Life, Death and the French

I caved a bit yesterday and made a move on Frenchie. He wasn't asking me out and I knew that April 11 was quickly approaching (the day he leaves for a six-month stint in Dryden) and I was not okay with the idea of communicating all summer with a man I've never met. So yesterday I sent him an email saying that we should probably meet before he goes, and giving him my number. He called me last night, at around 10:00.

Good talk. Talked for about two hours. He had a cute French accent, was just sarcastic enough to keep me on my toes, and seemed to have intelligent opinions about things. And he made me laugh. I liked that. I'm not going to say it wasn't a little awkward at times, but can you really expect a first-time phone conversation to be completely natural? We finished the conversation by making plans to meet each other.

Skip to today.

I woke up, hung some stained glass in my windows (I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am about that), installed a toilet paper holder in my bathroom (used a drill and everything!) and then Frenchie called. Turns out he had plans after 5:00 today, so it was to be a day date. A walk through Mount Pleasant Cemetery.

We met outside the subway station and awkwardly greeted each other. We both went for a handshake, but at different times, while the other was going for a hug. Things, I find, are less awkward when you state them, so I was glad when Frenchie said, "Maybe a hug?"

It was a nice hug.

We made our way to the cemetery, and it was very clear that he expected me to know where I was going. I've been to this place a handful of times, but I'm certainly no expert. So it was with a little apprehension that I led us down a path in search of "The Enchanted Forest" that a good friend had once introduced me to. I found it. It was still enchanted.

Conversation was good and natural, and he asked me almost as many questions as I asked him. He kept making comments about things we could do on future dates, or things he could teach me, or things I could teach him. Maybe he likes me? I also noticed, for the record, that whenever we hit a spot in the path that was only wide enough for one, he would always stop and let me go first. Very sweet.

We came back out of The Enchanted Forest and walked around the cemetery for a while. Many cars were driving through the cemetery, and he insisted that I walk on the inside because, as he said, "It's important that if a car comes, it gets me instead of you." That's two points for Frenchie. Well played. We talked about family and friends and work and life and death (which is only strange if you forget that we were walking through a cemetery). We quoted the sound of music... pretty cheesy, but it made me giddy in a little girl way. He said he'd take care of me (he's 32, going on 33, but I'm just a naive little 27-year old - if you don't know SoM, just ignore the last bit of this paragraph).

I mentioned that I was thirsty and said, "I bet we could find a good place to get a drink on Yonge." He countered that he bet we couldn't, and then said that whoever lost the bet had to pay for the drinks (which is rather hard to do if there are no drinks to be payed for). Very clever, Frenchie. Three points, going strong. We found a Starbucks and he bought me a Tazo Passion Tea Lemonade. It was delicious.

We sat in large comfy chairs that he called "the storytime chairs" and we told each other stories and asked each other questions. I finished my drink in the first five minutes, while he sipped his green tea throughout the whole conversation. He offered to buy me another, but I graciously declined.

He has nice brown eyes and just a little bit of beard stubble.

We saw a Vespa drive by and I said that I wanted one. He was silent, so I continued with something lame like, "I think I could pull it off." He looked at me, called me by name and said, "I think a girl like you would look good driving pretty much anything."

Sigh...

So we finished our drinks and he walked me back to my car. I offered to drive him to a library so he could return a movie he had signed out, and he accepted. We listened to Metric. I think he was unimpressed by the fact that it was a burned CD. I was a little ashamed.

He said that he would love to have a break from studying and packing this week if I was free. Problem is, I've got plans each weekday evening from about 7:30-on, Friday I'm going out with The Architect, and Saturday I'm going out with The Security Guard. I didn't tell him about the other dates (am I supposed to do that?) but I told him an outline of my schedule and he said he'd be happy to come visit on Thursday, even if just for a few hours between work and my evening commitment.

So I've got a second date with Frenchie, I guess. Thursday. Mark your calendars, check back later. I promise, I'll keep you posted.