Harley Guy

Okay....I stretched a little bit.  He didn’t come roaring up the driveway to pick me up on his Harley.  He was driving the company car and met me at the local golf club for lunch.

But, I’m getting ahead of myself.

Harley and I have been writing each other several times a week for probably a month.  He lives over an hour away and I seem to take off on trips every time it’s time to meet a guy.  Finally, we decided on a date, time and place.  Returning from a trip to the Masters Tournament in Georgia, he landed at Baltimore Washington International in the early afternoon and we agreed to meet for a late lunch.  I gave him the name of the restaurant so he could GPS-it and he would call me when he landed.

First impressions are everything, right?  So, I review the flirting techniques and the dress code.  I had just returned from Florida where the weather was gorgeous and I could wear the one pair of flirty little heels I owned.  The Maryland spring weather was working against me...chilly, a little cloudy, windy.  The flirty heels are out.  

What to wear...here I had a great tan and couldn’t even show it off.  In our email exchanges, he had made references to tan lines...evidently, he liked them.  I’m thinking, is this weird or normal?  But, what did it matter?  He wasn’t going to see my tan lines for a long time, if ever.  

In the end, I settled on a cornflower blue top and black stovepipe pants, a little shell jewelry and suede black flats.  I was ready.  Not nervous, not really emotionally involved in the event at all.  It was one of those Step Into It moments...ready to go.

And, then, I waited.  And waited.  Are you frigging kidding me?!  I checked the plane arrival time.  It had arrived 15 minutes late.  But, this was 45 minutes ago.  I set a deadline.  If he doesn’t call by 2, I’m on my way to the Charles Theater.  

He met the deadline.  I immediately like his voice....kind, mellow, interested.  We meet.

The first thing I notice is his gentleness.  We were meeting in the parking lot and he called me and told me he was right behind me but didn’t want to frighten me.  Is that just too sweet?  I got out of the car, shook his hand and noticed that he barely resembled his picture.  Of course, he’s probably thinking the same thing!  

He wasn’t going to win the Best Looking Man contest but I wasn’t going to win the female version either.  He was slim.  Okay, I admit, this is a requirement for me.  But, doesn’t it say something about a guy who lets himself go?  Where is his self-esteem?

We take our seats in the bar area in front of the big screen TVs displaying the last day of the tournament he just left.  I’m kind of a golf nut myself so it was totally fine with me.  Harley took the lead and I let him.  Very talkative in a quiet sort of way.  I heard all about the tournament; apparently, he attended courtesy of his company and was wined and dined for three days.  I heard all about his job and how he’d like to retire in three years, he has a grown daughter in Missouri.  

In his profile, he said one of his passions was music.  I asked him about that.  (Flirting Technique #7--Ask him open-ended questions)  He loves Led Zeppelin.  Really?

Okay, I’ve been listening to this guy for over an hour and up to this point, he was the most white bread Harley guy on the planet.  Led Zeppelin?  I like them, too, I remark, but my favorites are The Allman Brothers Band and Bonnie Raitt.  

And, he says, I went to a Bonnie Raitt concert and she said something political and I found that totally unacceptable.  Abrupt turn from milk toast to tough guy.  Of course, I am as certain as I am sitting here in La Madeleine’s writing this post, that I would’ve not only found whatever she said acceptable but sent money for whatever she was espousing!

But, I’m taking it slow.  I am not going to reveal my cards.  Nor did he ask me to.  We didn’t touch politics, religion or our past relationships.  This is the new me.  I come with a lot of baggage.  In the past, I would’ve poured out my heart and soul, then wait to see if he still wanted to wade into these turbulent waters.  

No, I just keep the conversation flowing and two hours later, I use Technique #9:  When leaving, say you’d like to see him again.