Dear Diary
I ended up receiving a message from Karate Kid early in the morning. He said that of course there was a plan and that we’d meet in a trendy part of the city at 6.30pm and ‘go from there’. It didn’t sound like much of a plan to me, more like a last minute ditch effort. If he’d bothered to ask me he’d know I don’t like that part of town as parking is horrendous and it is a bit out of the way for me. In saying that, if I didn’t have a date with Not-so-average Jo at 6.30pm already I likely would have gone. I felt very guilty to cancel on Karate Kid, but Not-so-average Jo was the obvious choice in my mind.
Karate Kid didn’t seem to take the rejection well. I tried to soften the blow by saying sorry and explaining that I thought he wanted to do something ‘outdoorsy’ in the daytime. He’d clearly stipulated Sunday/Tuesday nights when he first suggested catching up….but he doesn’t know that I understood that…in our messages I replied ‘Sunday’, not ‘Sunday night’. His last texted words were ‘Ahhhh bugger. I’ve got plans during the day. Don’t worry about it.’. I was perplexed. Does ‘Don’t worry about it’ mean to forget about a date? Or does it mean not to stress over not being able to meet up that night?
Let’s discuss how things went with Not-so-average Jo. Overall, I really enjoyed the date. We were both on time for mini golf and we both weren’t overly competitive. We both paid for our own mini golf fee (I didn’t want to come across like a leech when he didn’t jump at the chance to pay). We pretty much just hit the balls around trying out best to get them past obstacles and in the holes. There were no rules really. He did help retrieve my golf balls from the gardens and water ponds multiple times – such a gentleman. The conversation was light and friendly. We giggled a lot and occasionally poked fun at each other. It took 1.5 hours to get through the course as there was a bottle neck of people struggling through the course.
During the course of the evening I learned that he collects and does up vintage cars. He also collects other antiques and likes to go op shopping. What also surprised me is that the previous weekend when he was meant to go dirt bike riding but didn’t make it. He’d taken too long to get ready and his friend, who supposedly is notoriously impatient, left without him. He didn’t seem too fussed by it and ended up spending the day with his brother doing other things. He just seems like such a solid, genuine guy it blows me away.
At the end he asked if I was hungry and suggested we eat at the restaurant there. The kitchen had just closed so he asked if I’d like to have a tea there. I said that I was very hungry so would likely go home and eat. He said he was hungry too and suggested we go somewhere that was open. We went in his ute into the city and to a little trendy Italian restaurant that I’d been curious to eat at for about a month after just having discovered it. We had a pleasant dinner and the conversation was just nice. At the end he paid and I forced cash into his hand. He said that the meal didn’t cost that much, but still accepted the money.
There was a slight hiccough at the exit of the car park when he realised that he’d lost the parking ticket. I didn’t say anything but found it kind of cute, I think he’s one of those men who need a woman in their life to micromanage. Impressively, he resolved the issue without a fuss and drove me back to my car. Just before I got out he said he’d like to see me again and that next weekend he had family commitments, but after that he’d love to catch up again. I said I’d like that a lot. He leant over and kissed my cheek goodbye. Even though two weeks feels like a long time, I have faith that Not-so-average Jo will pull through. He seems like a man of his word and it has a significant calming effect on me.
As I drove home it felt weird thinking that in a parallel universe I could have just been on a date with Karate Kid. I tried to imagine what it would have been like. I resided to accepting that an evening with Not-so-average Jo was the nicer option and that I chose correctly. Maybe I should have agreed to Tuesday with Karate Kid so that I could have gotten to know them both better…..but, on the other side of the coin, if friends are suspicious of ‘close encounters’ between Karate Kid and I, it is much better for me that we don’t meet….
Anastasia
The Contemporary Princess 