There's this chap who asked my friend if he should meet up with me when he's back for his short summer holidays. And my friend, being the Angel she is, encouraged him to.
It would prove to be a delicate situation for we do not know each other. I have heard of him, and apart from what little my friend has told me about him, I know absolutely nothing. But I believe he knew even less of me, I doubt he even knows my real name!
He initiated the first email and we've been exchanging emails, not as regularly as I would have liked but I'm happy that we're at least communicating now. And just as I thought that was all there is to it, he suggested meeting up after work on Tuesday. Gosh, it's been a while since I last went on a date so I was naturally apprehensive.
Throughout last weekend, truly vain me was thinking of what clothes and which footwear to wear, which bag to tote etc etc etc. Hey, I always make an effort to look nice to work so I must be more or equally Dressed For Success on a blind date OK!
Now, I had been on one blind date previously and I was chaperoned by my friend and her cousins. I found myself enjoying the conversations with my friend's cousin rather than the bloke! That didn't work out obviously and I hadn't been on any more blind dates since.
I tried asking my friends to accompany me but as it was a working day, it proved to be difficult so I texted him saying that I'd be coming All By Myself. So barely an hour after reaching residence from my Kuching trip, I was out again. In my anxious state, I started calling my friends - one didn't answer, one did and provided the advice I was seeking - and Mummy too. Then I Finally hailed a cab [missed the bus, what a bad start when I wanted to be early] and called up my friend away in good ol' England knowing I could count on being comforted and reassured. I was also told to calm down, Pray that all go well and to remember that even if it doesn't work out, well, at least I've taken the chance and gained a friend in the process. So many butterflies in my tummy! Yikes, getting this nervous before meeting a blind date at this age. Am I simply such a slooowww bloomer or what.
First I was afraid, I was petrified and Boy, was I petrified, terrified and nervous as hell. If you sighted a pale, nervous-looking girl who looked like she was quaking from head to toe and walking extra fast in KLCC on Tuesday, chances are it was me [my friends say I walk fast anyway]. At first I was too nervous to walk around and had to make a pitstop at the washroom before collapsing onto a bench and texting him to say I'd arrived. But I still couldn't Relax and it wasn't long before I decided I should walk around to soothe my fraying nerves. So I walked briskly in and out Isetan and the lovely Lovely Lace [love the shop, the display, the scent etc and the sweet scent sure helped]. Then The Call came. He had arrived and was at the Concourse floor, '...near Nando's'. I said OK, I'd go down and meet him. As I descended down the escalators, I thought, there goes my advantage of element of surprise. See, I wanted to have the upper hand, the advantage of seeing him first, so to speak.
I never realised before that it was only a short hop, skip and jump to Nando's from Isetan. My heart was going thump thump thump so loudly, I feared anyone within hearing distance may think there was a bomb ticking away. Then as I neared Nando's, I got his text: 'Pink shirt. striped tie. That's me!' Only then did it dawn on me that I wouldn't be able to recognise him otherwise. Heh, I can be so slow at times.
I quickly stepped into Famous Amos, oblivious to other cookie monsters, I mean cookie-mad(sniffing) customers, and texted him back (while inhaling the tempting aroma of choc chip cookies myself, that helped too!): 'Shd b there shortly. R u in there or o/side? Nervous-look/g girl, that's me!'. I waited for the text to be delivered and moved out to the luggage store next door, looking at the window display. I noticed there was a new collection of luggage goods under the Sammies line [trust a shopaholic to notice these things even when distracted!] but that was about it. Any onlooker would see a girl looking hard at the window display and thinking she was either admiring or trying to decide whether to purchase or not, but I was hardly concentrating on the display. I wanted to run away; I wanted to stay rooted at the spot; I wanted to meet him and get the nervous feeling out of my system. It was barely a minute later but it felt longer than that and I decided OK, let's get on with it Adek. I couldn't go on standing there seemingly admiring and engrossed with the window display but with a mind thousands of miles away, 'til the cows and birds go home, the shops close down, the weather changes, the season changes, the leaves turn colour and fall off from trees, the birds start migrating south, the North Pole creatures start hibernating... so I shook myself out of my reverie, turned around and walked the even shorter distance to Nando's.
Just as I was about to pass Famous Amos [again], I caught sight of a chap standing there, and checking his cell phone. In a short-sleeved white shirt with small Pink boxes [sorry, I don't know enough about men's clothes to be able to describe it] and a striped tie (and me in my casual outfit which I decided at the eleventh hour, Boy, did I feel under-dressed!). I almost did a double take and stopped in my tracks. I peered at him again and somehow managed to summon enough courage to ask, 'Excuse me, are you DoctorJones?'. And, yes, it was him.
The meeting turned out quite well and gradually I found myself relaxing. I had somehow managed to impress on him via emails that I'm a Shopping Queen (oh dearie me) and after the walk in the park, he good-naturedly accompanied me around Isetan (in exchange for showing him around the park and the room at Mandarin, following me all around Isetan seemed only fair trade)... then we had dinner. And he was kind and considerate enough to offer to take me home. So all in all, it turned out pretty well, at least I like to think it had. And I behaved well too (I normally misbehave of course but I was incredibly good!). Not just my hands, even my tummy decided to behave itself, despite not having a proper meal all day prior to the meeting and not decided to go rumble rumble Let's Get Ready To Rumble.
Sorry, details of action will not be disclosed here, they are only privy to me and him.
Alas, I won't be meeting him anymore for he's flying back to Europe on Saturday. Just My Luck, eh.
I doubt I'll go out on any more blind dates after this. It's Bad for my nervous system! And it just dawned on me that he may have been at Famous Amos when I stepped in there engrossed in my cell phone. Arghhh!!!
And oh yea... Pink it's my new obsession, Pink it's not even a question...
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