Date #7

Well, boys and girls - after a brief hiatus from the online dating world (mostly due to a bizzier than normal rehearsal schedule) - I'm back. It feels grand to once again be gallavanting about the city of Chicago - on a mad quest for true love. Or something like it. And I do believe that with every picture posted, every profile filled, every email exchanged - I am somehow one step closer to finding 'him'.

This latest date was from Match.com. I was a member of this site three years ago, when I lived in Michigan. A year ago I thought of joining up again, and even marked a couple profiles as 'favorites' - but never went further than that. I joined two weeks ago officially, and discovered they still had my old profile on file. After some tweaking and updating (I'm much wiser than I was three years ago - ahhh, that twenty-something Carrie was sooo naive) my profile was ready for posting. Almost immediately I began shopping for men - which is what a girl feels like - a girl in a man-candy shop, that is. Yum. Each page loaded with varying specimens of midwestern Chicago male morsels. I began 'winking' at anything that caught my eye...and soon the 'winks' were being returned. Including Date #7.

The opening line of his profile read:
"At ease with yourself, passionate about life, & appreciative of the importance of close friends? Love city life in Chicago? Looking for a healthy balance of family, close friends, fun acquaintances, work & play? That's what I try to do and it's made the past few years some of the best & exicting of my life."

There seemed to be a nice energy about him, and I liked that.

We began communicating. I learned that he was from Louisville, his mom died three years ago, his younger sister got married two years ago and he just finished taking the bar. A couple days later we talked on the phone and I learned that it was his 32nd birthday. He attends Mass at St. Alphonsus where a friend of mine is the cantor. He is also a lector. We talked about educational childhood computer games like 'Lemonade Stand' and 'Oregon Trail'. I told him I always died of cholera, and he said he usually died 'fording the river.' Soon we decided to meet for dinner. Joey's Brickhouse at 4:15pm on Friday afternoon.

I was in rehearsal that day, and walked over from The Theatre Building. As I was approaching Joey's, I saw what appeared to be a middle-aged man out front, holding a closed umbrella. As I came closer, I realized it was him. Maybe it was his slightly hunched shoulders, or his hairline - he's bald in back and his dark brown hair is thinning on top - but it gave the impression that he was older than his actual age. He has very fair skin and the palest blue eyes I'd ever seen. We hugged and he told me that Joey's was closed - it didn't open until 5pm. Ooops. So we decided to go to Harmony Grill instead.

The food was delicious - he had a burger, I had a salad, and we split an impossibly large 'side dish' of sweet potato fries. The conversation was non-stop. He asked me questions about me and my career and what brought me to Chicago. I learned that he has two female roommates - friends from college - and it's a very 'Three's Company' set up. I told him that mine was more of a 'Will and Grace' arrangement. This led to a discussion on television and movies and he told me that Tom Cruise was once his babysitter. Unfortunately, my date was only 4 years old at the time and the only thing he can remember from the experience was that it was snowing out. I asked him what sort of law he wants to practice - he wants to be a prosecutor - doing criminal cases. We talked about going to Catholic school and being Catholic.

It was a very enjoyable time. Three hours and three beers later, I couldn't tell if he was 'into me' or not. And I wasn't sure if I was 'into' him. He seemed very nice and friendly and easy to talk to - but that elusive chemistry factor didn't seem to be present - at least not yet. After we parted with a hug on the sidewalk outside the restaurant, he asked if he could email me or call me and get together again. (Of course, that's what they ALL say, so only time will tell if he meant it.)

UPDATE:
Saturday afternoon I received a call from him. I was in the middle of rehearsal and had to sneak out to answer the call. He wanted to say "Break a leg" on my performance that night. I was TRULY touched that he remembered I had an opening Saturday. BIG POINTS. I'm not sure when I'll see him again, but I shall keep you all informed!

AND IN OTHER BIZARRE NEWS: As I sat here typing up this latest entry, I noticed I had a voice mail message...FROM THE DENTIST. Will wonders never cease? Apparently he had been sick (I'm resisting all urges to insert a 'binge drinking' reference here, and - oops, too late.) He wondered if I had been wondering what happened to him (Answer: No). He knew I was busy this weekend with rehearsals, but hoped to hear from me soon. Keep drinkin' - er HOPIN', buddy.