Saturday, February 17

BlogNerd, master of "sort of" dates

If my current internship is at "Cool" TV channel, then last semester I had a different internship at "Nerd Central" TV channel. It was fun, though, and no one who worked there was actually that nerdy. On my second to last day, (way back in December) one of the staff members asked me to lunch with a convincing line: "They can't have you work here for free and not buy you a lunch!" I accidentally told him I hadn't eaten yet, and awkwardly accepted his invitation to go to "the best Chinese in this part of town" (which could really mean anything, couldn't it? How small a "part of town" are we talking, here?).

In spite of my terrible fear that this lunch was actually a date (he was paying and he wasn't in my department), we had a pretty fun time. After I carefully over-analyzed his opening the door for me (although, someone has to open it, right?) we sat down and had a pretty good time. As we talked about my plans for winter break, I mentioned that I would be at home for my 21st birthday.

"What day is it?" He asked. When I told him, he got very excited and said "Well, you're not going to believe me unless I show you so..." He reached into his wallet and handed me his driver's license. Sure enough, we had the same birthday. I not-so-quickly did some math to discover his age: 32. Now I was even more fearful that this was a date. But he was really nice, and we did have one tremendous thing in common: a love of blogs.

Soon enough we whisked ourselves back to the office, and he said "Hey come write down your email address for me so I can send you a link to that blog I was talking about."

As I stood at his desk with a piece of paper and pen in my hand, I panicked. "Which email should I give you? Work, or personal?"

"Whichever you want."

Oh crap. Now I not only had to decide which email to give him, but it would be even more obvious that the choice was deliberate. If I gave him my work one now, it would seem a little bit... I don't know, rude? I wrote down my personal email address and went back to my desk.

After sending me the link, we started writing each other about once a week. I found his emails to be clever, or cute maybe? ...basically, I looked forward to reading them. And since I'm such a ball of wit, I enjoyed responding. After our birthdays, I related to him my trouble getting myself drunk on the special day and thereafter.

Last Thursday, I checked my email before going to sleep and saw that I had a new one from him. It was my turn to send him something, so I was a little surprised to see a message from him. It read:

Hey [TAB],
Got a favor to ask you: I want to get MS Office for my MacBook at home, and CompUSA happens to sell a discounted version to students (you may have heard of this phenomenon). I was wondering if you might be up for accompanying me to one of their stores sometime next week for a quick flash of your coveted student status. In return, I could help you out with that (lack of) drinking problem of yours afterward. I mean, c'mon, you've gotta have your first appletini sometime. Up for it?
[BlogNerd]

I thought about it for a day. Does one appletini make it a date? I couldn't tell, but I knew one thing: I liked his emails and I enjoyed his company. I also got the feeling he was a nice guy who wouldn't exactly be expecting me to give him a blowjob under the table. After consulting with S and confirming with a roommate that we could meet somewhere afterward, I came up with this response:

[BlogNerd],
Of course I'll help you stick it to the man. Always a worthy cause. And... about the appletinis. I've become a little more adventurous with my drink selection, so I'll let you pick the drink (as long as it looks delicious). What is your schedule like next week? The only day I can really do anything after work is on Friday, is that okay?
[TAB]

So... hopefully I can pull off an hour of not being awkward. Afterward I'm meeting my roommate at a bar with "tons of hot guys," so I know I'll have something to fall back on. Whew.

23 comments:

Sean said...

i need such quick wit when flirting. i think i even mumble in emails. advanced cliff clavenism...

Dropout! said...

Yessss, I totally helped write that email. I am such an awesome writer. I should really be getting paid for this kind of shit. Consultant fees are pretty steep, though, I might need to give you some kind of discount since you're such a po' ass student.

Bridget Jones said...

Now THAT looks good!!!

caramaena said...

Heh, have fun on this (un)date ;)

Anonymous said...

oh he sounds nice!!! :) i say go for it, see how you get on and let him treat you nice for the night xx

Anonymous said...

don't lead him on too much

GrizzBabe said...

Good for you. Have fun!

Eileen Dover said...

Yeah, go for it!

I know a girl who celebrated her first wedding anniversary.

She was 18, and had a crush on her Spanish professor in college. She passed the class, he transferred, asked her out, and they've been together seven years now.

Oh, and he was 32 when they met.

[] said...

Date or no, you're getting a free drink out of it. Just have fun and don't worry about possible strings!

The Boob Lady said...

I can't wait to hear what happens... I will stalk your blog until I find out. (Not like I don't stalk it normally, but this is good shit..)

And, about My Ex-TM... Yeah, I didn't want his good art to overshadow me, plus we're still friends, we're good like that.. :)

JR's Thumbprints said...

This dude's using his brains to rope you in. If he can't corale you, he's going to at least make you feel bad, really really bad. However, I think he's under-estimating your abilities in this department. With that said, good luck with the hot guys.

Sipwine said...

I love fun-i-don't-know-what-i'm-doing-but-it's-fun flirting.

I haven't done that in a long time. I should go out more..

emma5 said...

Thanks for the comment, yeah, my mum is really the person that's like, "What are you doing?" cos I'm always ringing her upset over Elaine, and she knows her as well. I think you should give BlogNerd a chance. I don't think 32 is too old.

Unknown said...

Is it really so bad if this was a date?? ;) Have fun

Lara said...

Ah, the innocent e-flirting over e-mail. I've started out many a relationship that way!

S* said...

Just go and have fun. Worry about whether it's a(n) (un)date or not AFTER you go and decide if you had a good time or not.

Bittersweet Confusion said...

As long as he keeps his boundaries it's all in good fun.

Miss Devylish said...

I just wouldn't over-think it. If you like him and have a good time w/ him, enjoy yourself. You deserve that. Then if it escalates.. yay. :) If not.. no big deal and you have a new friend. Just be careful about drinking too much w/ him. That'd be my only concern.

The Very Reverend Ace Clemmons, Jr. said...

its totally a date. but as long as you know this- you can use this to your advantage. you'll be able to get many free drinks out of him.

at 32, i'd be surprised if he wasn't trying to get in your pants.

enjoy!

the very.

Crashdummie said...

Ahhh nothing beats good ol' innocent office flirt.

As long as both or on the same, it's all good.

Cheers!

Harleyblue said...

Why only an hour? You should leave the time limits open. Especially since you seem to enjoy his company even if it's not a "date".

The Accidental Bitch said...

sean - lol mumbling in emails... is that like misspelling?

dropout - I think you would also owe me money anyway, apartment-searcher!

songbird - lol really? I'm glad I have your approval.

caramaena - Will do... And I was going to wink, but I didn't want to mislead you there...

pinkjellybaby - I usually don't let men treat me nice, but I suppose I could give that a try... :P

anon - Unfortunately, that will probably be the biggest challenge. I'll do my best.

grizzbabe - I'll try!

eileen dover - Well, I don't exactly have a huge crush on him, so that might make all the difference in this case. But thanks for making me think of marriage before sending me on a non-date.

monicker - This is what I was thinking when I said yes. It's like money in the liver!

the boob lady - I'm glad I know who's been stalking me! And also that you're excited.

jr's thumbprints - Question: what would "my abilities in this department" look like? Any tips?

sipwine - Not sure Matt would recommend that... but feel free to live vicariously through me.

emma5 - Yeah... I think it might be, but I'm giving him a sort-of chance.

queenbitch - I guess I can't decide. Probably, I don't know. I freak out easily.

anonymous midwest girl - Oooh I hope you have some entries about that.

s* - See, I say that in my head and then I go ahead and worry anyway. I'm just a worrier. What can ya do...

bittersweet confusion - My sentiments EXACTLY! :)

miss devylish - Here's the thing... I can't decide if it IS a yay if it escalates. Thanks though, I'm limiting my drinking to one, if for no other reason than out of respect for his wallet.

the very - Um... I dunno. I refuse to agree. I believe what I want to.

crashdummie - As long as it's innocent, that's all I think.

harleyblue - True... plus I don't know when I'm meeting my friend yet.

Trouble said...

I love a nerd...they are so much nicer than the jockish type I dated when I was younger. In fact, these days, I find a nerd practically irresistible. But beware of 32-year-old not-nerds stalking 21-year-old prey. ;)

I'm sure he finds you rich fantasy fodder.