We start our journey seven months ago, when a friend convinced me that the only way to find the man of my dreams is through [insert drum roll here]--online dating! Yes, that would be the answer to my problems. Why on earth did I not think of such a ridiculous concept? I had seen the advertisements for Match.com and eHarmony, but never paid much attention. Nobody finds "true love" online, so why go through the process of looking pathetic and desperate? I am a young, beautiful prize (perhaps I'm exaggerating a smidge). Any man would be lucky to have me!
Needless to say my desperation overcame my ego and I relentlessly signed up for Match.com. I underwent the long, tedious process of answering personality quizzes and writing honest autobiographies about the undying love I was seeking. Hopefully this adventure would work and I would find a perfect man to share in my perfect life. I suppose my ego could use a little smashing. eh?
And so the emails poured in as I scoured through the never ending circuit of profiles. Most guys look nothing like their pictures, therefore you learn to ask "How recent are your pictures?" and wait for the "Oh, well, um, that one is from three years ago" response. The best is when you specifically state on your profile that you are twenty-two years old and you receive the emails from the older than dirt men. I've received some very disturbing emails throughout this experience. I'd have to say the best email was from a forty-nine year old man with a blank subject line. Not realizing his age, I opened the email to find one sentence--"I want to dominate you." Oh, online dating, how I love you. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how it went.
However, I have managed to meet a few men throughout these months and I am about to virtually seduce you into reliving these dates with me. Through online dating, you tend to talk to a few people at one time. In order to keep up with all of them and remember who they all were, I assigned them nicknames. It's actually a pretty ingenius idea and has worked quite well. The first on our list is a man I like to call Disney....
Mr. Disney was a kind man when we first started speaking. He seemed very sweet and quite charming. We had a lot in common, especially in terms of what we were looking for in a relationship. He's a chef, which was perfect because I am not domesticated and though I am able to cook, it isn't always edible. He's in his early twenties and has a two year son, which made him even more attractive because he could understand my lifestyle with my own children. The fact that he was absolutely gorgeous with a chiseled body didn't hurt either. It seemed like a match made in heaven. We spent a week exchanging emails, texts, and phone calls before planning our first date. He decided on Downtown Disney. I was quite impressed with his unique date idea.
Normally guys suggest dinner and a movie, which should be a clue to all you naive ladies out there (myself included). A guy invites you to a movie on the first date as a way to "snuggle up close to your..... bosom." There is no way to get to know a person during a movie, so be smart. If he offers to go to the movies, run away. Unless of course you want to be that girl and then by all means, go get snuggly, but don't be offended when he wants to snuggle... naked.
So, I drove myself to Downtown Disney, because you never get in the car with strangers! Didn't your momma teach you that? I arrived about fifteen minutes early and for whatever reason, I was beyond nervous! I called my boss and vented my nerves to her indifferent ear. I took one last hit of my cigarette, my hand still shaking, and started walking towards the entrance. A million thoughts were racing through my head. Would he like me? Am I pretty enough? Am I dressed okay? Do I smell good? Gosh, I wish my boobs were bigger... My thoughts were interrupted because my eyes had captured him. To my surprise, he was as attractive in person as he was in his pictures. We exchanged hugs and started walking around and talking. It seemed so perfect and serene. I thought I was in this magical world and everything was falling into place. Could I have really met my potential match this soon, with my first date? Well, then he offered to take me to the movies! Yes, I said it, the movies. Normally, my brain would have warned me and I would have steered clear of this offer (no, that's a lie, I still would have gone), but I figured since the date was going so perfectly, why end it now? Plus, he's gorgeous and I wouldn't mind a little smooch session in the dark.
We went to the AMC theatre and watched Captain America. I honestly have no idea what happened during the movie because we were kissing. Did you think I was going to watch Captain America? Get real. Although I would not allow it go any further than kissing, he seemed fine with that. He had expressed much interest in our previous phone calls when it came to sexual things, but I was not going to approach that tonight or any time soon. After the movie, we walked to our cars. Before he left, he picked up me and kissed me. It was beautiful and made me feel so magical. I had my arms around his neck, my legs around his waist, and his arms around mine, as we kissed. I know it sounds like the movies, but it really did happen this way. I had never met a guy who could make me feel so special. I knew this had potential and I was ready to let my guard down and experience this kind of love.
We exchanged a few text messages after our date and everything seemed great. I sent him the dreaded desperate girl text, where I spilled my heart about how amazing the date was and how much I enjoyed myself and I hope he felt the same way. Next thing I know, I receive a response telling me about how he liked me but wasn't sure about "the two kids and smoking", even though he knew about both topics prior to any conversations on the phone or in person. Completely thrown for a loop, I stayed up all night, and I mean all night pondering this text and realizing that I allowed myself to become that girl. I gave way too much information about myself up front. I have always been overly honest and tell my life story within the first five minutes of knowing someone. I realized that this tends to push people away. All I wanted was to be loved, but I think I may have pushed him away instead. It's okay to be lonesome and want to find that love, but to be desperate and pushy is the biggest turn-off, or so I've been told. So I decided to leave it alone and contact him in the morning. I had no idea the turmoil and heart wrenching pain Mr. Disney would cause me on the following day, but it changed my life in a way that I never expected.
Mr. Disney Part 2, To Be Continued. Stay Tuned!