Corner of 5th ave and 59th st. A beautiful spring day. Hope is in the air.
Okay, I'm not writing the rest of this as a script, but at least now we have the setup.
I'm walking home after a particularly good day of work, soaking up this gorgeous day. Some guy (Luke), asks me if I know where Bloomingdale's is. I do not. What about the Apple store? That one, yes. So I point him in the right direction and head on my way. But Luke is chatty. He tells me about how he got a new job, and how he's meeting friends in 30 min (who meets friends at Bloomingdales at 8pm on a Monday? smh). He eventually says there's "something about my face" (how flattering!) and asks for my number. He looks like he's my age-ish and seems normal enough, so I give it. Then, I start to head home, but Luke wants to go grab coffee now. Nope. That's not the deal.
Not sure what Jedi mind trick Luke pulled here, but next thing I know we are walking to grab a coffee. We go to a Pret. I don't drink coffee, so I got a sparkling water and a ham sandwich, because he insisted that I get something to eat. He also said I "don't need to worry, because everything here is fresh!" Normally, these are the type of situations in which I would insist on paying, but I was a little annoyed with Luke, so I was fine with it. He didn't get anything, so I felt like a 9 yr old as I handed the cashier my items and then waited for him to pay.
Luke wanted to go to the park and sit down. He was quite particular about which bench we picked, and I later realized it was because all of the options I had selected were too "out in the open."
Also, Luke's shoes looked a lot like this, but purple:
We sit down, and he tells me his whole life story in about 10 minutes. Some highlights:
- he turned down three girls in high school, because his mom didn't want him to date
- actually, that's all I remember
He then shares how now he really values romantic relationships and believes we should be able to enjoy physical pleasures (he may have said indulge—I, um, yeah). He asks for my story.
I'm a little annoyed I have to speak, because I am trying SO hard to down this sandwich; I got a half-sandwich and it was taking me forever to finish. But I give him a quick summary of my journey and he is distraught that I am not pursing acting. I must follow my dreams! He offered to help me find auditions!
This is particularly annoying to me, because I expressed how much I like my job, so why not just be happy for me? Anyway, I bite back just a teeny bit, but not enough because Luke then asks if he can kiss me.
No, but thanks for asking.
Apparently Luke's Irish friends told him that girls don't like you until you kiss them and also that you should let a girl know you are interested ASAP.
Very interesting!
Then, he asks if he can sing to me. At this point, we are solely still in this for the story, and also anything that will give me more time to finish this surprisingly robust half-sandwich, so yes! Please sing for me.
I then am treated to a live rendition of "Just the Way You Are" by Bruno Mars. I loved that song in 10th grade.
Now, my background should have set me up better for this, in that I have actually been lovingly sung to while making eye contact several times, albeit all in theatre settings. And my friends, theatre is the only appropriate place for this. It is just awkward outside. Luke hasn't learned this yet, so he aiming for piercing eye contact, which I really channel and redirect into my sandwich. I try to cut him off after the first verse, and then he jumps in with "cause when I see your face!" TO be fair, it is the best part of the song.
At the conclusion, he asks if he can kiss me again. Still no. That's annoying to him, but he respects it.
And then I finish my sandwich!! YAY! So I let him know I need to be heading back and start heading back. He asks for my number, but I remind him I already gave it to him.
Luke says he will text me right away and I am to text him when I get home.
I don't get home for another hour, because I had to call people and tell them the story. When I do, I see that he has never texted.
And Luke/Bruno never texted. 😌
Maybe he didn't save my number. Maybe I put the number in wrong. Maybe he couldn't remember which Rebecca I was in his phone. Maybe he met an even better Rebecca on the way home.
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