Dating Again

I met a woman named Becky a few weeks ago through the online dating site called Chemistry. I liked her right away. I thought she was warm, pleasant to speak with, and very beautiful. Our first meeting was at a bookstore/café in San Francisco called Crossroads Café. We talked for two hours and seemed to hit it off. We had a lot in common. We both enjoyed books, classical music, writing. I enjoyed my time with her. We agreed to meet again the following week. Our second date was at a Peruvian restaurant in San Francisco called Mochica. Our second date was really terrific. We talked for three-and-a-half hours. The conversation was effortless and easy. I was really smitten that night, and said so to her the next day. Mistake? Maybe, but I can’t help it. If I like someone, I say so. Save the games for the poker table. She travels a lot and wasn’t available to get together until the following week. We met for breakfast in Oakland at one of my favorite breakfast establishments called Lynn & Lu’s. The energy and enthusiasm was noticeably down a few notches. She had flown back to SF from Chicago the night before and looked a bit weary. Her energy picked up during breakfast and she told a few family-related stories. We also talked about personality profiles. Apparently, she’s taken many personality tests for work. She said she was an I and a J, but didn’t know for sure what the others were. I found the information helpful. After breakfast we walked around Grand Ave., and Lakeshore Ave. She made a few work-related calls and answered a few of my silly questions. I couldn’t help but feel some of our second date magic had disappeared. I just sensed it. She wasn’t asking any questions of me and seemed ready to go. We talked back to her car and I asked when I could see her again. And then she told me where things stood. She said she was really busy the next few weeks and didn’t think we could see each other until things settled down a bit. Having heard this many times in life, I knew what she was saying. It was a very nice way of saying she was not interested. I’ve said the same thing myself. What I had perceived to be a match especially after date two was just another misfire. I told her to give me a call if she wanted, and she said she’d email me. We hugged a friend of platonic friend hug, and that was that. Perhaps we weren’t right for each other after all. But I’ll always have the magic of that second date. It really was a great night. And Becky really is a wonderful woman. I hope she means the man of her dreams and lives happily ever after.