The Spaniard

It started off much like every other Tinder/Bumble/Hinge/CoffeeMeetsBagel/OKCupid/Match/EHarmony/TheLeague romance story… We matched, we chatted for a day and we met in person. AAAAAHHH, modern romance!!! Again, I was less than hopeful and also, no longer excited to meet men from any dating apps or sites. I meet enough dicks day to day who think they’re hot shit. Why do I willingly enter into these “dating” situations anymore? For the love of dogs, someone help me.

His dating app name was Matt. I only learned later that he calls himself that on these apps instead of using his actual name, Marco, because American women are racist and think that people from foreign countries are “stupid” because they have accents since English is their second language. This was interesting to me since I find people who learn English, but are fluent in other languages, are more intelligent and educated than the vast majority of people born and raised in the United States who can barely properly formulate a sentence in their native tongue. If I see one more Trump-loving, trout-catching, Budweiser-loving, Nascar-watching, American flag-humping white dude on Tinder, I’m going to scream. They’re nearly as bad as the trust fund-having, pastel-wearing, finance major, frat boys who live in River North and hang out in the West Loop and have only traveled to Cancun or back to the burbs/Wisconsin/Nebraska/Iowa/Indiana to visit mom and dad. Basically, if you learned this crock of shit English language and have immersed yourself in a different country/culture, I find you more interesting than the American guys I usually meet when I go out.

Marco had only lived in Chicago a few months so our deal was, I pick the place and he pays since he doesn’t know a lot of places in the city. Many girls might be total assholes in this situation and pick Alinea for dinner and then The Aviary for a couple cocktails. I’m not that asshole. We just met at Aire for some drinks. It was the end of summer and still gorgeous, so we might as well take advantage of the weather and spend some time outside. I actually went home, showered and changed my clothes before this meeting, rather than coming straight from work, covered in hair, with smeared makeup. I slammed a glass of wine and took a Lyft down to meet him after I got ready. He was there before I arrived and he also made an attempt to look like a decent human being. He was tall and tan with a shaved head, wearing a blazer and a button-down with the top two buttons undone.

I broke my rule again and had three drinks with him instead of my “two drinks and bail” routine. He was fun. He was nice. He was a gentleman. He was smart. He was attractive. He also told me he’s only interested in meeting friends and is not wanting a relationship. I didn’t think I was wanting to meet anyone for anything serious either because what would happen to my blog if I met a boyfriend anyway!? Still, after hearing this, I felt less attracted to him. There wasn’t necessarily a wall between us after this; it was more like a screen. I put my guard up and definitely was not going to let this go further than a friendship but I was interested in hanging out with him again.

It was early and we wore out every view of Aire so we moved on to meet his friend at Untitled. His friend was from Minnesota but he was fluent in Spanish and had an accent like a native Argentinian apparently. My Spaniard paid at Aire so I bought a round for him, his friend and myself at Untitled. There was a blues band this night and they were killing it. We would have stayed longer than for one drink but this Minnesota youngster friend of his was poor and insisted we go somewhere closer to where he lived that was cheaper. Where, might you ask?? None other than Nisei Lounge. This was NOT my idea (I fucking swear!!) but he lived across the street and who am I to argue with going to the finest establishment in all of Wrigley?? Also, I want to know when I’m going to start getting paid by Nisei and Malort for all the promoting I do for them.

The three of us on a “date” now, took a car to the bar and decided playing a game of pool was in the cards for the night. My regular billiards pal happened to be there, highly intoxicated, as usual. He and I may or may not have drunkenly flirted and made out once or twice this summer so he felt especially inclined to cock block me from the Spaniard all night. He insisted that we be partners while playing, as we always were. This time I denied him and opted to pair up with Marco instead.

I couldn’t tell you which team won the game that night but it was entertaining to see two men fighting for my affection in a game of pool. Guys, if you think that’s the way to my heart or vagina, you’re sadly mistaken… I might be cheap and easy like McDonald’s but not THAT cheap and easy. Impress me with more than your pool stick, k?

I’m not sure if that’s what they were after or if it was just a battle of egos really. Sadly, I think they both lost in the end because I forced all three of the guys to do shots of Malort and none of them got laid. Lose, lose situation there unless you’re a Malort fan! Based on their Malort faces after the shots, I’d say I was the only one who won that night.

As the night was coming to an end, my regular make-out buddy and pool partner blacked out and disappeared and the young, poor, Minnesota boy peaced out too. It was just me and my Spaniard, who I would totally make out with but could never seriously date. He’s a gentleman so he walked me home and by “home” I mean the corner between my place and the bar, where we made out for an uncomfortably long time and he slipped his finger in my underwear. Drunk people were puking, pointing and yelling as they passed us and a police officer rolled up to shine his lights on us at one point, so I removed his finger and tongue from my body and said goodnight.

He left for Spain and Morocco for three weeks shortly after we met. We tried to hang out one more time before then but were unsuccessful. He sent me a text saying:

marco

(Recovering my throat was not in reference to what he did to it with his tongue. I lose my voice a lot by being loud and obnoxious and screaming a lot when I go out…Promise!)

Buena suerte y feliz viaje, amigo.

 

The ice cream man

After weeks of not getting enough attention from my “boyfriends” and nearly two months of having no sex, I decided it was time to swipe. Swiping used to be something I did as often as I breathed when I was newly single. After a while though, my swiping happened about as often as I mopped my floors, which was rarely.

I matched with a guy that night and we talked until after 4am. Both of us were shocked by this because we never chatted so much with people on dating apps and definitely never had so much fun doing it that we didn’t want to stop to sleep. He was also divorced, loved dogs, baseball, art and painting. He was in real estate and owned some investment properties and said he and his friends basically tried to work as little as possible all summer. (#lifegoals) Although, while my other hobbies include blogging, running and doing yoga, he was more into racing motorcycles, volunteering at PAWS and boating in his free time. And then I fell in love… (But seriously, what the hell is the deal with all these guys on Tinder and Bumble who have boats and why do I match with all of them? I must smell like Lake Michigan and they’re instantly attracted. Maybe…?) Everything about him seemed perfect until he called himself the Hugh Hefner of real estate and said he was surrounded by beautiful buildings instead of beautiful women. I gave him a pass on this lame ass comment because of the regular volunteering at PAWS.

A week went by and we chatted regularly, most often until close to 5am. One night around 3am, we both wanted tacos and ice cream. He lived nearby and told me to meet him at 7-11. He honestly asked me to walk 15 minutes to 7-11…at 3am…for some fuckin’ Ben & Jerry’s. Although the Pistachio Pistachio was screaming my name for all of Lakeview to hear, I opted to stay in my bed. This is when he tells me he already hopped in his Range Rover to drive (1/2 a block) to the convenience store to get ice cream. Instead of picking me up to get some or buying some for me and dropping it off, he took pictures of the icy pints of cookie dough and pistachio and sent them to me and told me he’d save my ice cream at his place for whenever I come over. Well isn’t that some bullshit??

A few days later after making plans to go check out the Navy Pier fireworks with one of my “boyfriends”, the plans fell through so I texted the ice cream man to see what he was up to. He invited me to meet him and some friends at Diversey Yacht Club. I walked over there after work and drank tequila cocktails and ate M&M’s with him and his friends. All they did was talk shit to each other and laugh so hard their faces and stomachs hurt. Naturally, I fit right in and loved them. I still swear his best friend and I were separated at birth. She’s brutally honest and blunt and incredibly foul-mouthed. He had the best laugh though. The kind of laugh that you know is genuine. It starts with a smile that stretches wider than you’d think was possible and makes you close your eyes so tightly. It’s accompanied by a loud sound that can only come from deep in your belly and the laugh ends with a long sigh while you wipe away tears and lean forward, clutching your stomach. He had that kind of laugh. All night.

Finally someone suggested a late-night boat cruise. The water and weather were perfect for the first 20 minutes. On our way back, the winds changed and buckets of water were being poured on us while we slid and bounced around the back of the boat. When we came back to the dock, he disappeared for a long time and his friends asked me if I wanted to do a little bump. Who am I to turn down free coke? It would have been rude of me. I graciously accepted, put my soaking hair into a bun and put on someone’s dry hoodie and we all wiped the seats and tables down with towels so we could sit and hang out again. When he came back, he and I snuggled up under a blanket and all of us had another drink and talked on the back of the boat for a couple more hours. He and I were both yawning and then had a mini tickle fight to wake up a bit. Everyone else had enough blow in their systems to party all night, I’m sure.

I had to work in the morning and he offered to drive me home. I said goodbye to people I expected would be my life-long best friends forever. We all hugged and said we were looking forward to hanging out again soon and the ice cream man walked with me to his Range Rover, he opened the door for me and I hopped in. He took me to my place, hugged me goodbye and waited until I got inside. After I showered the dirty lake water off of my body and out of my hair, I texted him to say thanks for everything and of course, sarcastically tell him how boring he was. He responded with, “lol I’m fucking awesome and you know it. tonight was definitely a blast.”

What could have been a boring Wednesday night in, ended up being an unexpected, fun-filled adventure with great people and a guy that I could really like. Nights like that are what summers are all about. Spontaneity, fun, laughs. The next day I had a cancellation at work and still wanted that fucking ice cream. Since I knew he rarely worked and he also lived down the street from my salon, I texted to see if he wanted to check out the new gelato spot on Southport. No response. I assumed he must be busy actually working or he was on the boat. Either way he normally replied right away but I didn’t worry about it. I went to the French bakery with my friend and got myself a macaroon instead. Later that night I texted him while I was (actually) Netflixing and chillin’. Hours later, still no response.

I could have just let it go like that but I didn’t want to. How hard is it to just say you aren’t interested in someone? How hard is it to just reply to a fucking text? Not hard at all. I let him know those things and told him ignoring someone is rude (Why do I have to tell so many people this??) and I would have appreciated a little communication since we’re grown adults. I thanked him again for everything and wished him luck in the shitty world of dating and thanked him also for reminding me that I should give up on it. If guys were ice cream, Baskin Robbins doesn’t even have enough flavors for me. I think I’ve gone through all 31 and every last one sucks. I’d rather die a born-again virgin before I swipe again and meet another guy.

 

The Underemployed One

It’s Sunday morning and I’m doing the 30-something’s Walk-of-Shame from my Saturday night guy’s place, which is Ubering home, hung over, while texting my friends about the previous night. That’s when I get a Bumble message from a guy asking if I was interested in getting some brunch. Yes. Yes, yes, yes. The answer is always YES to brunch. We agree to meet at a brunch place my friend manages, as I’ve repeatedly promised to come check her new spot out and fail every time. I raced home to take care of the dogs and get cleaned up. When I’m almost there he texts to let me know there is an hour wait so he’s at the restaurant next door having a drink. It’s 11am. He’s drinking. We’re off to a good start.

I get there with my perfectly polished ponytail, giant sunglasses and pale yellow sundress that my friend Nikki just gave me, attempting my best (somewhat hung over, ‘I hope I don’t still smell like sex’) Audrey Hepburn look. I recognize him immediately from checking out his photos, even though it was clear his photos were quite old and he was a bit heftier than he was when they were taken. We hug and I order champagne; my drink for summer 2017. Hey, I’m celebrating being alive this summer! We get down to chatting and I notice he’s wearing very expensive, trendy, yet classic clothing but his eyes were glazed over and bloodshot. His shirt was unbuttoned a bit too far and his hair was wild. I asked how his night was and he told me he went to Cuvee, an upscale nightclub, the night before with friends. Despite having delayed responses to any of my questions, he responded and asked questions as well so I wasn’t leading the entire conversation. Something still seemed off about him but I guessed it was just his hang over.

On his profile he said he was a beverage director at a nice hotel. I asked him how he liked that job and he tells me he was fired from that place a year ago. Why the fuck does it still say it on your profile then, guy!? So I asked what he does now and why he was fired. He goes on to say he was fired for being “kind of an asshole and a drug addict”. LOVELY! He said he talked down to his staff and he didn’t realize other people didn’t use cocaine the same way he did. He basically did it all day and all night, in front of his coworkers and bosses, and was shocked that it was an issue when they brought it up to him and dismissed him from his role in the company. Now he claims to be underemployed, as he works as a bartender two nights a week at two different bars. This cocaine habit now explains his delayed responses and blood-shot eyes. This dude is still awake from partying last night!

Cocaine

I knew I wasn’t attracted to him but we were here already and I was hungry. After almost an hour, I asked if he wanted to check on our table status next door at my friend’s brunch restaurant. He then tells me he never put our names in so we had just been sitting around the whole time waiting for nothing. This guy needs an adult. I run over, climb over 30 hungry people who are sitting around, waiting for their names to be called. I pull the dick move of name-dropping at the host stand and hug my friend Sarah after the hostesses get her attention. She was running around like a mad woman but told me there are seats that will be available at the bar. I run over to tell the underemployed guy to drag him over before he orders another cocktail.

When I came back and told him, he then lets me know that he has no cards and no cash so if I could cover everything today, he could Venmo me or get me next time. I’m getting fucking PLAYED right now!! This broke-ass scammer got me! I ask why he wanted to invite me to brunch if he has no money but he assures me he has some in the bank, he just left his debit card at the nightclub last night. You’re a 30-something year old man who only has one card to his name and you leave it somewhere and invite a girl out?? What’s WRONG with you? Where did you go wrong in life? Shit, where did I go wrong in life if these are the guys I’m meeting!? I pay and we go next door, order food and a drink and continue on this “date”. I talked to my friend and the bartender now more than I talked to this guy. He picked at a salad and slowly sipped a bloody Mary while I crushed some eggs and veggies and two champagne cocktails.

We decide it’s time to go since I hate him and he has to actually go to one of his jobs soon. My friend kindly discounts half of our bill, I pay again and then decide to run to the restroom before we walk out. Before I go, he tells me to close my eyes and hold out my hand. I fear something bad will happen but I look around and realize we are elbow to elbow with people and there are hundreds of people there. What’s the worst he could do? I did as he asked and when I opened my eyes I saw a big bag of white powder in my palm. I gasped and clenched my fist, shoving the bag back in his hand. “What?”, he said, “Do a couple bumps in the bathroom.” Then he winked. Barf. It is 12:30pm on a Sunday, sir! And we are dining at a fine, family restaurant, where my friend is the manager! What’s wrong with you?

We leave and, unfortunately, have to walk the same direction to get to our destinations. While we walk, he repeatedly pulls this bag out to do bumps off of his key. Once he did it in front of a church. Once he did it in front of a playground, as a mother pushing a double-wide stroller walked by. We’re a block away from his job when he ducks into an alley and asks me to wait a minute. I glance over after a few seconds to catch him pissing behind a dumpster, cocaine in-hand. He zips up and we continue this romantic stroll to his job, where he leans toward me, open-mouthed, tongue-first. I put both arms between us, on his chest and push away. “K, this was fun! Talk to you later!”, I blurted out. I’m a fucking liar. Once again he tells me, “I’ll Venmo you!” and I briskly walked on. No look of longing as I left. No eye contact at all actually. I stared at the ground and moved my legs as fast as a girl can in wedge sandals. I’ll never forget you, Venmo guy.

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When you wanted to be the dumper but end up being the dumpee

I obviously was not a big fan of the guy who looked like a goldfish but I continued to see him when I was bored. He always showed up when I told him to and was a really good time when he wasn’t being annoying. It helped that he liked to always tell me that I look like the woman who plays the role of Wonder Woman in the new movie that was coming out. After our first week of hanging out, he sent me a text saying, “Happy one week anniversary!” I gagged. We got into a fight during that week too because he says really stupid things and interrupts people incessantly so I tell him to shut up and stop being a rude toddler.  He said that if we can get through that, we can get through anything.

He was also not a fan of the fact that I knew someone everywhere we went. He got jealous when I would talk to people I saw in public and started to resent me, I think. This lead to him picking on me for anything I said or did and he laughed about it when I got mad at him. When I asked him why he enjoyed pushing my buttons so much, he said I was just a spoiled princess who was used to everyone giving me everything I want and no one ever calls me out on my shit so he was going to continue to basically be a total dick.

Excuse me, Nemo!? I’ve worked my ass off for everything my whole life and never expect things from other people. No one calls me out on my shit because there’s no shit to call me out on! I can be a little (a lot) bossy sometimes but only when I need to be. Most of the time I get whatever I want from subtle manipulation so the bossiness doesn’t have to come out! I’m not a princess at all, either. How insulting! I’m a fucking goddess, dickwad.

I already planned to dump him that weekend when he would inevitably ask to see me. I would have done it sooner but I was in the middle of a 5 day drinking bender so it would have to wait. (Hey, it’s summer in Chicago and I’m single for the first time in years. I’m having fun! Don’t be a judgmental prick.) Saturday comes and he, of course, wanted to hang out when I got out of work. He spent the day on a boat with friends and told me he would meet me after he got cleaned up. I didn’t have to tell him where I was because after just a short time of knowing me, he assumed I’d be at my neighborhood bar since I didn’t have any plans. He assumed correctly.

By the time he showed up I was already hammered. I was not just drunk but straight up wasted. That’s what happens when you’re at the end of a 5 day bender, apparently. It doesn’t take much to get you there when you’re body is probably made up of about 90% alcohol at this point. Someone recently described this to me as the shampoo effect. A post in Urban Dictionary very eloquently explains this phenomenon. The fifth entry is my favorite.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=shampoo+effecthttp://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=shampoo+effect

My friend Alyssa met me as well and she had to explain the night to me a few days later since after they showed up, I remember nothing besides waking up on my toilet in the middle of the night with my phone in my hand. We apparently went to two other bars and Jon just kept picking fights with us and she and I did a lot of eye-rolling and had plans to ditch him. He started an argument about whether there were stray cats in the city of Chicago or not. (He doesn’t think they exist.) I think the topic was brought up because of  Alyssa’s bewilderment over pigeons who only have one leg and why they end up that way, but I’m not entirely sure. Either way, what a fucking stupid thing to argue over! Our plans to ditch him ended in failure. Somehow Alyssa ditched us instead and he ended up at my apartment around the corner.

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The only goldfish we like are our crackers.

 

When I woke up from my toilet nap, I shot him a text asking what the hell happened the night before and where he went. He explained to me that I irritated him because he knew I was in the bathroom ignoring him and he was positive I was not sleeping. So he left me in there and didn’t try to find out what’s going on!? Why the hell would anyone hide out in their own bathroom? I could have been dying! Maybe I was choking on my own vomit! Maybe I drowned! He just left me there to die like Elvis! Wonderful…Could you imagine how mortified you’d be in your casket after reading your obituary??

Just as I started typing my crushing dump message, he texts me to say we shouldn’t hang out anymore because together we are “explosive”. He goes on to tell me I’m like a hurricane or firecracker, and not in a good way. Also, I’m “terrifying” to him. I’m absolutely flattered by all of this but am PISSED I didn’t send my message first! It’s so unsatisfying when you’re looking forward to something so much and it’s taken from you in an instant! Either way it’s done though. I tell him good luck and to let me know if he ever wants me to destroy him in Pac-Man or Skee Ball again like I did on our first date. AS disappointed as I was for not getting to do the dumping, I never had to see Flounder again and that was a good thing.

(Side note: Does anyone else think it’s hilarious that I said “dump”, “pissed” and “explosive” in a story in which I slept on a toilet?? Literal tears are streaming down my face from laughing so hard. Also, I have a clogged tear duct right now so that might be why but, I still can’t stop laughing. Also, I swear I only peed before taking my toilet nap.)

Jesus, take the wheel…

Surprisingly, I was dateless on a Thursday night, so I went to my neighborhood bar for a drink after work. It was charity night with guest bartenders which sounds great but I usually dread it because I prefer my dive bar to be empty besides a handful of my closest alcoholic friends who are also regulars. I spotted two of them this night and plopped my ass right beside them. Bartender Doug slid my drink down before I even got settled and the guys and I started talking. Babes with Blades Theater Company was throwing the event for the night and had temporary tattoos for us to fuck around with. We made friends with Annie who was guest bartending and she and I talked about an old dive called the Oasis in Rogers Park and the badass woman named GiGi who has worked there for decades. One drink turns to two drinks and a shot and the boys and I chat back and forth about online dating while encouraging Annie to drink more Malort. We notice our beloved dive bar now is lacking their gorgeous 100 bottle Malort shrine and they’ve replaced it with a 20 bottle mystery shot shelf. (Not quite as impressive, Pat! Still cool though.) 20170526_235647167_iOS.jpg

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Vik asks us which bottle appeals to us most based on appearance and number. All of the bottles are covered in brown paper bags and numbered 1-20. Immediately I compare it to online dating. I tell them it’s similar to all of the dating apps because you have to just pick a random and hope for the best. You’re going in blind really. All you know is you’re not picking the short, fat bottle because it looks dangerous, just like you’re not picking the short, fat guy because EW. We come up with our own ideas for dating apps that we think would be better than Tinder and Bumble and all the others. “Jesus Take the Wheel” was the name Vik gave to our app idea that you’re not allowed to swipe on at all. It’s guided and directed by your friends and family only. We plan to market that one in the Bible Belt first, of course. I’m not expecting that one to do as well in Chicago to start.

Then, Vik drops some life-changing truth on us:

Women are the gate-keepers to sex. Men are the gate-keepers to commitment.

This explains why he swipes right on everyone and waits to see which fish bite. The more chances of getting laid, the better! But he’s right, unless GHB is involved. (Sorry. Not funny. True though!) Women decide who they want to have a second date with usually or who they want to go on a date with in the first place. At least I do. When I left my husband I lined up dates every night. Mostly because I knew I had no idea what I was doing on dates. I’ve been in non-stop relationships since I was 24 pretty much. As soon as I’d lose a guy, another would steal me and keep me a while before he did something awful and we split up. I needed to practice and get good at this dating thing again. Out of all the dates I’ve been on the past few months, few have ended in a second date and, obviously, fewer have ended in sex. I AM the gate-keeper!!! (Of sex, at least.) Most of the guys I had dates with wanted to see me again which means they had a strong interest in penetration as well. Duh. I controlled the outcome.

Men are the controllers of commitment and relationships though. Once you’ve dated for a while and you’re in a sexual relationship with someone, it means (usually) that the woman has decided she likes you enough to have a relationship. What it means to guys is, “Fuck, yeah! I bang this chick!” And he probably bangs a few others as well. Guys have the ball on this one though. They decide if it’s a green light or red on being committed most of the time. I’m currently waiting for the light to change with the guy I’m dating. It’s been two months. I’m stuck at yellow. I’m impatient though and I want to know where this is going, like yesterday!

In the meantime, I’ll get the Jesus Take the Wheel app going and pray to Malort that my friends and family can choose my match better than I can if this gate-keeper of commitment gives me the red light.

The Marathon Date

I met this guy after I did hair for a wedding on a Sunday. As I was leaving the job I got a message from him on Tinder or Bumble, asking if I wanted to meet and grab lunch. Yes, indeed, I did. I was hungry enough to eat a cow and that’s saying a lot coming from a vegetarian. We met at a taco place in Lincoln Park, had food and margaritas and laughed way too much and far too loudly. (Seriously, I think everyone hated us.) Usually that’s where I end first dates. Gotta leave ’em wanting more. Also, I don’t need them to see how much I can drink in a day. Two drinks with them. MAX.

Not today though! Despite the fact that I thought he resembled a goldfish, he was fun and I had nothing better to do with the rest of my Sunday than continue hanging out. That day we went to 8 different bars, played Pac-Man, Skee-ball, pool and trivia. He met several of my friends and they actually seemed to like him! He begged my friend and her husband to spill some dirt on me or tell an embarrassing story. Unfortunately for him, my friends are fucking loyal. Also, there’s nothing for them to tell. I already told him about the one time I peed my pants in high school. And the other time I peed my pants in high school…

The day went well enough but I was getting tired and fucking hammered. My friends dropped us off near my place and then I blinked and when I opened my eyes the goldfish look-alike was sweating profusely while humping me. He then thought it was a good idea to talk dirty to me during the sweatiest sex of my life. I’ve never had sex with someone before and gotten up soaked from head to toe in their sweat. My hair was even dripping wet! Also, gentlemen, please don’t ever talk about your “big dick” or my “tight, little pussy” while you’re humping me. It’s fucking gross, weird and it ruins everything!

I couldn’t take it anymore. The sweat, the “you like it like that, baby!?”, his weird fish face… I pushed his big, slimy body away and swam through his sweat to the other side of the bed. He asked me if I had any food. I pretended to look in my fridge for something he could eat, knowing I only had hard-boiled eggs, celery, carrots and yogurt, which are not foods that a heavy-breathing, drunk man wants. I glanced in my cupboard and avoided offering him my almonds. “Hmmm, nope. I forgot to go grocery shopping.” I crawled back into the dry spot in my bed and he got dressed, on a mission for pizza and ice cream. He waits briefly for me to see him out and say goodbye while I waved, said “Lock the bottom lock before you go!”.

 

No pizza

The Bobcat – 2nd date

The Bobcat and I chatted all day Tuesday and by Wednesday he wanted to see me again. Duh. Who wouldn’t want to see me multiple times in a week? His dad was in town and he let him have his condo while he stayed, so he got a hotel downtown and invited me to come hang out for a while. I hopped in a Lyft and met him in his room.

I love hotels and especially love showering in them. I had a couple drinks with friends prior to heading to the hotel and I was just buzzed enough to tell him I was taking a shower in his room. Despite how weird (and rude) that is, he lets me do it and has a drink waiting for me when I was finished and dressed. After less than an hour of chatting and drinking, he mumbles, “Oh shit. My girlfriend is coming. You have to leave.”

What in the mother fucking fuck!? I left out a few details about Monday. The Bobcat and I had sex. A lot of it. Now I’m standing in the middle of a hotel suite with this scummy little cheater, while his girlfriend is probably in the hallway, about to walk in any second. Saner girls might run. I stayed long enough to cuss him out and finish my cocktail before I grabbed my purse and headed for the door to go home.

The next day, as I’m telling the story to a client, it hit me. He did exactly what he said he wouldn’t do. He gave me a story for my blog! I text him and thank him for it. He again apologized and said he never meant to treat me that way and I didn’t deserve it. I didn’t deserve most of what life has served me but I can take it. This was nothing. He also tells me it wasn’t his girlfriend but his EX-girlfriend that he invited over to the hotel and kicked me out for. How many girls did this guy invite over!? He’s not good-looking enough to have multiple women, quite frankly, but having a lot of money apparently brings you lots of ladies!

The Bobcat

I matched with a guy on Tinder and actually reached out and sent him a message. I did this only because I thought I was on Bumble and had to send the first message. I like to get the weird out of people right away. I want them to open up and spill everything to me and I’m good at getting them to do that. Too good at it. People often tell me things that I never wanted to know because for some reason they can smell the “Don’t Give a Fuck” on me. I’m rarely shocked by anything because I’ve seen and heard it all.

My first message just was asking what kind of trouble he got into over the weekend. He wouldn’t tell me at first but with some prodding he finally admitted that the night before he had a threesome and did cocaine all night long. Perfect. Now we’re getting somewhere. While this might be a huge red flag for most girls and they go running in the opposite direction, I need to know more. I need to meet this guy.

Throughout the rest of the day we end up realizing we graduated from the same high school 5 years apart. (Go Bobcats!) We talk about what we like and dislike in a potential partner and what kinds of hobbies we have outside of sex and drugs and drinking. He asked me to tell him about a bad date so I told him about a guy who made me pay for brunch after he was the one who invited me out!  This guy tells me I’ll never have to bring my purse when I hang out with him because he’s some kind of baller apparently and he says I’ll never have a story to write about him in my blog. I highly doubted that. Look who was right! He asked me to go on a date the next night. I’m in.

We meet at Celeste because he knows the owners apparently. He must not know them too well or they may have told him that they are closed on Mondays. We cab it over to London House instead. We want a rooftop! My fellow Bobcat and I drink, and drink and talk and laugh and he keeps giving me a hefty bag of blow every time I leave to use the bathroom. I like him! I take him to my secret spot on the rooftop. Don’t ask where it is, I’ll never tell. We sit there, looking at our gorgeous city that I fall more in love with almost every single day. I show him the spot where I got married and told him all about the marriage and pending divorce. He’s not bothered by it. We take pictures of the skyline and river and each other. It was a perfect night if you’re into any of these things. Unfortunately now the rooftop is closing so we have to leave.

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It’s now that I realize I lost my vaporizer. What’s a girl to do!? Cocaine and alcohol in my system and no nicotine!? I’ll die! We hop in a cab and I get out at 7-11 to buy a crappy e-cig so I don’t go buy a pack of cigarettes instead. We head over to one last spot in River North for another drink or two before calling it a night. Everything is going well until I laugh so hard and lean forward, catching a glimpse of a shiny bald head and immediately my heart stops beating, my body gets as hot as lava and my eyes almost pop out of my head. “We have to leave right this second. My ex husband is here and he’s a very dangerous person. Pay the tab and let’s go out the emergency exit.” Without skipping a beat, this guy does exactly that but first asks the bartender if an alarm will sound if we go out the backdoor. She has no idea so I tell them both that we’re all about to find out!!

SUCCESS! We escaped without being murdered by my ex and no alarms went off! Woo! The Bobcat put me in an Uber and paid for me to get home and checked on me to make sure I was safe when I got there. Despite the Monday night drug use, I think I found a winner! It doesn’t hurt that he has a bad ass condo and two cute dogs.

 

My First Bumble Nightmare cont…

Ok, so it was the Grand Lux Café, the “upscale” Cheesecake Factory… Still bad! The host takes us to a table and I get my ass halfway into the seat before I hear this guy requesting different spot. “No, this table simply will not do. As you can see, I’m on a date with a beautiful lady,” he said, gesturing toward me as the look of shock and mortification swept my face, I’m sure. The host looked at me, back at my elf-sized, morphed Mr. Potato Head and went to consult with his colleague. He came back and dragged us over to a table by a window instead. At least we had a nice view at a dirty table with sticky menus!

If you’ve never been to The Cheesecake Factory or Grand Lux Café, let me tell you that their menus are as big as a bible. They have a lot of shit. The entire time I’m trying to read this menu and get this date over with, hobbit boy is asking me a million questions. Each time I try to answer he interrupts to tell me how adorable I am. I’m called a lot of things but adorable is definitely not a descriptive word I hear often because I’m far from it. I finally stopped him and somehow managed to politely tell him to shut the fuck up for 30 seconds so I could read, we could order and I could bail. Meanwhile, I’m live-texting my friends in a group chat to try and get advice on how to ditch this guy since he had grand plans of us going bowling afterward! I agreed to dinner! That’s it, buddy! I don’t know you or like you enough to spend my entire night with you! My friends, rather than help me come up with an exit strategy, laughed at my pain and begged for more updates. Bitches.

Our server asks if we want drinks besides water. In my head I’m thinking, “Tequila. All of it. Bring a bottle.” He ordered a mango smoothie though and I sat there angrily sipping water. When his smoothie came he repeatedly insisted I try it. After saying, “No, thank you” twenty something times, I finally tried it so he’d shut the hell up. Then he asks if I have herpes. WHAT!? Wouldn’t that be asked PRIOR to insisting a stranger drink from your straw if you’re so concerned about it?? For the love of dogs, I KNOW this guy is a virgin now. I wasn’t entirely sure initially when I smelled him and saw his ill-fitting, stained clothing. NOW I was sure.

I think this guy has Asberger Syndrome now. When our server asks us what we want, he asked her which salmon dish he liked. Huh? She looked at me and I just shrugged. I don’t fucking know this guy. She then reads to him directly from the menu so he knew what everything was. He’s still not sure. He knows he likes one of the salmon dishes and he does not like the other. He can’t. Figure. This out. Pick one!!! Fucking pick! He finally picks one and when it gets to the table he realizes it’s NOT the one he likes so he eats only the top of the salmon and explains that he does eat anything green. I can’t. I’m done. Throwin’ in the napkin now.

“Oh, darn,” he says, after checking a message on his phone. “I’m on-call for work today and they need me to do something. Want to come to my place and watch me nerd-out before we go bowling?” Fuck no, pal. I have to get the hell out of here. Now my brain is working and I use his being 45 minutes late for our date as my out. “Oh, shoot! As fabulous as that sounds, I promised my friends I was going to meet them later. Too bad you were so late for this awesome date. Gotta go!”

He pays. We leave. He tries to kiss me. I cringe and pull away FAST. I was beyond ready for a shot and a beer. My friend who initially told me to abort this mission before I even ventured to Dave and Buster’s was bartending at my neighborhood bar, where I’ve been way too regular for way too long. I hopped in a cab and told him to speed and get me there. Before I even got to the bar this guy was texting me about another date. When you sit across from someone for over an hour and they never smile once, do you really think anything is going well enough for date #2??

When I walked (clumsily ran) into Nisei Lounge, my friend looked like an alcohol angel, bathed in the pink light from the neon sign on the cooler behind her. I made it. I was in heaven. I went through hell to get there but being there now was all that mattered.

 

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My alcohol angel

 

 

When grown men lose their shit

I recently went on a swiping spree, as one does when she is bored on a Wednesday night. I had about 20 conversations going with different guys, which most of us know, usually go absolutely nowhere and you never meet because they all seem boring as hell. One guy took it to the next level. He asked me to meet and get drinks! I love drinks. I live for drinks. Plus, this guy had some hot abs in a couple of his profile pics. I was in.

Admittedly, I am only chatting or meeting any of these guys when the guy I actually like a lot isn’t giving me attention or making plans to see me. We aren’t exclusive…I don’t think? Who fucking knows anything these days. These other boys are just keeping me busy so I don’t psycho text my main guy. Also, I’m not putting all my eggs in one basket. Gotta keep my options open, just in case!

We plan to meet at a place between his place and mine at 7 on Saturday. Cool. Until…the guy I’m enamored with says he will meet me. All bets are off, Ab Guy! My boyfriend’s back! He texts me to confirm our plans and I tell him I had to stay late at work and I also forgot I promised my friend I’d attend his drag show. Yes, I lied! Yes, I’m an asshole! No, this was not the first time and I’m betting it won’t be the last! I asked if we could reschedule. Here was his response:

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Boy, bye!

Should I have kept the date? Yeah, probably. It’s rude to cancel last minute, I know, but shit comes up! In this dating land, you have to be flexible right? I’ve had guys reschedule dates with me and I just go with it! I don’t expect that their life is revolving around me – YET! I think I dodged a bullet with ol’ Tom here.