Chapter 8. Is this the 3rd date?
Best laid plans.
I had a fun plan to take her into the outdoors for a change of pace. Then climate change stepped in with its fake and naturally occurring ugly heat wave turning what should have been a beautiful Saturday into 97 degrees of no thank you. I had to come up with a course correction; fortunately the weather man was finally right and I had a back up date location ready to go. I took her to a museum. Not the kind of museum that just popped into your mind but a museum of fun and merriment. A newer place that claims to “challenge your perspective” and “creates fun photographic opportunities.” Have you ever been to those places of mystery, where you seem massive on one end of the room but tiny on the other? It’s hard to explain but it was mostly about being amused among various props and illusions. It was a lot of fun and I took more photos than I normally do in a year. Maybe 2 years. Thanks to the kindness of others we also got many pictures together. When we arrived the Lady said “I have wanted to come here since they opened!” Plus the place was nicely air conditioned and cool. We had a great together, which seems to be the norm.
After the museum we went to a shopping and dining plaza nearby, a place original to the city with a very old world feel and barricaded off streets. They have a bunch of stores, bars, coffee shops and places of interest to occupy your time. One of the most interesting stores was a very eclectic vintage items store / bar that felt like walking through a large garage sale with a drink in your hand. We also stopped in a homemade jewelry store and a fancy ladies shoe place. I learned that my role would be to carry bags and agree to things. She also purchased a number of old records, like vinyl music records. I logged that away for potential future use. We had enough stuff at one point that we walked back to the Challenger and put them in the trunk.
I made reservations at a casual Italian bistro which was also in the aforementioned business district. I have never been there but I knew it would be good because they have a sculpture of a pig out front. I was also lured in by the mostly reasonable pricing and good online reviews. We decided to keep the meal light and passed on any more alcohol, the garage sale drinks would hold us over until later. She had some seared scallops with butternut squash and pancetta; I had a wild mushroom hand tossed pizza with truffle oil. There were pizzas that sounded a lot better but they all had garlic or spicy sausage in their descriptions and I was hoping to get lucky. This is, perhaps, our 3rd date, I think, sort of. The food was good but the portion sizes explained the more reasonable pricing. Still she didn’t eat her whole meal. We both drank plain old tap water. Dessert was offered and we selected and shared a tiramisu, which I learned how to pronounce properly. It seems there is no “me” in tiramisu. I would have named this Lady and the Tramp, but it seems that has already been copyrighted.
We strolled through the street among other people as we made our way back to the car. She saw a bench so we stopped and sat down, people watching a bit even though it was still pretty warm out. She would point out various people and we would guess their occupation or back story. My humor and sarcasm came in handy at that point. I had her rolling a few times and she produced a few good laughs as well. Then her tone changed to serious. She explained that she has had so much fun with me and I have made her forget or at least not think about some heavy things that formerly occupied her thoughts often. Then she brought up her prior comment about our “3rd date”. She was nervous and the words weren’t coming out. So I just took her hand and said “I don’t mean to disappoint you, but I’m not ready. I haven’t even seen your record player yet.” I continued with "And why do you keep pushing me for sex? I am more than just a hot body and a pretty face." She laughed and it took the stress out of the moment. I told her “Only when you’re ready and not one minute before”. She seemed instantly relieved. I think it had been on her mind much of the day, or maybe I felt it. We hung out there a while longer and then started the drive back to her place.
Once at the apartment we said our goodbyes in the car, which is to say we made out like teenagers until the interior of the car became decidedly uncomfortable. We exited and collected the bags from the trunk. I was not invited in and I did not invite myself. I did of course walk her back to the door for that soft kiss goodnight and watched her as long as I could. She is so pretty and has a really nice… maybe I will just keep that to myself.
Hey! Look everyone, I am actually dating someone. Like an adult. I am making plans, researching places to go, making reservations, sending flowers, etc. I didn’t even push her for sex, not even a little. What is happening? I bet it was watching that YouTube video she texted, some kind of mind control virus got into my brain. That must be it.
You have a kind soul Mr. Marsh, whether you like it or not.........and you are quite the romantic as well. 
