August 2004
What are the odds that I would run into Lawyer Boy after a year when I'm out on a first date with another guy? DC is a small town, but my world is especially small.
I stared at Lawyer Boy for a few seconds. He saw me at exactly the same time that I noticed him. We smiled at each other, and he extended out his hand to help me up the last step toward him.
Lawyer Boy and I hugged and just started talking to each other like no time had passed since our last date. I then turned and saw Justin, our mutual friend, and Char, the girl who told me that Lawyer Boy was living with Darby. As I kept talking with everyone, I looked down the bar for my date, Calvin. I waved at him, smiled, and gave him the sign for "one minute."
"I'm actually on a first date with this really nice guy. I shouldn't keep him waiting too long, but it's great to see you guys," I told Lawyer Boy and Justin.
Justin joked, "The three of us should hook up one night with me in the back and Lawyer Boy in the front." (That comment might seem offensive or out-of-left-field, but I didn't take it that way. Justin is as much of a flirt as I am.)
We all laughed out loud, as I replied, "Well, if we were doing that, then Lawyer Boy would have to be in the back. And, Justin, it might not be wise to talk about threesomes that don't involve your girlfriend when she's standing five feet away."
Justin chuckled, and Lawyer Boy's face was beet-red.
"So, are you guys going to be here long?" I inquired.
"Yeah, probably," Justin responded.
"Well, let me know if you decide to head somewhere else. I should go back and spend some more time with my date, but I hope that we can catch up more later," I commented.
I went back to Calvin on the other side of the bar. For the next hour, I tried to feign interest in the conversation, but it didn't work. Calvin was a good guy, but the moment that I saw Lawyer Boy, I knew that my first date with Calvin was going to be my last.
I kept looking over to see if Justin and Lawyer Boy were at the other end of the bar. Calvin didn't notice, but I realized that I should just be honest since neither my heart nor my head were in the date anymore.
"Hey," I said. "You seem really cool and it would be nice to grab coffee or catch a movie sometime. But, tonight, I wasn't expecting to run into my friends and I'd like to go grab a drink with them to celebrate my friend's birthday. I don't want to be rude, but would that be okay?"
"Of course! We can hang out another time. Go have fun with your friends," he replied.
I was pretty surprised that he took that so well. Calvin won a lot of points with me with his laid-back attitude, and I wondered if we could actually be friends. (Oh, I'd like to say that this was the only time that I ditched a guy on our first date for an ex-boyfriend, but it wasn't. I realize that I'm not always the perfect date!)
I gave Calvin a hug and a kiss on the cheek goodbye, and headed to the other side of the bar. I must have looked like a chicken with its head cut off because I couldn't see Lawyer Boy, Justin or Char anywhere. Finally, I walked to the top of the Waterfront complex and called Justin. He said that they were getting burgers at Johnny Rockets and that I should come up.
I walked up to M Street and inside the restaurant (yes, I'm being kind to Johnny Rockets by even calling it that). Char and her girlfriend had gone home so it was just Lawyer Boy, Justin and two other guys. We got on the topic of graduate school since I was starting a master's program in a week. It was fun to talk with them all, and there were a lot of laughs, as expected with that group.
I had already eaten so I just got a soda and had a few of Lawyer Boy's fries. When the bill came, I offered to pay my share, but Lawyer Boy said, "I'll take care of it."
"Thanks. That's sweet," I responded, as I put my hand on his leg. Putting my hand on someone's leg wasn't normally a big deal. I do that with my girlfriends as a sign of affection or appreciation. But, with Lawyer Boy, the act wasn't so casual. He flexed his quad the moment that I put my hand on his leg. I squeezed his leg to feel his muscles and made some comment about how he must still be going to the gym a lot. He was blushing by this point, and it seemed as though we were the only two people at the table. All of that transpired in less than 30 seconds, but I knew that we would have sex again. It wasn't a matter of if, but when.
We all said goodbye outside of Johnny Rockets. Justin crossed the street to head toward the parking garage, Lawyer Boy headed toward Wisconsin and his apartment, and their friends offered to walk me to my car. The night might have been over, but my intuition told me that the saga with Lawyer Boy wasn't.