To Hold... But Not To Have

I arrived at "40 Year Old’s" home Sunday evening. (The Sunday I was supposed to call "Eugenio" back to reschedule our cancelled Saturday night date.) "40 Year Old" and I were off to see a movie… Star Wars - Revenge of the Sith. I rang his doorbell once and walked in (old habits die hard). He yelled from upstairs in his best falsetto girl’s voice, “Who is it?” (As if he didn't know.) I yelled back in my best gruff man voice, “It’s me!” We both laughed.

I bounced up the stairs and was greeted by oodles of affection. (Where were these hugs and nuzzles coming from?) We chatted a bit and caught up on things. It had been weeks since we last saw each other. At least it felt like it had been weeks.

He poured me a drink and told me how he had visited with the couple that originally set us up on a date. He told me that our mutual friend had given him a hard time for “messing things up” with me. She told him, “40 Year Old, I set you up with the best girl I know and you blew it!” I laughed at him and said, “You sure did!”

“40 Year Old” scooted up next to me and put his arms around my waist. “Jane, you are the best girl I know… and I want you to know that if it weren’t for me moving, I really would pursue something more serious with you.” (Hmmm that’s not hard to say when you know that you aren’t sticking around, but it was a nice gesture on his part nonetheless.)

We had a great evening out. We played arcade games before the movie started. (He’s the first person to ever beat me playing Area 51.) He ate all the popcorn, so I refused to share my Reese’s Pieces with him. Then he spilled my frozen cherry drink down the front of his white shirt. He fell asleep three times and I fell asleep once. (It was a really long movie.)

It was strange, before he fell asleep (the first time); he reached over and held my hand. I’m not sure if the reason it felt so odd was because I am NOT a hand holder or whether it felt odd, because I didn’t mind…