So, that date that I got as a result of being auctioned off for charity? It turns out that wouldn't be the only man I'd bag after an evening with the Arlington Young Democrats at Clarendon Grill.
In my frantic campaign that night, I'd spent a hot second chatting with one particular gentleman. He was wearing a suit and had these totally cute square-framed glasses -- I'm not generally into glasses on guys, but he just looked particularly good in them. I don't remember the specifics of anything we'd said to each other then; I was just being flirtatious and trying to ensure a few bids for myself, and he was smiling and laughing at my antics. I couldn't tell you if he ultimately bid on me in the auction, either -- once I hoisted myself onto the stage, the bright spotlight in my eyes turned everyone else in the room into faceless gray blobs.
In any case, the Democrat found me on Facebook afterward and promptly friended me with a note saying it was nice to meet me. We started exchanging messages, and that weekend we floated the idea of stopping by whatever bar the other was at if we ended up in the same area of town -- plans kept intentionally vague to disguise interest level, basically.
Ultimately, my girl Stepf was in town from Cincinnati in order to run the National Marathon and was exhausted that night, and I'd had a particularly crappy week and couldn't muster up the will to gussy up and go out. We ended up spending the evening at home wrapped up in animal-print Snuggies and were in bed by 11:30.
At that point, the Democrat and I exchanged phone numbers and began texting each other -- not a lot, just a few vaguely flirty messages here and there.
Finally, on Thursday, the hinges on my laptop snapped, meaning the mechanism that keeps the screen in place when the laptop is open broke, leaving the screen to flap helplessly in the wind. This caused me great consternation -- I need to use my computer, agghh!!! -- and I wrote a frustrated status about it on Facebook.
The Democrat, it seems, is a bit of a tech geek, and texted me to find out what specifically had happened. I sent him a picture of the fissure, to which he responded that he could probably fix it for me.
"You've made me a very happy woman," I texted back.
We made plans to meet up Friday night that afternoon, which was just dumb luck -- my weekend nights are high-priced real estate and usually get booked up pretty far in advance. I'd been joking about going to Cost-co or Union Station to eat a dinner entirely composed of free samples when the Democrat said his mother would never allow that. Instead, he suggested, we could meet up at Capitol City Brewing Company near Union Station for dinner and drinks, and afterward he would perform the necessary surgery on my laptop.
I was a little bit apprehensive while Metroing out to meet the Democrat because while he'd given a good first impression, there was a risk he'd be a Resume Spouter. I've touched on this type before, way back when I dated the financial analyst: the kind of guys who incessantly go on and on about their degrees, their accomplishments, who they know and how they know them. It's an epidemic here in D.C., the town where networking is king. And I find that guys who are involved in politics generally tend to be the biggest culprits of this.
The Democrat had gotten to the Cap City before me, so he'd snagged a table for the two of us. I ambled over to join him, awkwardly setting my backpack with my laptop in it down and settling in at our booth. We ordered drinks and began chatting while perusing the menu.
I immediately liked him. For starters, the conversation very nearly began with him making some sort of wildly inappropriate comment, which wouldn't have shocked me in any other situation, but for someone whom I met at a political function, I was stunned. The Democrat went on to say that he has no filter from his brain to his mouth -- something I say about myself ALL THE TIME.
And that wouldn't be the first time I'd find myself going, "Hey, me too!" that night. We had a few sturdy things in common. The Democrat is from the Midwest, for example -- just south of Cincinnati. I got the sense that our growing-up experiences were pretty similar, though he went to an all-boys private high school whereas mine was decidedly public and co-ed. (That led to a pretty funny joke, actually -- I said something about there being "100 percent more vagina" at my high school. Maybe you had to be there, but regardless, we laughed.)
The Democrat has recently passed the bar and is pursuing an advanced law degree part time while he job searches. This again was something that felt comforting -- my parents are lawyers, so it's a familiar subject to me (though he wants to use his degree for policy work and not litigation).
When we ordered food, he made a beeline for the barbecue pulled pork sandwich -- anybody who has been around me long enough knows I COMPLETELY LOSE MY SHIT over barbecue pulled pork. (Seriously, is there anything MORE delicious on this planet? I would argue there is not!)
The Democrat and I started discussing how much we love barbecue, which then transitioned us into another major thing we have in common -- we've both lost huge amounts of weight, literally dropping to half our size. It is INSANELY awesome to meet someone who has gone through the same struggle with their weight. You don't know what it's like until you've been through it, and most people just don't understand.
"So you went from 240 to one-hundred-and-sexy?" the Democrat joked, which, admittedly, was super cheesy, but endearing all the same. From there, he complimented me a lot, causing me to blush uncontrollably.
After dinner we decided to walk to Chinatown so we could Metro over to his place in Columbia Heights so he could fix my laptop there. We continued talking and joking with each other, and to me it just felt easy! I was really, really enjoying myself.
Once we reached Columbia Heights, we made a pit stop for a six-pack before continuing on to his apartment. He went to work straight away on repairing my laptop's broken hinges, while I nervously sat nearby, like a relative pacing the waiting room halls while their loved one is in the OR.
Unfortunately, the Democrat's solution -- using epoxy on the broken pieces -- didn't work. I had to type this entire entry with my laptop's screen propped up against a pillow. But that didn't stop me from making out with the Democrat a little later -- the chemistry was there, and I was feeling the moment!
So... um... I actually ended up spending the night there. It had gotten late, and Metroing home from Columbia Heights would have been an hourlong affair. And the Democrat and I had talked earlier about how it had been a while since either one of us had been in a relationship, and how much we liked to cuddle, so... we did. We cuddled, and it was magnificent. It is SO AWESOME to sleep next to someone, to fall asleep to the rhythm of their breaths (unless they snore -- that's something else entirely). And I assure you: I followed the No Shave to Behave rule, so while he definitely made a valiant effort at going further, I remained a good girl for the evening.
I left early the next morning and texted him later on that day to say I'd had a great time.
However, the drawbacks: The Democrat is 26, and, as I mentioned, job searching. If you look at the man chart I made, that puts him squarely in "the Danger Zone." It's a probability that dating is not his highest priority right now, and more than that, he could very easily end up far away from the D.C.-area if he were to find a killer job elsewhere. Additionally, the younger thing just sort of nags at me anyway -- it just feels like guys are supposed to be the older ones in a relationship, not the opposite. I don't know why I'm hell-bent on thinking that way. In any case, those things make me a little wary of getting in deeper with him.
Regardless, if he asks me out again, I will probably go. I had a good time, and I'm fairly certain I'd like to keep getting to know him.
