Monday, November 1, 2021

So There’s This Charming Man, Part One



I’m really struggling to write this even though it’s past time to start processing the wonderfulness that is This Charming Man. OMG I feel superstitious that I will somehow write the connection out of existence. Regular anxious and oh-my-goodness-he-is-so-cute-anxious are conspiring to keep the paragraphs from coming out.

So of course, he is beautiful, a gorgeous black man with supersweet cartoon-deer eyes.  TCM is tall, like, my head fits right next to his neck when we stand next to each other. (Oh my, I really wish it weren’t ALL THE WAY TIL THURSDAY NIGHT until I could do that!) He has the kind of skinny-strong look that up until recently would have made me assume he wouldn’t be into me. (SO glad I changed that perspective!!!) He showed up to our first date looking dapper as heck in a houndstooth jacket and the slightest hint of an artsy fauxhawk. Very low-key goth night. AND YES, he DID used to frequent our local goth night. FUCKING DREAMBOAT.

His vibe reminded me of Poly Friends’ Partner, that not-date poet from summertime. Except that This Charming Man is sillier, more freewheeling, less self-conscious. He chose an Irish dive bar for our lunch date and it was absolutely perfect, even as the bartender gently mocked me (well-deserved) for having coffee instead of beer. We ate voraciously, laughed so much. We talked about Animal Crossing for SO long despite the fact that he isn’t even playing the current iteration. And best, swooniest, we rifled around in each other’s playlists!

When I mentioned that Frank Ocean’s Pink + White is the best makeout song in the universe, he insisted on playing it over the nondescript bar music. I tried to press pause but he (eee!) gently wrestled my hand away every time I tried. I had to let the makeout song play, and we kissed. The feeling of that day is laughing while kissing, bubbling over with silly joy.

I told him about Knotty Thursdays and he was interested. We segued so easily into being knot-tying pals that I don’t even remember how it happened.

As I was settling in for my post-date/pre-work nap, he sent me such a cute picture of him cuddling with a friend’s dog while I was in the middle of ordering (us) some new ropes. At lunch he had expressed some hesitation about being wrapped up in pink ropes (a hesitation that has since evaporated) so I asked him what color he would like, and he said orange, so I ordered orange.

Who orders someone his own ropes after a first date? This moi. It was one of my better choices of ever.

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