told me that he gets it.

While I was in Florida social distancing with them, they kept trying to get me to agree to sign up for any paid dating site – Match, Eharmony, whatever. Their reasoning was that right now, it’s impossible to meet people in person so everyone will be on dating apps, and the kinds of guys I’m looking for (you know – not assholes, have their shit together, that kind of thing) are more likely to be on a paid service than a free one. I still refused.

Finally, after much back and forth my parents literally offered to pay for me to go on one of these if I’d agree to do it just to give it a try, and I relented. So, I signed up and made a profile on EHarmony because it seemed to align the most with what I was hoping to get out of this. I’ve seen all of the commercials, and it’s been around for a while, so I figured it was a good place to start.

I was able to start chatting with people in Boston from Florida, which was pretty cool, but if my first dozen or so connections were any indication of my future success, I don’t have very high hopes for it helping me to meet the love of my life. In all honesty, I’m not a huge fan of it, and I’ll get into more of why in a bit.

The Scientist

The only person that I’ve met on EHarmony and actually gone out with so far has been The Scientist, whom I’ll call Rick.

Rick is a few years older than me, a research scientist/teacher for standardized tests. We had a pretty high compatibility score, 108, so when he messaged me about how we both got our grad degrees at the same university, I figured I’d give him a chance. After looking at his profile, I realized that he probably would not have ended up on my Matches list, but I wanted to give it a try.

We started talking, and he seemed nice enough. The one thing I remember sticking out to me was that his profile lists him as “very Liberal.” Political party is not a deal breaker, but let’s just say I lean a little bit to the other side and wasn’t sure how much we’d mesh in that area at least. But again, I wanted to be open-minded and give him a chance, so I let it go. This is also important to note because at one point when I said something about it, he said he isn’t really “that” Liberal, and that was just one of many times I felt like he was saying what he thought would make me like him more.

The conversation was pretty good, he definitely initiated more than I did, and he was also the one to ask me for my number. As I’m sure you know by now, I don’t usually give out my real number right away so he got my Google Voice number. I also like Google Voice because I don’t have notifications turned on for anything except text and phone calls, so I don’t feel like I’m pulled to it as much.

But Rick really likes to text… a lot. I will admit that I have definitely been the one who is a bit “clingy” in the early stages of getting to know someone, but it’s definitely only okay when I do it. The more someone expresses too much interest in me, the less interested I am.

Photo by Chokniti Khongchum on Pexels.com

This is probably why I go for assholes, if I’m being honest. I am trying to get better about this, but I just like boundaries – I’m working on it myself, not getting too invested too soon – and I need space, especially when I’m first trying to figure out how I feel about someone. If they come on too strong, I feel like I’m being backed into a corner and forced into something and I don’t like it, and usually, I push back. I also just like having to work for it, at least a little bit. I should also mention that, while he is a test prep tutor/teacher, I learned quickly that his spelling and grammar are not quite up to my standards which is also a big deal for me.

In any case, Rick and I kept talking while I was in Florida, and he was very eager for me to get back to Boston so we could go on a date. He even got tested for COVID, but it was a couple of weeks before I was even planning on being back so I’m not sure why he did it when he did, but it’s the thought that counts.

At one point, he asked me how I was feeling about him so far, and I was honest. I said that he seemed nice and he had a stable job which is good, and it had been nice getting to know him so far but I usually don’t know how I feel until I’ve met someone at least once. He told me that he liked that I never respond right away because it lets him know that I have a life. Really, it should also be a sign that I just don’t feel the need to be in constant communication with ANYONE, so to maybe not text me every hour, but I went along with it. I remember a couple of weeks later he said that he thought that, “I liked him more than I did when he asked me last time,” but also that “he could just be grasping at straws.” My response was, “Let’s just say I don’t like you any less than I did last time you asked.”

If you haven’t been able to tell so far, I hate when people fish for compliments. I don’t do it myself and I don’t like it when someone puts themselves down or tries to hint for someone to compliment you instead of just using your words, or just being confident enough to not need practically a stranger to tell you on a weekly basis if they like you or not.

In any case, I finally got back to Boston and pretty much since the day I got back he was asking when we could go out. My mom was there for a while so we didn’t go right away, but finally we made plans to go to Regina’s Pizza in the North End. Overall, we had a nice time, more fun than I expected honestly. But for me, having a good time does not equal a relationship and I was pretty much convinced by about an hour or so in that this was going to be a “friend-zone” situation, which is totally fine with me – I love making new friends.

Unfortunately, it does not seem like Rick picked up on this because after he offered to walk me back to my place, which was very nice but unnecessary, and when I went to give him a hug goodbye he gave me a kiss on the cheek. It was quite awkward. But of course I’d already agreed to maybe hang out with him again soon, so I was already kind of invested and had to just hope that a bit of distance would make things better.

It did not. Rick continued with the excessive texting, especially if he wanted to complain about something at work. That’s another thing, if you have a problem at work, fix it! Don’t text me about having to fix it! Just do it! I started to do my usual tactic which is to just kind of be cold and detached and give unenthusiastic answers because I hate rejecting people that I don’t think are trying to make me uncomfortable or anything, so it’s easier to just be a bitch and hope they leave me alone after getting tired of dealing with me. It’s better to be the bad guy that way, in my opinion. But also, I don’t hate the guy and would like to be friends, but in my experience, guys don’t like being “friend-zoned” and I’m not interested in dealing with someone taking that poorly. So I was just kind of putting it off, I guess.

I’m not going to provide too much context for this in case he reads it, but for future reference for him and anyone who enters my life, let’s just put it out there that my favorite Bible verse is Matthew 6:3, “But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth.” Basically, your left hand should not know what the right is doing. In other words, if you do nice things for people, do it and forget about it – don’t brag about it or try to use it as an example of how “empathetic” you are when I bring up that EHarmony seems to be very off in saying that we have identical Empathy scores, which actually just further proved my point.

Our latest excursion brought us apple picking, which was my first time apple picking ever. He drove us there, we picked a ton of apples, it was really hot – which he kept reminding me of, there were a lot of hills – which he also kept reminding me of, we ate some apple cider donuts, and I got some honey and apple cider. He drove me back, and we went upstairs to my apartment to distribute the apples (that’s not a euphemism, that’s exactly what happened), and then he left. We’ve still talked here and there since then, but ultimately, neither apple picking nor any texts since then have changed my mind about him.

I think another big thing with him is that because he teaches classes about standardized tests, a lot of the time he would act more like my LSAT tutor than a friend or anything. If I was excited about a score on a practice test, he’d tell me, “Let’s see how you do next week.” He would act like I didn’t know what I was doing in terms of studying, too, and while I appreciated the tips and resources every so often, he was talking to me like I’m sure he talks to his students and I really didn’t like it. He also got kind of condescending when I told him the topic of my personal statement, which is about my eating disorder, so that was not very cool either.

Actually, as it’s now my editing day, the latest with The Scientist is that I did recently remake a profile on EHarmony, just because I feel bad that my parents are kind of wasting their money if I don’t at least try, and I had discarded all of my contacts except for him when I first deleted everything off of it a few weeks ago. This morning, I woke up and decided to check it to see if I had anything new and I saw that he had discarded me as a contact, with the reason he selected being that, “He found love and hopes for everyone else to find it,” which is one of the choices.

I am happy for him if that’s the case, because he is a nice guy and I have no problem with him as a person, we just aren’t compatible romantically, so I texted him and said I was really happy for him and wished them all the best, and so far I’ve received no response. He might have blocked me in retaliation for me unfollowing him on Instagram, which honestly is not personal, I’m just very picky about who I follow and only want to see certain things in my feed. Who knows.

So, The Scientist is another name on the list of dating misadventures and men who are not meant to be my husband. Now, I’ll tell you all about why I’m convinced that I’m not going to meet the man of my dreams on EHarmony.

A Review of EHarmony

I have a lot of feelings about EHarmony, but I’ll try to condense them into a few paragraphs. Basically, you take a test and it asks you all these questions and then after you make your profile, you can see who you “Match” with. You can update your preferences to exclude certain heights, education levels, etc., but only some features are unlocked. But much like other apps and sites, just because you have certain parameters and standards for what you’re looking for does not mean that you won’t show up in other people’s match list. So, most of the people I talked to were people who did not fit what I was looking for but messaged me because I fit what they were looking for. Honestly, thinking about who I had messages from I would say MAYBE one or two of them would have shown up on my list, if that.

Also, even though I had set up a search parameter to only look for men in my area, this is also optional. Again, most of the men contacting me were not in Boston. Most were not even in the state. I had men in Texas, Illinois, California, and Maryland messaging me. Even better, I got contacted by men in India more than anything else.

Once someone messages you, if you don’t want to continue chatting or have the message thread visible anymore, you have to “Discard” the contact and you have to choose one of about 5 or 6 options for why. It’s super awkward, especially when someone did it to me and I realized that the person gets a message with WHY you’re taking them off your list.

I think that’s super weird, especially that they make you give a reason – maybe because they’re creepy? Or because you said you don’t want to date a smoker, and one contacts you? Maybe because they’re not what I’m looking for and I said that in my quiz? Or, most likely, because I had men in other countries proposing to me like this was some sort of 90-Day Fiance situation? I don’t like that I had to give a reason other than that I just didn’t want to talk to someone that shouldn’t have even been able to contact me based off of my search requirements, and/or I just didn’t feel safe talking to them.

I also felt like the men there fall into one of two categories. One, they think that any woman on there is desperate to find love so they just act like they aren’t as sleazy as they clearly are to take advantage of vulnerable women, or two, they’re so desperate to find love that if you express even an ounce of interest in them they start planning the wedding.

Seriously, I had a guy I also gave my fake number to which I immediately regretted when he sent me about 70 unrequested photos of his trip to Las Vegas, and when after a few weeks of mostly one-sided conversations because we just had nothing in common I told him I wasn’t interested in pursuing it any further and he got so butt-hurt! Then he kept saying that “we can be friends and see what happens” and I had to say AT LEAST three times that “friends” means “friends” not “hope I change my mind about you” and if that’s not something he was willing to respect to forget about it. Besides which, I didn’t even want to be friends because the conversation was seriously lacking. But he acted like we had this insane chemistry (we didn’t) and the most amazing talks (we didn’t) and got so pissy when I ended it. There are plenty of fish in the sea, y’all, calm down.

My other complaint is about the quality of men on the website. Like my parents, I did agree that there would probably be a better caliber of men than what I was finding on Hinge and Bumble and all that. But boy, was I wrong. Even in the men that are showing in my Matches who are supposed to satisfy the search filters I have set up, I’m getting guys that are not on par with what I’m looking for.

I’m not trying to be vain or mean or classist/elitist in any way, but I mean, I have a Master’s degree and I’m getting guys who still live in their mom’s basements. It’s not about money, or status, or anything like that but many of the guys I just cannot imagine having an intellectually stimulating conversation with. Especially not after taking a look at how their bios are worded, their occupation sounding like something a Bachelor producer would come up with, and their interests sounding like those of a 19-year old frat boy. For how much EHarmony charges, they should screen a bit better.

I’ve tried complaining to EHarmony Customer Service about not only the lack of quality options and failed Match system, but also how much I dislike the “Discard” feature and my general safety concerns considering how many men from other random countries it seems are trying to wife me up to get a green-card. I mean if I wanted guys who just want to marry me because I’m pretty and they want to come to America, I could go into my “Message Requests” on Instagram and pick one of them. Every time I complained to them I got the same generic copy/pasted response about how “nothing is guaranteed.” No safety concerns were mentioned nor did I get any solutions, and I’ve basically been told to suck up the dissatisfaction and creepy messages for the remainder of my membership because I signed a contract.

That’s the other thing – they give you like two or three days to decide if you want to cancel, and that is absolutely not enough time.

For a while, my profile was mostly blank except for my Bio where I wrote that they won’t let me cancel and get a refund, and how unhappy I am with the service, in hopes that I would get reported enough for them to just kick me off and give me (my parents) a refund. I’m not trying to waste their money at all, and that’s why I just want to get out of it. I’ve also read hundreds of reviews now with people in similar situations and they all talk about what a rip-off and scam it is that they suck you in the way that you do then you get no good contacts or anything but you’re forced to stay in a membership you never use anymore because it sucks so much. Very, very sketchy.

Now, I did redo my profile but I was just very honest and vocal about not wanting certain things and expressing what I am looking for. Again, not trying to make it sound like I have a whole list of requirements, but it’s not even about appearance or having a certain salary or anything like that. It’s just about knowing what I deserve, and knowing that I’m not okay with long-distance, nor do I want to date a smoker or someone who already has kids.

If I had to give them a rating, I’d say maybe a 2/10. Overall, it’s not all it’s cracked up to be and I sincerely wish I’d spent the money on a different service, or just packed a suitcase and gone to Greece or something and found a husband there. At this point in my dating life, Greece is sounding like the better option.

Chapter 24: The Rollercoaster

Not as much fun as it sounds.

Well, folks, the time has come. This is the story that I have been dreading writing about ever since I finally decided to bite the bullet and start this blog.

As I’m sure you’ve realized by now, and like I have mentioned before, I typically use humor to mask my pain – and over the years I’ve gotten pretty good at it. But if you’ve come to love my blog for a laugh or two, some self-deprecation, and my amazing sense of humor, I’ll tell you right now that this chapter is not going to be like the rest. While I will try my best to sneak in a few jokes here and there, this story is still pretty recent, to me at least, and it still hurts a bit, so it might not have the same tone you’ve gotten used to. This is also one of those stories that no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t seem to condense into the usual length of these chapters without feeling like I wasn’t really telling the whole story the way it needs to be told in order to fully understand its impact.

But, what’s just as important to me as being funny and entertaining is being honest, and being real. In this chapter (okay, maybe it’s going to be a bit of a book), I will be 100% real. Sometimes, life sucks, a lot, but that’s just part of being human. To anyone else who’s experienced a particularly crappy heartbreak, you aren’t alone and I hope that this chapter helps you realize that.

So while I already have my big glass of wine to get me through writing this first part (which will most definitely take me at least a few days to finish), and I hope you do, too (I told you to get some ready last week!) – I’ve also taken the liberty of creating a playlist for you to enjoy while reading this chapter since I can already tell that it’s going to be a particularly long one. This playlist is meant to be listened to in the order I have it in to kind of parallel the story itself, but you can totally shuffle if that’s more your thing. If you don’t drink, grab some ice cream, if you don’t like ice cream, I don’t know what to tell you.

Also just a shameless plug for if you want to follow me on Spotify!

Alright, enough with the introduction. As always, all names have been changed to protect privacy. Let’s start the story of The Rollercoaster.

Earlier this year, I was back on Bumble, yet again, but so far had not been having a lot of luck. More than anything, I was just on there for entertainment and the occasional confidence boost, but really, I was kind of enjoying being single. I had finished grad school, I was about to start a cool new job where I’d get to travel, I felt healthy, and I was really happy with my life.

I had recently read an article about astrology feng shui or something, talking about how your home can impact other areas of your life, so I was kind of taking that into account in my life as well. Not just for romantic reasons, but I felt like I was attracting a lot of positively at that time, and I wanted to keep that going. One of the things they said to do was to clear out clutter and make more space in your home, because more physical space meant you were also making more space for positive things to come into your life – and yes, that’s including love.

An actually fun rollercoaster.
Photo by Stas Knop on Pexels.com

Then one night in January, I was on Bumble and I ended up matching with Tony. His profile was literally perfect – no fish photos, no games of “guess who?,” good grammar – the works. He was insanely attractive, and seemed like a great guy. He’s a personal trainer and massage therapist, but also teaches kids with special needs, and his profile talked about how much he loves what he does (which is a major turn-on for me considering I’m very over the guys who don’t have any work ethic), and I was extremely excited when I got the alert that we had matched.

I messaged him and asked him what his favorite food is – amazingly original, I know – but he responded with Italian, so I knew he was a keeper. It turned out that Tony is from the area, but now lives in Arizona, but was visiting Boston for the weekend. He asked me if I’d like to join him for drinks that night, and while for a moment or two I hesitated because I was kind of tired, I did end up saying yes.

However, I did almost end up late to meet because I got very invested in making myself some baked ziti and nearly thought about canceling, but something kept telling me that I couldn’t bail on this one. So, I ate my ziti very quickly, freshened up, and was on my way to the hotel he was staying at to meet him for some drinks.

I texted him that I was there, and he said he would come downstairs. The second I saw him, I froze. I have honestly never experienced anything like that before. I would say it’s kind of like the feeling I get when I unexpectedly see a picture of Liam Hemsworth and am reminded of how ridiculously sexy he is, but it was so much more. All my pre-date nerves immediately disappeared. I felt safe, I felt comfortable, I felt like this was it. This is what I’d been waiting for. I know that on the rare occasion when I fall for someone, I can fall hard but I swear I have never felt it so strongly or so quickly with anyone ever before. The way he smiled at me, I honestly felt like maybe he was feeling the same thing. It was the best feeling I’ve ever experienced.

We sat down at the bar and ordered drinks, and immediately the conversation started flowing. I told him about having recently finished grad school, the job I was about to start, my family, and studying for the LSAT. He told me about his family – including his many sisters – and his job, what brought him to Arizona, and more. I will be the first to admit that I have NEVER been a big fan of Boston accents, but oh my goodness – his is perfect. I was hanging on his every word not just because I was already so into him but because I loved the way he said everything. We had a lot in common, he made me laugh, he laughed at my dumb jokes and sarcasm, and overall we were hitting it off. Really, I felt like I’d known him for years. He was genuinely interested in what I had to say, too, which was a breath of fresh air.

He asked me if I wanted to come out with his friends after we finished our drinks, since they were in town and he wanted to see them, too, but he wanted to spend time with me since he was heading back to Arizona the next day. I agreed, so we went up to his room where I met one of his friends, we hung out there for a bit, and then headed over to Earl’s in the Prudential Center to meet the rest of his friends.

I liked them immediately. They all seemed so nice, and not at all put off by him bringing some random girl along – which I would have totally understood if they didn’t like. They welcomed me, made me feel comfortable and not like an outsider, and they seemed to really like Tony and think of him as a good guy. We all got along, so it was a good night and it made me feel even more comfortable with everything. I also thought it was absolutely adorable that he kept bragging about me to his friends and making them congratulate me on having just finished grad school.

As the night went on, and I had a couple of Moscow Mules (with gin instead of vodka – try it, I got Tony to and he liked it) in me, the liquid courage started coming out. Earlier, I had asked Tony if he wanted to see my apartment after drinks because I was talking about my rooftop views, and he said yes. Our chairs started to get a little closer, hands started getting touching under the table, and I was really excited. Not in a sexual sense, in a, “I really want to get to know him better” kind of way. Finally, he and his friends were talking about something they all had to do the next day and I leaned in and asked him if he was still coming to my place after. He said yes, after we were all done. Maybe it was the alcohol, or maybe it was just the connection I was already feeling, but I got a surge of boldness and whispered to him, “Oh, but I kind of want to go now.” With that, he told his friends we had to go and said good night. I told them goodbye and thanked them for letting me crash their evening, and we headed out.

On our way to the Uber, I said something about being an Empath, I don’t remember why, and he said he knew. I asked how he knew I was an Empath and he said that he’s one, too. I warned him that this does mean I’m prone to crying and feeling all the feels, and he said that was okay. He understood and said that he thought that was amazing. I think that was the first time I’ve told a guy what an emotional little thing I can be sometimes and he didn’t freak out over it or get weird about me admitting that I cry like at least once a day for no reason. While we were outside waiting, the “old me” that felt like I always needed to be sexual to keep a guy interested in me broke out for a second, and I asked him what his favorite position is. Tony replied, “This one” as he wrapped his arms around me from behind and gave me a kiss on the cheek. It was the cutest thing ever, I for sure swooned a little bit when he said that.

I remember the whole way back, I kept saying, “I never usually do this,” which I guess isn’t exactly true, but in a way, I felt like it was going to be the first something that I hadn’t done before. I kept asking if he’d think less of me, and made him swear not to think differently about me, that this was just because he was leaving the next day, and he assured me that he wouldn’t. I made him swear. He swore it was okay, he liked my confidence, he felt a connection, too, and he wouldn’t think any less of me for acting on what we both wanted.

Tony kissed me for the first time on my apartment building’s rooftop deck. I remember the exact spot. You know that “foot-popping” I’ve mentioned before? That was the first one I ever had. I mean, I didn’t literally pop my foot, but I felt it. It was very different from the way I’ve been kissed before. I remember at one point I was looking at the view, which is pretty amazing, and I looked back at him and I caught him looking at me smiling. You know that scene in “Tangled” when Rapunzel is looking at the floating lanterns, and Flynn is looking at her and you probably thought to yourself that you wanted a guy to look at you that way? That’s exactly what it was like.

We went back to my place and talked some more before things led to where I’m sure you can imagine they did. I asked him not to go right away because I didn’t want to feel like a prostitute or like I was being used, so he stayed a while longer. We had some laughs, I felt more comfortable than I ever have before, and really, it was just perfect. We cuddled a lot, and then he had to go but told me that I should come visit him in Arizona anytime, and said that we’d hang out next time he was in town. I believed him. He asked me to walk him downstairs and I did, and right before he left he gave me another big hug, a kiss, and said he couldn’t wait to see me again.

I was over the moon happy. I fell asleep like a little kid going to Disney World the next day. I was already feeling the beginning of this being more than a crush or lust, but I really felt like it was okay. I was so convinced that this would be it. When he texted me first thing the next morning, not making me doubt for even a second that this was just going to be a one-night-stand he bragged about to his friends, I was even more sure.

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Chapter 23: One Hit Blunders, Part IV – The Cheapskate and The Funcle

Welcome back to another week of One Hit Blunders! Today, you get to meet two men – one from Boston, The Cheapskate, and one from Florida, The Funcle. Let’s go.

The last date I went on in Boston before the world shut down was with Charles, I guy that I accidentally matched with when I went back on Hinge for all of about 36 hours way back in February (man, that feels like years ago) and ended up going out with.

Charles is an accountant for something important, I honestly cannot remember, but I do remember that I definitely did not mean to match with him because he didn’t seem like what I was looking for, nor did he really match the physical attributes I usually go for. But, I matched with him nonetheless and I’m too nice to be like, “Whoops sorry meant to swipe left!” so we started talking.

To be totally fair, I wasn’t really interested in ANY of the guys I was matching with because I was already 100% positive that I was already in love with someone else that I’d met just before this, The Rollercoaster. He’s coming up next week, but he lives on the West Coast so to be realistic and not obsess over him too much, I was still exploring other options in Boston just to protect myself. Fair warning before next week’s post, get yourself LOTS of wine. I will absolutely be drinking a very big glass of it while I write next week’s post to get me through it, and I can only imagine how long next week’s post will be — but, I don’t want to give TOO much away. For right now, all you need to know is that I was in love with him and didn’t really want to be going out with The Cheapskate, but my friends convinced me to go out just for kicks and giggles and I figured it couldn’t hurt. Anyway, let’s get back to the story.

So, Charles and I talked for a bit, and he asked for my number. Considering I didn’t even want to match with him, I pulled my classic trick of giving him my Google Voice number, which turned out to be an excellent decision.

He asked me out to lunch, and since he lives and works near Beacon Hill, which isn’t too far from me, I told him to pick a spot he could get to easily after his morning at work wrapped up. He picked a restaurant that turned out to have some very interesting food, but I went with it.

cheapskate

The day we met up, I immediately knew I was in for a future dating blog story. He was wearing a very strange trench coat despite the fact that it wasn’t even really that cold at the time, and he seemed very concerned about not letting it touch the floor even for a second. We sat down at the bar, which was at least a kind of good distraction from the fact that he was shorter than I thought (seriously, guys, AGAIN?) and he ordered a beer and asked me what I wanted, and I said I’d get a hard cider since I don’t drink beer.

Apparently, this was offensive to him and I “should have told him before” that I don’t drink beer, which I just rolled my eyes to because it isn’t a big deal to me. The bartender overheard me say this and offered to give me a sample of a beer he thought I’d like, I thanked him and said that would be great, thanks. He went and got me a little glass for the sample and sets it in front of me, and Charles took it and had the first sip, even though it was for me! It was so weird.

The food was awful but the only thing worse was the conversation. Half of me felt like I was in a job interview while the other half of me felt like I was some B-list celebrity being asked weird questions on the red carpet hoping I’d say something scandalous so that the reporter who asked it could feel special. It was weird, he talked an awful lot about himself, and anything that was asked about me immediately got brought back to him. No, thank you.

Even better, I remember that he only ordered an appetizer – that he had to ask the server 50 questions about before he’d agree to order it – and made some really judge-y comments when I ordered a burger and fries. I know I’m not a Victoria’s Secret model, and guess what, I don’t want to be – I love my body. So to any guy who thinks it’s okay to comment on what a girl orders and eats, and actually DOES comment on what she eats, I say this to you from the very bottom of my heart – I hope you remain single forever. No girl deserves to deal with an insecure jerk like that.

But the real kicker was when the bill came. As you know, I always offer to pay my half but never expect to actually do so. Now, keep in mind what I said before – Charles is an accountant for a big company, and he lives on Beacon Hill (which if you don’t know, is one of the most expensive neighborhoods in Boston) in a place where he can park his luxury car easily. So, he is not hurting in the money department. Meanwhile, I’d been telling him about my woes of being unemployed until I started a new job at the end of the month. He didn’t let me pay, but he did tell me I could cover the tip (which was still a considerable amount), and left me with a, “You can pay the next time.” How about no, because there definitely will not be a next time?

I had told him while we were eating that I wanted to go shopping on Beacon Hill at some point soon, and he offered to walk me since he was heading home, but I fibbed and told him that I couldn’t go that day. Instead, I went back towards my place a couple of blocks until I figured he couldn’t see me, hid in a shop for a bit, and then came back out and went shopping.

Later that day, he messaged me about getting together and I pulled my go-to line, trying to be nice but firm. His response was literally just, “Oh come on, I know you’re into me.” I was none too pleased at his attitude so I pretty much just said, “Actually, I’m not. I didn’t enjoy our date at all. Bye.” He tried to respond to that, but I didn’t answer. I blocked him. Just another story for the book… well, blog.

When coronavirus started to get bad, my mom told me she did not want me to be up here in Boston by myself, so she told me to come home to Florida, which I gladly did.

After awhile, my family all made the collective decision that I needed to go on Bumble or something while I was there, if nothing else, to make new friends and just get me out of the house since for most of the five months I was there the two people I hung out with the most were my mom and my three year old niece. So, I went back on Bumble.

My sister in law had a grand time living vicariously through me, since dating apps didn’t really become a thing until after she met my brother, so she did some swiping for me which led to my parents – mostly my dad – feeling left out. My dad wanted to know how Bumble worked and I said we could mirror my phone to the TV in the living room and he could help me. We were kind of joking, but actually, that’s exactly what we did.

A few nights of quarantine, my parents and I gathered in the living room and I’d set my phone up to display on the TV, and remind them of my rules:

No more than one fish photo.
No more than one mirror selfie.
I don’t play Guess Who – if all of the photos are group shots, it’s a no.
No kids (too complicated).
Proper use of their/they’re/there and your/you’re.
Actually has at least something interesting in their bio, and/or at least a question or two answered.

Really, these are not too crazy of guidelines – yet it was very difficult to find decent matches.

But, I did match with Eddie, who we all liked because he called himself a “funcle” and had some cute pictures with his nieces and nephews. As someone who is also obsessed with their nieces, I figured we’d get along.

We talked a bit, and then he asked me out and I figured I was being smart about being around people, and I was okay with doing a semi-socially distanced date so long as we were outdoors. We met at a tiki bar, and he got there a few minutes before me which allowed him time to order a drink without me – I don’t know, is that weird that it kind of bothered me?

He seemed nice enough, but guess what, I had ANOTHER height liar! Maybe I’m just really bad at estimating people’s heights, but he definitely seemed shorter than he said, or he had really bad posture. He also did not look a ton like his photo in general, but I let it slide and decided to try to have fun regardless.

I did not have fun. Again, the conversation was lagging, with way too many awkward silences for me to count and a lot of me just staring at my drink hoping that it would magically give me inspiration on literally ANYTHING to talk about that would result in a conversation longer than two minutes long. It failed. I had also told him beforehand not to take it personally if I didn’t hug or anything, I was trying to be safe with corona, and to please respect that but he still hugged me like three times over the course of the night, and it was that awkward thing where I kind of just stood there with my arms at that weird “caught by surprise” angle not knowing what to do. Overall, it was just not a good night and I finally told him I had to be home soon (my brother did give me a curfew, after all) and left.

And I never heard from him again. Another little thing I like is when a guy at least makes sure that I get home safely after a date, but he didn’t even do that. I just never heard from him, which was fine with me. I unmatched with Eddie, and called it another loss but also a gain because at least I got a free drink out of it. Honestly though, I hope that he’s more fun with his nieces and nephews than he was with me.

And that brings us to the end of another One Hit Blunders! Don’t forget the wine for next week – see you soon!

Chapter 22: The [Redacted]

Every party has a pooper, and for my blog, that party pooper was the subject of this story. I’m going to call him Bruce. I did reach out to Bruce to ask him if he was okay with me sharing this story, and he said he would prefer that I not, but considering that nothing really happened, and I’m already being nice by changing names and leaving out most identifying features, and I could easily just be super vague about who he is (he needs to realize that he’s not THAT famous), I wanted to write it anyway. So with the encouragement of my friends and family who are much more fun than Bruce, I decided to go for it – I mean, you know what they say – ask for forgiveness, not permission, right? So, here we are. Ready? Me too.

Given that Bruce is a “private” person, and I’m a nice person (mostly), I do have to be awfully vague, for which I apologize for in advance. But, I will do my best to keep this as entertaining as possible despite the fact that I can’t tell you too much information about Bruce. I’m up for the challenge!

For the sake of the story, let’s just say that Bruce is a guitarist in a very, very small band – like, two people – that comes from the land down under (sorry for getting that song stuck in your head). My parents have season tickets for the local performing arts hall near them in Sarasota, so they had tickets to see their show when they were on tour in the USA. I was at my parents’ home during that time as I was in between jobs and wanted some Florida sunshine. A day or two before the show, my dad realized that based off of the marketing of the show, and their band name, he didn’t think he would enjoy it as much as the female-crowd, so he told me I could take his ticket and go with my mom. So, I decided to go.

My mom figured that this “band” might call people up and have some audience participation moments, as their type of performance typically involves them, so she told me to dress nicely because of course I’d get called up. Low and behold, for their first audience participation moment, when they announced that they needed a “beautiful, sexy lady” to come up and join them, guess who Bruce’s bandmate made a beeline for? Me. So, I ended up onstage with his friend, Nick, to help him out with one of the songs.

I helped him out, was given a little memento as a thank you, went back to my seat, and enjoyed the rest of the show. Afterwards, I snapped a picture of my little memento and tagged the band, thanking them for a great night, and thought nothing else would happen. But I was incorrect.

As I was lying in bed, I decided to take one more look at my Instagram before going to sleep and I saw that I had a new message. I was very surprised when I realized that it was Bruce. He told me that, “He heard I completely stole the show.” I responded that I hadn’t heard that, but I’d take his word for it. And then we began talking. Apparently, it was more the side view of my butt that stole the show (let’s be real, we all know it’s pretty great) and he couldn’t help but check it out from the wings of the stage. So, we talked, we flirted. He shared a revealing picture, I shared a much less revealing picture. I could tell what we both wanted the conversation to lead to, and clearly, I’m always game for a good story, so I kept egging him on a bit until he started saying things about being lonely in bed, yada yada.

instagram DM

Sliding into the DMs.

I’m not an idiot – I know that he’s like, not even D-List famous even in his home country, but because he’s a very attractive performer with an accent he could and probably does have a little bit of fun in every city. But I was willing to be part of his American tales for the sake of getting some tales of my own. He told me what hotel he was staying at, but then I got nervous. I wanted to go, but didn’t want to wake up my dogs, who would wake up my parents, and while I do sometimes feel like I missed out on the “sneaking out of the house” phase of my teens by going to boarding school, I don’t feel the need to live these moments as a 28-year old woman. To be totally honest, I also didn’t want to have to put makeup and real pants back on, either. Instead, I told him I was going to sleep but to message me in the morning and I’d come over before he left.

And that he did. He told me we wouldn’t have much time, but at least something, but only if I wanted to. I told my family that he had invited me out for coffee, hopped in my car, and drove to his hotel. I got there only for him to tell me that I had *just* missed them, they ended up leaving to go to the next city earlier than expected, and he was sorry and disappointed but we wouldn’t get to hang out. He also couldn’t believe that I actually drove over there – clearly, he doesn’t know me well.

But, since we couldn’t hang out, I told him that actually, I lived in Boston, and I knew from looking at their tour page that they’d be up that way in a few weeks, so he could make it up to me then. He agreed, saying he’d take me out for a drink and we would hang out then.

Totally an aside, but I find it hilarious that I told my family he had invited me out for an innocent cup of coffee and they went with it for my sake. To be fair, I think my brother (who found out about it last, because it’s my brother) was suspicious but didn’t want to know the truth because I’m his baby sister, my sister-in-law DEFINITELY did not buy it and I confirmed her thoughts that coffee was not on either of our minds later, and my mom is my mom – she knows when I’m lying (and not just because my right eye twitches when I lie – true story) so I’m about 99.9% sure that she knew I went over there for another type of pick-me-up, but again, didn’t want to push it because I’m an adult and I’m her child and there are some things you just do not want to know.

At this point, Nick (the bandmate I helped with the performance) and I had also exchanged some DMs, and he promised me that if I bought tickets to see their show in the Boston area, he’d upgrade me to VIP. I wasn’t sure if he’d remember, but figured I enjoyed the show, and the one in Boston was around my friend’s birthday, so I’d get some tickets for us as a present to her and see what happened as it got closer.

Well, Bruce got weird. He was following me on Instagram for a while and liking my pictures – even ones from a long time ago, so you KNOW he was trying to get in my pants – and then one day he was not. I tried to have a few conversations with him while he was traveling, nothing crazy but just recommending places for him to check out while he was in different cities, small talk kind of things late at night, and he got less and less responsive over time. I don’t know if he was getting nervous about meeting, if I was being too forward (very possible), if he had just changed his mind, or if something weirder was going on, but I could tell that that meant we were not going to hang out like he promised.

But I am very petty, so I messaged Nick again a few days before the show to ask if the offer for VIP still stood, and he said yes. With that, I made sure to pick out a very nice outfit to wear. My friend I had invited, Celia, and I met up and went to the theatre where we got our VIP bands. After getting settled into our seats, I decided to mess with Bruce a bit by snapping a photo of the stage and messaging it to him – amazingly, he responded. I told him I’d see him after the show (which would technically be our first time meeting) and he went quiet again.

We had a great time at the show and then went up for the Meet and Greet. When Bruce saw me, I could tell he was nervous. He started holding his guitar defensively in front of him, and I made a sassy comment about it not covering anything I hadn’t already seen a picture of, which actually made him laugh. We took a photo, and I went home.

We did message a bit more after that, I thanked them both for a fun night, may or may not have made some sarcastic comment to Bruce about him not following through on his promises, and carried on with my life. I decided to unfollow Bruce and their page because they were going back to another country for quite awhile and it just didn’t make sense to keep in touch.

The last time we spoke was when I ever-so-kindly told him about this blog and asked if he was cool with me using the story and he said that “his dating life is very private” but mine clearly is very NOT private, and I didn’t actually tell you his name or what he really does, so I’m kind of meeting in the middle. Compromise, right? Plus, like I said, he’s not famous – I promise y’all it’s not someone you would ever know or who you’d be excited about. If it was Liam Hemsworth, trust me, you’d know. Anyway, I’m not trying to make him mad or throw him under the bus or anything, but, this story is funny! Really, I’m the one who looks crazy because I drove to a 3-star hotel to meet someone I’d never even spoken to in real life, and then used their bandmate against them to get my own petty revenge, so honestly I don’t even know what he’s worried about.

But, it was still a cool story of what could have been a GREAT night but instead is just a “what if?” tale of the time I had a guy slide into my DMs after his show purely because of his view of my butt. It would have been a better story if he hadn’t chickened out, but everything happens for a reason, right? Maybe I’ll get to have a story with another “guitarist” or semi-famous person someday.

Chapter 21: The Boyfriend

To get it out of the way early – no, this guy was not my boyfriend. I mean, me, have an ACTUAL boyfriend? Adorable. Ridiculous.

He was someone’s boyfriend, but not mine. And to get THAT out of the way, no, he was not cheating on his girlfriend with me. He’s – well, let’s just get into it, shall we?

Logan and I matched on Tinder. I swiped right on him because he’s cute, very tall, and from the same city as me (North Carolina pride). It wasn’t until after we matched and we got to talking that I noticed a rather big detail I had missed on Logan’s profile – he’s in an open relationship.

I immediately asked him to clarify what exactly this meant because Lord knows I do not need to get myself into any more messes. He was very open and informative about it, explaining how he and his long-distance girlfriend had made this decision, what was and was not allowed in their, shall we say, “extracurricular activities,” and overall was just very chill with me asking questions about it, wanting to make sure that his girlfriend was cool with him talking to other girls, and deciding how I felt about it and if I wanted to be involved in this little thing.

Ultimately, I decided that best case scenario, I might get a good story out of it, and worst case, I could make a new friend, because actually, I really liked Logan as a person. I think knowing that there wasn’t any room for any romantic feelings made it a lot easier to become friends, and we did have a lot in common. We talked a lot, and he’s smart and funny, so really I was more into the idea of making a new friend.

But of course, he had other ideas. Not that I was one to complain about them. Things got a bit dirty and flirty and definitely heated up, but again, it was just for fun, and I have no filter or shame, so it carried on.

flirt

Not an accurate depiction of how I flirt.

Overall, Logan began to prove himself a pretty cool guy. He honestly treats me a lot better than most guys I’ve interacted with have, and seems to actually care about me as a human. Though he did more or less try to pimp me out to a very desperate friend of his one time, even though his friend was NOT doing a great job of selling himself to me (not like a prostitute, just like convincing me to go out with him), I really do think it was mostly because he knew I was in a dry spell and he was trying to help me out and make me feel wanted again.

Remember the friend that I mentioned texting The Snapper? That was Logan.

Whether or not he had pure motives for doing so, I think he really was just trying to help me get out of my shell more, and help me get more experience even if he didn’t benefit from it (though he clearly wanted to benefit from it at some point). We had a lot of interesting talks, and like I said, we have a good amount in common so it was always fun to talk with him. He was also super cool anytime that I said I wanted to take a technology break, or when I went to Austin and barely had my phone on, or if I went through a phase where we just didn’t talk as much – he’s not the least bit possessive or jealous or anything and just told me to have fun and he’d talk to me when I was back. I mean, he does let his girlfriend go out with other guys, so, that would be weird if he was possessive over me.

I know I’m going to get shit for this, but we’ve never actually met. I promise I know he’s a real person, and we have made plans to meet before but then I bailed (his girlfriend was there and I panicked about what they probably had in mind and did not think that was something I’d ever be ready for), and then I was been in Florida for like 15 years basically, but we will meet. And honestly, again I’m going to get shit for this, but, I like who I am and I know what I’m confident and comfortable with and if someone uses my openness against me, I think that says a lot more about them than it does about me.

I’m actually talking to Logan as I write this (we catch up every so often during all this corona madness) and being reminded of his sense of humor especially as it relates to his self-esteem. He’s a Leo, if that explains it. (If you weren’t aware of my process, which I wouldn’t expect you to be, I write each entry three weeks before it’s meant to be posted and then edit the week before, and again, he and I are talking during this).

The only time things got weird was when I started talking to The Rollercoaster (coming up soon!), who I had really strong feelings for so I was trying to be “good” and told Logan we had to cool it with our talks, and that I wanted to see where it went. He essentially told me that was fine but if I was ending that part of our friendship it was on me and not to come back crying when this guy inevitably broke my heart. I didn’t think The Rollercoaster would (but spoiler alert, he did) so I was willing to take that risk. And of course, when I told him things didn’t work out – fully prepared to just be friendly and nothing more – because men just cannot resist my beauty and charm (and butt), he was actually the one to come back to me, really.

So, we’re still friends. When I’ve cried and complained about guys being mean and hurting me, he’s listened and actually offered decent advice. He has a girlfriend, yet has actually invested more time and effort into getting to know me and making me feel heard than most other guys. He remembers more about me than guys I’ve actually gone on several dates with. And yet I have zero romantic feelings for him. I honestly would not be surprised if we somehow became and stayed best friends.

And before anyone says anything, yes, I am 100% aware that I get into the weirdest relationships ever. It’s kind of my thing.

In any case, we do FINALLY have plans to meet soon but probably not by the time of posting. However, I will update you when we finally do. Here’s hoping he’s all I’ve cracked him up to be in person. Wish me luck!

Chapter 20: One Hit Blunders, Part III – The Unsocial Graduate, The Too-Friendly Ghost, and The Implication

Guess what’s back, back again? One Hit Blunders, Part Three! And in honor of it being the third in this series, today, you get three stories instead of two.

Parth, or as I call him, The Unsocial Graduate, was another guy that I matched with on Hinge or Bumble, I can’t remember, around January of 2019 when things were starting to fizzle with Al (before I knew he was both a cheater and a heartless human). He was also in grad school at Northeastern, so we were able to talk about our experiences from our first semester, and I was giving him some tips on Boston since he was still fairly new to the area.

We had plans to go out, but then, a couple of days before the weekend we had plans, my sister-in-law went into labor with my youngest niece late at night so I ended up flying home first thing Friday morning so I could meet her. Parth was very understanding, but then he asked me for photos of my niece and I had to change the subject because it is absolutely not my place to share photos of my nieces when I’m not their parent – especially not to someone I haven’t even met yet. I told him I’d show him a picture when we met up (I didn’t). But, we talked throughout the weekend and decided to go out the following week when I got back.

We went to The Cheesecake Factory (who doesn’t love that bread, right?) and almost immediately, I knew I was in for an awkward meal. He literally did not know how to carry a conversation — at ALL. He’d ask me a question, I’d answer, and then he’d just stare at me. Meanwhile I’m just eating my cheeseburger all self-consciously (at least he didn’t make me share my fries) and trying to think of what to say next. If I’m at a loss for words, you know it’s bad.

We had virtually nothing in common, the conversation did not flow, and it was just weird all around. Plus, he seemed to seriously lack common social skills especially in regards to how to conduct oneself in a restaurant. But hey, I got a free meal out of it (even though I ended up sneaking and slipping some extra cash on the table when I saw he left virtually no tip – which is one of my biggest pet peeves/dating deal-breakers). I can’t remember if we both got cheesecake to go, or if I just walked like I was heading to the T station in the Prudential and then turned around and got it myself, but either way, I definitely know I got cheesecake to eat when I got home as a reward for surviving the date.

But if you’ve been reading my blog up to this point, you know that since it’s me, it can’t end there, can it? Nope. Parth texted me after and asked me out for a second date, and I gave him my classic ‘No, but thanks,’ line of, “You seem like a great guy, but I just didn’t feel the spark I’m looking for. Best of luck!” I could tell he was pissed about it, but he brushed it off for the moment.

Then, barely a week later I get another text from him saying that he wants to go out on another date and “try again” so that he can see how he feels. I told him that’s not how it works, and again, no, I was not interested. He tried AGAIN, but kept just talking about himself and what he wanted to figure out. At that point, I threw the niceties out the window and told him straight up, “You are not respecting my opinion and feelings. I said no, I’m not interested, you need to listen to me because it’s not just about you and what YOU want.” That got him off of my back, so after that, I just spent the rest of my time in grad school making sure to avoid any areas that I might run into The Unsocial Graduate.

Michael, or as I like to call him, The Too-Friendly Ghost, was another of my “Almost done with Al so I’m on Hinge” matches, and he seemed like the nicest guy in the world. He was so, so sweet. Almost too sweet, really. I don’t even know how long we talked before he finally asked me out, but I know it was a very long time and much longer than I’m used to waiting.

But, when I told him I had to go away for the weekend for an emergency, he could not have been more understanding and sympathetic. I ended up telling him afterwards what had happened (this was when my grandma passed away) and he was so nice about it and told me to take as much time as I needed before I was ready to go on a date or anything.

Finally, we scheduled a date and he was so nervous about picking a good place. We both like Italian food, so we decided to meet in the North End and pick a place when we got there. Then he said he’d feel better if I just picked a place so he knew I liked where we went, so I did. We met there and stood and looked at the menu on the window for 10 minutes with me convincing him that yes, this was totally fine, I was happy eating anywhere, I promised!

We did have a few things in common, and the conversation went at least a bit better than it had with Parth and some of the other guys I’ve experienced in the past. But at the same time, I felt like he was a bit too agreeable and just going along with whatever I said because he wanted to make sure I was happy. Which, again, is sweet, but also not really what I’m looking for. I definitely need someone who isn’t afraid to challenge me.

Michael seemed very close with his family, though, which is very important to me, and I liked that he remembered the things I’d told him over text and asked me interesting questions about myself. He also immediately offered to pay. Overall, I had a pretty decent time and chalked up his need to please me to nerves or anxiety, so as we said goodbye I figured that maybe I’d give him one more chance.

Except, I never heard from him again. He straight up ghosted me after that. I’m assuming he wasn’t feeling it or knew that I wasn’t 100% on board, or he was intimidated, or something, and did not know how to handle it without abandoning the “way too nice” impression that I had of him, so instead, I just never heard from him again. After that, I realized that Michael could seriously give Casper a run for his money on which of them is the friendliest ghost.

This is actually one of my favorite stories to share. I matched with this guy on Hinge, he was French (I’m not sure why, but French guys LOVE me – I’m not complaining) so I’ll call him Marius because I’m in a Les Mis mood right now. He seemed very successful – good job, dressed nicely, well-spoken, and I was very into that.

We talked a lot, and he was saying to me that he was hoping to find someone that he could more or less spoil – buy nice clothes, take to France for vacations and stay in his nice place there, etc. No, this was not a sugar baby situation, because he was just a little bit older than me and he wanted to actually date, too, but I’m not going to be upset about a guy who wants to treat me like a princess (especially not a French one) so I supported this dream of his.

Finally, we started to make plans to meet. First, we thought about grabbing dinner somewhere on the water, but then, he said that he wanted to do something even more special – he wanted to take me out that weekend on his boat. He said he’d bring a bottle of wine, we’d go whale watching, cruise around, and grab dinner when we got back.

I remember he texted me this on my way to work, and all I was thinking was, “No fucking way am I getting on a boat with someone that I haven’t even met yet!” So when I got to work, I told my coworkers (who were all male, by the way) that this guy I’d been talking to but hadn’t met yet wanted to take me out on his boat that weekend for our first date. They thought this was great! It sounded fun, cool, romantic, and they were telling me to have fun. But I had to explain to them that, no, this was NOT a good idea because once I was out in the middle of the water with a stranger, I had no clue what was going to happen. This sounded like a Lifetime movie where I was going to be the young girl who gets murdered by some crazy con man and then sends their mother into some crazy quest for vengeance.

This is when one of my coworkers asked me if I watched the show “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.” I said no, I hadn’t. He sent me the link to a scene from the show called “the implication.” Here’s the link if you haven’t seen it yourself, come back when you’re done watching.

Back? So, now you know why I call him “The Implication.” I texted him that a boat cruise sounded cool, but it wasn’t something I wanted to do before we met, he said okay, and then he went back to France for a trip and we never really spoke again. And that was the end of him.

So that, my friends, brings us to the end of Part Three of my One Hit Blunders. But don’t worry – there’s more to come! In the meantime, share your worst first date stories with me in the comments below – I want to read them!

See you next week for another story!

Chapter 19: The Snapper

We all know what a catfish is, but I’ve had more experience with what I like to call “snappers,” just like Blake. To be fair to his legacy, I initially started calling him “The Superhero” because he was telling me a story about how when he was abroad, he fell down a flight of stairs and somehow didn’t break a single bone and it reminded me of that movie “Unbreakable” with Bruce Willis, but now, his name has been changed. Anyway – on to the story.

I matched with Blake on Bumble in the fall of 2019, and even though he’s a bit younger than what I usually go for, I decided to give him a try. We started talking and immediately hit it off. He was very cute, funny and sarcastic, and seemed like a decent guy. He lived a bit outside of Boston, but not too far that it would be a problem.

So we started talking, friendly at first before quickly moving into flirtier territory. From our conversations, we seemed very compatible in just about every respect, if you catch my drift, and I was excited to hopefully meet him soon.

But that was the thing, he was weird about meeting up. He’d keep saying he wanted to come into the city to see me, and take me on a really memorable first date, but he’d never follow through. Our conversations (some via text, but mostly via Snapchat) would be super engaging and long and exciting, but then he’d never actually do anything about scheduling a date. Yes, I know this was a red flag, but I was into the attention and didn’t expect to marry him, so I let it slide and kept the flirting going.

He would also tell me that he wanted to take me to a cabin in the mountains somewhere and teach me how to ski (I do know how to ski, but I’m awful), but then he’d go into graphic detail about the other things he wanted to do there. Half of me was like, “This sounds like the beginning of a murder movie,” but the other half of me was like, “Well he seems very, um, creative, I’m into it, alright let’s go.”

I did like him for more than that, though, and thought it was pretty funny when we were texting on Thanksgiving and realized that we were both making the exact same side dish and even used the same online recipe for it. So there was definitely a part of me that felt like maybe, if we ever met, there could kind of be something a bit more serious there.

But eventually, I got tired of the waiting. I do know I deserve better, and it was frustrating waiting for someone to commit to one time hanging out. Especially because most of our conversations were on Snapchat, he seemed to forget that he had Snapmap on and, as many of you probably know, I’m a bit of a creeper so I DEFINITELY used that to my advantage a few times. There, I could see that he had actually come into the city a few times but he had never told me or tried to make plans to see me while he was there. Finally, I texted him one night before falling asleep and basically said, “So are we going to (beep) or no?” Actually, that’s not what I basically said, that’s exactly what I said. No response.

I was venting about this to a guy friend of mine (who will be introduced in a later chapter) and he decided to take matters into his own hands, and convinced me to give him Blake’s number, which I did. I thought he’d just do something silly, but instead he said something like, “I’m trying to get with this girl Madeline but I want to know if she’s good in bed, she said you’d know.” I still have no idea why that was his tactic, and what he was hoping to accomplish with that, but that’s what he went with.

I didn’t know that’s what my friend had messaged him until later, and once I saw, I can’t say I was surprised when I went onto Snapchat the next morning and saw that Blake had removed me as a friend. I was upset, more that he couldn’t just use his words, but tried not to let it get to me, and decided to speak up for myself since I usually wouldn’t, so I ended up texting him one last time saying, “Funny, it’s around Christmas, not Halloween, yet I’m still having to deal with a ghost. You could have just told me if you weren’t interested in me instead of leading me on for months, and it’s really immature to just ghost someone. Happy Holidays.” Or something like that.

Of course, I didn’t hear back from him (not that I was expecting to), but it did feel good to say something about how rude it is to just ghost people. I’ll be 100% honest and say I did cry about it a bit, not because I was heartbroken or anything, just because I was frustrated that I had to deal with an immature guy AGAIN. As I’m sure many girls can understand, it’s pretty annoying to get your hopes up and feel like you click with someone, but then have them just disappear with no real explanation (other than, you know, your friend saying weird shit to them out of nowhere).

So you might be wondering why I call him “The Snapper.” Well, a catfish is someone that basically uses someone else’s identity, and doesn’t really exist, but I knew Blake existed. Remember I said I used Snapmap to my advantage? Yeah, well I went full on stalker mode once when I was particularly pissed at playing the waiting game and looked up the address it seemed he was at the most to make sure it was registered to him (well, his parents, actually, because he still lives at home…) and that he actually existed. I also saw his face (and more – sorry, mom) on Snapchat quite a few times, so between personal photos and his story, I knew he looked like what he told me he did, and that he was in fact an actual person. I found his Facebook and Instagram, too, so again, I knew he was who he said he was. (This would probably be a good time for me to just put out a quick PSA to anyone who is my friend, or wants to be my friend/boyfriend in the future that you literally cannot hide ANYTHING from me because I’m basically an unpaid PI and I WILL find shit out no matter how hard you try to hide it. Everyone has their weird skills, Internet creeping is mine).

Anywho, so I think Blake is a Snapper because, thanks to Snapchat (get it?), I know he is an actual person and who I thought he was, and he was really into using Snapchat as our primary source of conversation despite the fact that I’m pretty sure that’s a Gen Z thing now. But also, I call him a Snapper because it’s easy to get a guy who just wants to talk the talk and tell you all the things he’s going to do, but it’s hard to get a guy to actually do it. Kind of like how it’s easy to catch a snapper, but it’s hard to catch one that’s actually worth it (I confirmed this with my brother who knows much more about fish than I do, and no, that wasn’t even the weirdest question I’ve ever asked him).

So, Blake was yet another fail. Thank you, next, right? I went to a spa/yoga resort in Austin for New Year’s, got over him, and came back ready for more dating adventures. And boy, did I get them.

Chapter 18: The Love Square

After starting to work at Encore Boston Harbor, I realized that the pickings were VERY slim if I wanted to meet a guy there. Not that I was only working there to get a boyfriend, but I like to always have “convenience crushes” – someone that might not really catch my eye if I met them at a bar, but they at least motivate me to put a bit more effort into my appearance each day. I quickly realized that simply hoping that some young, attractive, rich Christian Grey type was going to need an in-room check in (and then fall in love with me) was going to have to be my “convenience crush” (despite feeling like an old lady in my awful-fitting skirt and blazer, I managed to look mostly good most days). However, it seems that there were quite a few guys working there who did not have the same problem I did in terms of finding a fellow employee to crush on, and that is how my Love Square fiasco happened.

There are three characters in this, besides me. The security guard, Tomas, Valet #1, Ricco, and Valet #2, Leo.

Tomas started it all. I met him at lunch one day when going on break with one of my friends, Carol, as the two of them were friends already. I didn’t think much of it other than that he was a friend of a friend, so we talked throughout lunch and overall, he seemed nice. Not my type, but again, I wasn’t thinking of him like that – I had already resorted to holding out for Christian Grey (minus the narcissism and emotional abuse) – so I just kept it friendly.

We ended up having lunch together a few more times, with Carol and/or other friends, and while he was nice, we just really did not have much in common. So, when a little bit later Carol told me that she knew someone who liked me, and was asking her about me, I didn’t expect it to be him. But, it was. He was asking if she knew if I had a boyfriend, and if she’d tell me that he liked me.

Now I don’t know about you, but I am NOT attracted to people who are too afraid to tell someone their feelings themselves. This isn’t middle school recess. But I figured he must be insecure, and I didn’t want to be mean. At the same time, though, having done the whole “work people knowing my personal life” thing, I was not too keen on him getting Carol involved. I didn’t want her to get further involved, so I told her I’d handle it.

I don’t remember how we had each other’s numbers, but we did, so I texted him and let’s just say that throughout our few brief texting conversations, I realized that there was really nothing for us to talk about. When he finally got up the nerve to ask me out, I told him I didn’t want to mix my professional life and my personal life (kind of true), so thanks, but no thanks. I thought that would be it. But it was not.

A little bit after that, I ended up at a volunteering event with Tomas and it was super awkward at first even though I tried to keep things friendly and chill. He was clearly still upset (again, not attractive) and it was becoming pretty obvious, to the point where I just tried to avoid him for the most part. I ended up meeting someone there who had just moved up from Florida who was really nice and offered me a ride home, and I could literally feel the death glare on the back of my head as I got in his car. When I told my new friend about it, he said it was pretty clear to him the whole time we were there that Tomas was jealous that I was talking to other guys. Not cool.

Around this same time, I began talking to Valets 1 and 2, Ricco and Leo, whenever I was outside waiting to do a meet and greet – or, more likely, just avoiding doing work that didn’t need to be done yet in the back office and taking one of my multiple laps of the day.

Leo was funny, I don’t really know how to describe him, but he’s just very much a harmless flirt I guess. Comes off a little bit cockier than he deserves to be, but overall not the worst person in the world. Plus, he always talked about how much he loves his family so I thought it was sweet.

Ricco, on the other hand, began to get on my nerves pretty quickly. You know those people who have to give you a lecture for every single thing you say? That’s Ricco. I could go outside and run into him and say something about needing to stop at the store to get milk on the way home, and he’d end up giving me a history lesson on the dairy industry. It was exhausting, and honestly, I usually ended up tuning him out shortly into our mostly one-sided conversations because I could barely get in one word and it would make me so angry that he didn’t realize how much he talks over people. He’s also younger than me, and it shows.

So, those are the players in this story. Now, onto the good stuff.

One day, I was sitting at my desk in the back office when one of my coworkers, Judy, came in and told me that there had been a guy out front asking about me. At first I thought maybe it was a guest (Christian Grey, is that you??), but then she told me that he works here. She said it was someone I’ve talked to before, because he said we had, and that he was asking her what she knew about me, and if I was seeing anyone, and that he had left me a note but she didn’t have it on her at the moment.

My mind immediately went to Tomas. At this point, it had been a little while since I had turned him down the first time, so I thought he was trying again but from a different angle. And let’s just say that I was PISSED.

I went on my lunch shortly after and vented about it to another of my friends, Amanda. While on lunch, I decided that I needed to say something to him. So I pulled out my phone and texted Tomas that I’d already told him no, and to stop asking about me, and that I don’t like him involving my coworkers because I’m a private person (lol), and basically, to leave me alone. It was pretty heated. He didn’t respond.

But then I got back from lunch, and I found something on my desk. It was a note, saying the writer thought I was beautiful and cool and wanted to know if I’d get coffee with him sometime? It was signed by Ric.

Immediately, I panicked. I realized I’d had the wrong person and I’d just gone off on Tomas for asking about me when it wasn’t even the right person going all middle school on me and my coworkers. I started to get up and find Judy when she walked back in and asked if I saw the note, and I said yes, and asked her if it really came from him. She replied, “Yes! It’s from Ricco, the valet! Everyone calls him Ric but his name is Ricco.” Now I REALLY knew I’d messed up, and the look on my face must have expressed that because she asked me what was wrong. I told her I’d texted the wrong person to yell at him and I needed to apologize.

First, I apologized to Tomas for yelling at him, but I don’t think he appreciated that I had to say, “It was someone else who likes me and was asking about me” and unintentionally rubbing it in that he wasn’t the only person who had a crush on me, and then I had to go outside and talk to Ricco. I gave him more or less the same spiel I’d given Tomas earlier, that I don’t mix personal and professional and I wasn’t interested.

Of course, when I was getting on the T that day to go home, who joined me? Ricco. And, he just made me even more sure that I’d done the right thing by continuing with the unwanted and unnecessary lectures about everything I said and continuing to hint that we should go out sometimes, despite me clearly saying, “no.”

This is where Leo comes in. After all of this, he was the lesser of the evils so if I went outside to the valet area, I’d try to talk to him to avoid Ricco. I also ran into him in the back hallways quite a bit. So, we’d developed a friendly rapport.

One day, we were talking and somehow he started doing some rapid-fire questioning, asking me things about myself, and at one point, he asked me out. Because of the quick-questioning, I impulsively said, “Yes.” I immediately regretted it because I knew it was going to start stuff, but at the same time, Leo didn’t drive me quite so crazy so I wasn’t completely opposed to getting a drink or something.

I really hoped that nobody else would find out, but he must have said something because for the next day or two, Ricco gave me some serious side eye and death glares whenever he saw me. Then, he got fired so I didn’t have to worry about it anymore. Tomas did come by my department every once in a while and still made it so obvious that he was mad at me for turning him down, so he’d ignore me which didn’t really bother me, but it was definitely weird considering we’re all adults.

I never did go out with Leo, we just never really followed up on making plans, and then I quit and we didn’t have any way to keep in touch. The funny thing is, I worked with some (actually, all) insanely gorgeous girls at Encore, so I have no idea why these three guys all were so focused on me. Other than my theory that kind of weird guys are attracted to me because they know I’m nice and think I’ll be too nice to turn them down, but then again I think Tomas and Ricco learned that is NOT the case with me.

So, that’s the story of my weird little work love square. I guess, technically, to really be a love “square” at least one of those guys had to be in love with another guy, but it sounded better that way. And, it’s my blog, I can call it what I want, right?