Some Sweet and Some Awkward Moments with The Looker
So the Looker didn't respond to my brunch non-invitation with an unequivocal no, which surprised me. It was certainly not yes (and to spare you the suspense he did not attend), but I think he is softening up a little. He said he'd probably have to work and would need to stay close to home, but appreciated the invitation. Then he asked me out for Friday night.
Friday nights he usually gets Indian takeout from Delhi Dhaba and drinks beer. I had been running around in the rain all day. Well, more like plodding because I had my granny cart and went on a major run to Trader Joe's for my brunch. It was hilarious/sad. I stuck my (opened) umbrella into the cart to cover the groceries and wore my sporty raincoat with the hood up. My cart was full of sparkling wine. I looked like a high end bag lady. At any rate, I was not raring to go out and plus I like the intimacy of eating a meal in a home, a barrier we had not yet reached. So we decided to get takeout.
We did the pre-meal quickie. I hinted that although I enjoy the quickie, I also like the occasional longie. We decided that we would "take the edge off" with the quickie, but he alleges that he is not capable of more than once a night (which I doubt; I think it's just a complex) so alas, that was it. But it continues to improve. Then we went and got Indian food. He paid the last two times (although I paid for drinks last time so maybe it evens out?) so I was ready to pay. He almost insisted in paying, and in retrospect maybe I should have let him. But it was nice. I'll let him pay next time.
SWEET MOMENT #1
We got back to his place and he bustled around getting me a plate and utensils and a glass of water and putting it all on a tray. He has no dining table, I'm just now realizing, so we were eating at the coffee table. He looooooves the coffee table, from Crate & Barrel, and is vigilant about coasters and trays. It was really sweet, the way he served me dinner. I felt a little spoiled.
We watched a bit of the political talk shows. I am so not that person. I read the Washington Post's Express newspaper most days, but that is the extent to which I am informed. If it doesn't happen in the sewing blogosphere or the world of crafting message boards I don't know about it, and mostly don't care. I have strong political opinions, but do not enjoy the talking heads and the endless debate. He LOVES these shows. I'm sure he'll add it to the list of Huge Giant Ways in which We Are Different, along with coffee, beer, and music. But we had passed "the good part" of these shows (his words) so we turned off the TV and just talked.
We were both beat and went to bed fairly early. I fell asleep right away, which is very rare when we're in the same bed.
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In the morning we woke up kind of early (8:30) and he had big plans to eat breakfast, go to the farmer's market, go for a run, and go to a barbecue at 3:00. He had a strict schedule planned out, because he had to eat lunch early enough that a 5:00 dinner at the barbecue wouldn't be problematic. This is all part of it being hard to be him. I don't know if he has a touch of OCD or not in the clinical sense, but he is pretty strict about schedules and routines.
SWEET MOMENT #2
When I had teased him about refusing to eat my cooking, his response was that I had never eaten his cooking, either. I said I'd be happy for him to cook for me. So in the morning, he offered to make me breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast. He was kind of nervous, which was cute. He asked me all kinds of questions about how I like my eggs. He was skeptical that I have only pepper but no salt. Of his own accord he offered me hot sauce, because he'd seen me eat hot sauce on my eggs at home. The eggs were good.
Since we had our talk three weeks ago I have made no allusion to the Talk or its subject matter. However, as we were walking out the door to the farmer's market, site of the infamous Pork Chop Guy issue, I said,
AWKWARD MOMENT #1
"All right dude, are you prepared to say 'yes' to the Pork Chop Guy?"
His answer?
"I'm not buying pork chops today."
It is comical. Yet sad. Yet comical.
We did not have any contact with the Pork Chop Guy. One of the stands sells eggs and they had brought some hens to show how happy they are. I said that birds creeped me out. He was like, "What *aren't* you scared of?" I dared him to pet the hen. He didn't take my dare. He made me carry his tomatoes because he didn't want them to get smushed. I bought like 10 pounds of strawberries.
We went back to his place and I was feeling pretty frisky. We sat on the couch and resumed reading the newspaper, which he had started over breakfast. He pulled out the Post Magazine and said we should look and see if there were any reviews of restaurants we might want to try. Which is kind of funny, considering we only to to dive-y type restaurants. Which the Post sometimes reviews, but not as often as fancier restaurants.
SWEET MOMENT #3
I took this as an excuse to snuggle up to him so I could read the Magazine at the same time as him. He managed not to walk away for a good 10 minutes. Did you see Lars and the Real Girl? The main character says it hurts when people touch him, and he and the doctor work together, with her laying a finger on him for longer and longer periods. I feel like we are doing this kind of conditioning training.
After he shook it off for a while and ended up back on the couch we did some making out.
At some point in our kissing I accidentally tickled him a little. He giggled.
I LOVE tickling and I told him I was shocked I didn't know he was ticklish before.
He said I'd tried to tickle him in the beginning but he had taken it like a man.
I said, "Now that I know you're ticklish, you're in big trouble."
He said, "Don't even try. I know how to be annoying. You can never be as annoying as me."
I was like, "Wanna bet?"
He said, "I am the middle child. With three sisters. I know from annoying."
I said the oldest child always wins and I am an oldest child.
He disagreed.
Later I was sitting at the computer and he threw a shirt at me that he had run in on Thursday. It was still soaked in sweat. I gave him the requisite "ew" and threw it back at him. I missed.
I said, "Well, I guess I better go so you can get your run in...."
Alas, he took me up on it.
SWEET MOMENT #4
As he was taking off his dress socks to put on his sports socks he threw the dress socks at me. I threw them back. We chased each other around with the socks for a while. It was so fun. We hadn't had that element of playfulness so much before and it felt very comfortable to have it.
He told me he was going to a show, The Hold Steady, at the 9:30 Club the next day (Sunday). I said to stop by.
I was happy but agitated as I walked to the metro. I feel like we are getting closer, but are still very tentative. But meanwhile I am starting to like him like him, in a deeper way than just liking him. It worried me. I also didn't like that he wasn't inviting me to the friend barbecue. It was three couples and him, so it's not like it would be weird to have a date. I decided I might casually ask to come along next time one of these barbecues occurred.
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On Sunday afternoon he emailed me to see how the brunch went, and to say that he had two tickets for the show that night. He thought he only had one. He invited me to join. And said I'd meet two of his friends. Well, well.
I said that sounded great and invited him to stop by beforehand. I have been spotting pretty much continuously for 45 days (with two periods in there, too) but on Sunday and Monday was not. This was making me horny.
Alas, he showed up with a sandwich. Della said this was like the episode of Seinfeld where George Costanza tries to combine his three great loves: sex, sandwiches, and sitcoms.
On Saturday he had teased me about the eating my cooking thing. He said he didn't have any objection, but now it was a thing and he was going to try to keep it going. I told him he better not. When he sat down to the eat the sandwich, there was a bowl of peanuts on the table leftover from my brunch. He told me to pass him the bowl. He ate some peanuts and said, "There, now I've eaten something you've prepared."
I said, "All I did was open a bag from Trader Joe's. That doesn't count."
He insisted it counted.
When he finished the sandwich he said he didn't think it was going to be enough to carry him through. I offered him leftover quiche. He asked if he could have the apple sitting on the counter. *sigh*
SWEET MOMENT #5
I asked him what I should wear. I was wearing a "happy hour" type dress--black lace over an aqua underlay, casual fit, spaghetti straps. I thought it might be too preppy for an indie rock show. I said I didn't want to embarrass him. He said what I was wearing was fine, but I changed into a denim skirt and a black tank top. It seemed more apropos. He said I shouldn't wear sandals because sometimes the floor is sticky, or somebody might step on my toes. I asked if I should wear steel-toed boots. He said that was a good idea. So as not to undermine him, I wore clogs. All the other girls were in sandals. I thought his concern for my toes was sweet.
AWKWARD MOMENT #2
So Leilani has a friend of her fiance's that she wants to set me up with. Since the Looker is Not My Boyfriend I felt like I should probably make a token effort to go out with other people. She gave him my number and relayed that the friend said he'd call mid-week.
The week passed and he didn't call, which was fine. I feel weird about it, both because it feels unfair to The Looker (who agreed, at any rate, not to sleep with other people and said he wasn't meeting other people either) and because if I do end up liking the guy I'm not really in the place to appreciate or act on it.
So as the Looker and I are about to walk out the door the phone rings. I misread the area code as 443, which is either Della or the 400 lb man, who continued to call me on a regular basis after our dates though he hasn't in about six months now. I never pick up in case it's the latter, so I just let the answering machine get it. This is where my insistence upon clinging to The Old Ways of having a landline and an answering machine instead of a cell phone and voicemail gets me in trouble, because the message started off:
Hi sgda, this is ____, I'm a friend of Leilani's and her fiance's. This is probably the most awkward phone call you're going to receive all week but Leilani gave me your number and..."
And I leapt for the phone.
I was impressed with his technique because he immediately asked me out. I was like, "Yeah, great, sounds good, I'm on my way out, I'll call you tomorrow."
I said to the Looker, "Um, planning an engagement party for Leilani."
I think he wasn't fooled. SO AWKWARD. Most people are of the opinion that it's a good thing he heard this, that he knows I'm not just waiting around for him to decide whether he wants to be my boyfriend. But I don't think he's the kind of guy who is spurred by competition. I think he would rather bow out than compete.
We walked over to the 9:30 Club to meet his friends, a couple, early for a drink. The guy at the door took the Looker's ticket in a no-nonsense way, but was a little special friendly to me. The Looker was standing in front of me (god forbid we appear to be a couple) so it wasn't immediately obvious that we were together. I think the Looker noticed the door guy's interest. That kind of thing I am wholly in favor of. He should see that other men think I'm cute. I think I could totally kill in the indie rock crowd, if I had any inclination to do so. They like smart girls in glasses.
The friends were nice; the girl is one of his law school classmates. They just had a baby and this was the first time having a non-family babysitter. When the Looker went to the bar to get drinks, the girl asked me how we met. I said I wasn't sure he wanted me to tell, but that we'd met on the online.
She said, in the manner of people who met their spouse when they were 23, "Oh there's nothing wrong with that! I have a friend who was looking on Match through another friend's account. She came across a profile of this guy and thought he was pretty cute. So she joined Match only to meet him. And now they're married!"
I was like, "That's sweet."
AWKWARD MOMENT #3
But then the Looker came back from the bar. And she repeated the story. I figured it out pretty quickly and tried to head her off at the pass by picking up on a small, non-dating related detail in the story and asking her to elaborate on it, but she was determined to finish the story, she didn't want to miss out on the "And then they got MARRIED!!!!!" punchline.
Lord. So I'm sure the Looker thought that as soon as his back was turned I was like, "OMG I like him so much! I saw him online and knew he had to be mine! We are going to get married and have lots of babies!" When in fact, I was just making polite conversation.
We headed upstairs when the show was about to start. It was sold out so we just stood in the very back. Everyone was concerned that I couldn't see anything, but it's a music show. I didn't care! The couple wasn't unduly PDA in any way, but they did act like a couple, occasionally touching each other. The Looker stood about three feet behind me. Oy. The show was a good show--the band obviously loves what they do. I am not converted to live music or indie rock, however.
The show had started at 9:30 and we were home around 11. He drank a beer and read the newspaper online and checked his Facebook page. I was like, "Don't worry, I won't look at your page." He was like, "It's ok. You can look at my Facebook page." He has recently friended a girl he doesn't really remember from High School. She has just joined Facebook, I think, because she is doing all sorts of quizzes.
One of them was a simple yes/no thing, with questions like, "Have you ever cried in public? Have you ever cried yourself to sleep? Have you ever thrown up in public?" We kind of did the quiz together, and discussed our answers and exchanged stories. He said that he always maintains his dignity, even when throwing up in public. I said I never felt dignified while crying myself to sleep. He said that anything you do by yourself is automatically dignified. When we'd had The Talk he said we were still getting to know one another. It felt like this was an effort on his part to move the "getting to know each other" process forward(s).
Finally we went to bed, where we commenced the kissing. He said, "If I'd known this was on offer, I wouldn't have spent so much time messing around on the internet." So I guess next time I'll have to be more explicit and tell him to come to bed now to get laid.
It was a longie. And a goodie.
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In the morning I made coffee while he was in the shower, rather than asking him first. When he came out I said, "I made coffee. You can drink it or not. Your choice." He drank the coffee while I ate my oatmeal. I was sitting at my computer at the bar. He sat at the table (which I had cleared of my cutting board and piles of fabric for the brunch). We talked like that for a while.
Then he asked if there was any of that quiche left. I brought him a piece. He didn't want it heated. He ate it, and said it was good. The cooking barrier is officially broken. I brought my oatmeal to the table and said I'd sit with him. He joked that he was going to move to the computer at the bar. I said I wouldn't put it past him. He stayed at the table.
When we went our separate ways--he toward the metro, me toward work--we parted with a kiss. It felt like we were normal people.
Friday nights he usually gets Indian takeout from Delhi Dhaba and drinks beer. I had been running around in the rain all day. Well, more like plodding because I had my granny cart and went on a major run to Trader Joe's for my brunch. It was hilarious/sad. I stuck my (opened) umbrella into the cart to cover the groceries and wore my sporty raincoat with the hood up. My cart was full of sparkling wine. I looked like a high end bag lady. At any rate, I was not raring to go out and plus I like the intimacy of eating a meal in a home, a barrier we had not yet reached. So we decided to get takeout.
We did the pre-meal quickie. I hinted that although I enjoy the quickie, I also like the occasional longie. We decided that we would "take the edge off" with the quickie, but he alleges that he is not capable of more than once a night (which I doubt; I think it's just a complex) so alas, that was it. But it continues to improve. Then we went and got Indian food. He paid the last two times (although I paid for drinks last time so maybe it evens out?) so I was ready to pay. He almost insisted in paying, and in retrospect maybe I should have let him. But it was nice. I'll let him pay next time.
SWEET MOMENT #1
We got back to his place and he bustled around getting me a plate and utensils and a glass of water and putting it all on a tray. He has no dining table, I'm just now realizing, so we were eating at the coffee table. He looooooves the coffee table, from Crate & Barrel, and is vigilant about coasters and trays. It was really sweet, the way he served me dinner. I felt a little spoiled.
We watched a bit of the political talk shows. I am so not that person. I read the Washington Post's Express newspaper most days, but that is the extent to which I am informed. If it doesn't happen in the sewing blogosphere or the world of crafting message boards I don't know about it, and mostly don't care. I have strong political opinions, but do not enjoy the talking heads and the endless debate. He LOVES these shows. I'm sure he'll add it to the list of Huge Giant Ways in which We Are Different, along with coffee, beer, and music. But we had passed "the good part" of these shows (his words) so we turned off the TV and just talked.
We were both beat and went to bed fairly early. I fell asleep right away, which is very rare when we're in the same bed.
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In the morning we woke up kind of early (8:30) and he had big plans to eat breakfast, go to the farmer's market, go for a run, and go to a barbecue at 3:00. He had a strict schedule planned out, because he had to eat lunch early enough that a 5:00 dinner at the barbecue wouldn't be problematic. This is all part of it being hard to be him. I don't know if he has a touch of OCD or not in the clinical sense, but he is pretty strict about schedules and routines.
SWEET MOMENT #2
When I had teased him about refusing to eat my cooking, his response was that I had never eaten his cooking, either. I said I'd be happy for him to cook for me. So in the morning, he offered to make me breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast. He was kind of nervous, which was cute. He asked me all kinds of questions about how I like my eggs. He was skeptical that I have only pepper but no salt. Of his own accord he offered me hot sauce, because he'd seen me eat hot sauce on my eggs at home. The eggs were good.
Since we had our talk three weeks ago I have made no allusion to the Talk or its subject matter. However, as we were walking out the door to the farmer's market, site of the infamous Pork Chop Guy issue, I said,
AWKWARD MOMENT #1
"All right dude, are you prepared to say 'yes' to the Pork Chop Guy?"
His answer?
"I'm not buying pork chops today."
It is comical. Yet sad. Yet comical.
We did not have any contact with the Pork Chop Guy. One of the stands sells eggs and they had brought some hens to show how happy they are. I said that birds creeped me out. He was like, "What *aren't* you scared of?" I dared him to pet the hen. He didn't take my dare. He made me carry his tomatoes because he didn't want them to get smushed. I bought like 10 pounds of strawberries.
We went back to his place and I was feeling pretty frisky. We sat on the couch and resumed reading the newspaper, which he had started over breakfast. He pulled out the Post Magazine and said we should look and see if there were any reviews of restaurants we might want to try. Which is kind of funny, considering we only to to dive-y type restaurants. Which the Post sometimes reviews, but not as often as fancier restaurants.
SWEET MOMENT #3
I took this as an excuse to snuggle up to him so I could read the Magazine at the same time as him. He managed not to walk away for a good 10 minutes. Did you see Lars and the Real Girl? The main character says it hurts when people touch him, and he and the doctor work together, with her laying a finger on him for longer and longer periods. I feel like we are doing this kind of conditioning training.
After he shook it off for a while and ended up back on the couch we did some making out.
At some point in our kissing I accidentally tickled him a little. He giggled.
I LOVE tickling and I told him I was shocked I didn't know he was ticklish before.
He said I'd tried to tickle him in the beginning but he had taken it like a man.
I said, "Now that I know you're ticklish, you're in big trouble."
He said, "Don't even try. I know how to be annoying. You can never be as annoying as me."
I was like, "Wanna bet?"
He said, "I am the middle child. With three sisters. I know from annoying."
I said the oldest child always wins and I am an oldest child.
He disagreed.
Later I was sitting at the computer and he threw a shirt at me that he had run in on Thursday. It was still soaked in sweat. I gave him the requisite "ew" and threw it back at him. I missed.
I said, "Well, I guess I better go so you can get your run in...."
Alas, he took me up on it.
SWEET MOMENT #4
As he was taking off his dress socks to put on his sports socks he threw the dress socks at me. I threw them back. We chased each other around with the socks for a while. It was so fun. We hadn't had that element of playfulness so much before and it felt very comfortable to have it.
He told me he was going to a show, The Hold Steady, at the 9:30 Club the next day (Sunday). I said to stop by.
I was happy but agitated as I walked to the metro. I feel like we are getting closer, but are still very tentative. But meanwhile I am starting to like him like him, in a deeper way than just liking him. It worried me. I also didn't like that he wasn't inviting me to the friend barbecue. It was three couples and him, so it's not like it would be weird to have a date. I decided I might casually ask to come along next time one of these barbecues occurred.
===============================
On Sunday afternoon he emailed me to see how the brunch went, and to say that he had two tickets for the show that night. He thought he only had one. He invited me to join. And said I'd meet two of his friends. Well, well.
I said that sounded great and invited him to stop by beforehand. I have been spotting pretty much continuously for 45 days (with two periods in there, too) but on Sunday and Monday was not. This was making me horny.
Alas, he showed up with a sandwich. Della said this was like the episode of Seinfeld where George Costanza tries to combine his three great loves: sex, sandwiches, and sitcoms.
On Saturday he had teased me about the eating my cooking thing. He said he didn't have any objection, but now it was a thing and he was going to try to keep it going. I told him he better not. When he sat down to the eat the sandwich, there was a bowl of peanuts on the table leftover from my brunch. He told me to pass him the bowl. He ate some peanuts and said, "There, now I've eaten something you've prepared."
I said, "All I did was open a bag from Trader Joe's. That doesn't count."
He insisted it counted.
When he finished the sandwich he said he didn't think it was going to be enough to carry him through. I offered him leftover quiche. He asked if he could have the apple sitting on the counter. *sigh*
SWEET MOMENT #5
I asked him what I should wear. I was wearing a "happy hour" type dress--black lace over an aqua underlay, casual fit, spaghetti straps. I thought it might be too preppy for an indie rock show. I said I didn't want to embarrass him. He said what I was wearing was fine, but I changed into a denim skirt and a black tank top. It seemed more apropos. He said I shouldn't wear sandals because sometimes the floor is sticky, or somebody might step on my toes. I asked if I should wear steel-toed boots. He said that was a good idea. So as not to undermine him, I wore clogs. All the other girls were in sandals. I thought his concern for my toes was sweet.
AWKWARD MOMENT #2
So Leilani has a friend of her fiance's that she wants to set me up with. Since the Looker is Not My Boyfriend I felt like I should probably make a token effort to go out with other people. She gave him my number and relayed that the friend said he'd call mid-week.
The week passed and he didn't call, which was fine. I feel weird about it, both because it feels unfair to The Looker (who agreed, at any rate, not to sleep with other people and said he wasn't meeting other people either) and because if I do end up liking the guy I'm not really in the place to appreciate or act on it.
So as the Looker and I are about to walk out the door the phone rings. I misread the area code as 443, which is either Della or the 400 lb man, who continued to call me on a regular basis after our dates though he hasn't in about six months now. I never pick up in case it's the latter, so I just let the answering machine get it. This is where my insistence upon clinging to The Old Ways of having a landline and an answering machine instead of a cell phone and voicemail gets me in trouble, because the message started off:
Hi sgda, this is ____, I'm a friend of Leilani's and her fiance's. This is probably the most awkward phone call you're going to receive all week but Leilani gave me your number and..."
And I leapt for the phone.
I was impressed with his technique because he immediately asked me out. I was like, "Yeah, great, sounds good, I'm on my way out, I'll call you tomorrow."
I said to the Looker, "Um, planning an engagement party for Leilani."
I think he wasn't fooled. SO AWKWARD. Most people are of the opinion that it's a good thing he heard this, that he knows I'm not just waiting around for him to decide whether he wants to be my boyfriend. But I don't think he's the kind of guy who is spurred by competition. I think he would rather bow out than compete.
We walked over to the 9:30 Club to meet his friends, a couple, early for a drink. The guy at the door took the Looker's ticket in a no-nonsense way, but was a little special friendly to me. The Looker was standing in front of me (god forbid we appear to be a couple) so it wasn't immediately obvious that we were together. I think the Looker noticed the door guy's interest. That kind of thing I am wholly in favor of. He should see that other men think I'm cute. I think I could totally kill in the indie rock crowd, if I had any inclination to do so. They like smart girls in glasses.
The friends were nice; the girl is one of his law school classmates. They just had a baby and this was the first time having a non-family babysitter. When the Looker went to the bar to get drinks, the girl asked me how we met. I said I wasn't sure he wanted me to tell, but that we'd met on the online.
She said, in the manner of people who met their spouse when they were 23, "Oh there's nothing wrong with that! I have a friend who was looking on Match through another friend's account. She came across a profile of this guy and thought he was pretty cute. So she joined Match only to meet him. And now they're married!"
I was like, "That's sweet."
AWKWARD MOMENT #3
But then the Looker came back from the bar. And she repeated the story. I figured it out pretty quickly and tried to head her off at the pass by picking up on a small, non-dating related detail in the story and asking her to elaborate on it, but she was determined to finish the story, she didn't want to miss out on the "And then they got MARRIED!!!!!" punchline.
Lord. So I'm sure the Looker thought that as soon as his back was turned I was like, "OMG I like him so much! I saw him online and knew he had to be mine! We are going to get married and have lots of babies!" When in fact, I was just making polite conversation.
We headed upstairs when the show was about to start. It was sold out so we just stood in the very back. Everyone was concerned that I couldn't see anything, but it's a music show. I didn't care! The couple wasn't unduly PDA in any way, but they did act like a couple, occasionally touching each other. The Looker stood about three feet behind me. Oy. The show was a good show--the band obviously loves what they do. I am not converted to live music or indie rock, however.
The show had started at 9:30 and we were home around 11. He drank a beer and read the newspaper online and checked his Facebook page. I was like, "Don't worry, I won't look at your page." He was like, "It's ok. You can look at my Facebook page." He has recently friended a girl he doesn't really remember from High School. She has just joined Facebook, I think, because she is doing all sorts of quizzes.
One of them was a simple yes/no thing, with questions like, "Have you ever cried in public? Have you ever cried yourself to sleep? Have you ever thrown up in public?" We kind of did the quiz together, and discussed our answers and exchanged stories. He said that he always maintains his dignity, even when throwing up in public. I said I never felt dignified while crying myself to sleep. He said that anything you do by yourself is automatically dignified. When we'd had The Talk he said we were still getting to know one another. It felt like this was an effort on his part to move the "getting to know each other" process forward(s).
Finally we went to bed, where we commenced the kissing. He said, "If I'd known this was on offer, I wouldn't have spent so much time messing around on the internet." So I guess next time I'll have to be more explicit and tell him to come to bed now to get laid.
It was a longie. And a goodie.
===============================
In the morning I made coffee while he was in the shower, rather than asking him first. When he came out I said, "I made coffee. You can drink it or not. Your choice." He drank the coffee while I ate my oatmeal. I was sitting at my computer at the bar. He sat at the table (which I had cleared of my cutting board and piles of fabric for the brunch). We talked like that for a while.
Then he asked if there was any of that quiche left. I brought him a piece. He didn't want it heated. He ate it, and said it was good. The cooking barrier is officially broken. I brought my oatmeal to the table and said I'd sit with him. He joked that he was going to move to the computer at the bar. I said I wouldn't put it past him. He stayed at the table.
When we went our separate ways--he toward the metro, me toward work--we parted with a kiss. It felt like we were normal people.