Tabatha Deans

DATE NUMBER TWO…
I awoke this morning to a horrible smell coming into my apartment. I had heard the warning signs through my window—the rumbling of the truck, the workers talking to each other, the distinct absence of dumpsters being emptied. But I convinced myself there was no need for alarm, and went back to sleep. Bad mistake. As soon as I fully awoke I realized the error of my ways. The sewer truck was in the alley way. Right below my window. And my windows were all open.
Now I’m not at all sure what the public sanitation practices entail around here, but I do know that twice a month a sewer truck pulls into my alley way, extends a hose into a hole in the ground, and the air is filled with the scent of an entire neighborhood’s bodily waste being sucked through the tube and deposited into the truck. There is no place to go to escape it. Closing the windows helps slightly, along with wrapping a scarf around my nose and spraying a lot of strong perfume around the edges of the window.
I managed to drink a half a cup of coffee, sitting in the bathroom with the door closed, the fan on and perched on the edge of the bathtub with the curtain drawn.
Any day the sewer truck comes is not a good day, but this morning it was particularly annoying because I needed to get ready for my morning date. Date two in my quest to experience 12 dates, courtesy of match.com, who loves me again. I was planning to meet Mr. C at Starbucks at 10:30 a.m., down on Speer Boulevard, combining a trip to the pharmacy before meeting him. The weather was really hot last week, so I ditched all my winter sweaters into storage, and then we suffered cold, wet weather for the past two days. I planned to have ample time to choose a good outfit for the day, but with the stink I decided to go with the classic jeans, black shirt, boots and a scarf. I dressed and got out of the house as fast as I could…
Luckily my stinky start to my day didn’t last once I got out of the neighborhood, and I took a leisurely stroll to Starbucks to meet Mr. C. I arrived 20 minutes early, and sat down to read my book and wait. I wasn’t sure what to expect of my date, he had posted two photos online, one was kind of far away and he was in a suit and looked pretty decent, but the second was a close-up and he looked a little dorky. I didn’t hold that against him because I myself an not at all photogenic, but I braced myself for the worst.
When he showed up I recognized him immediately, and I’m sure my face registered relief, just like his did when he saw me. He had a nice smile and incredible, long eyelashes that complimented his kind eyes. We shook hands and started right into a nervous chatter about the weather, the news, and some assorted sarcastic comments that I couldn’t help making. He had a New York accent, which was kind of cute, and before I knew it we had finished our coffee and more than an hour had passed. He was easy to talk to, although he was obviously nervous, but when we ended the date I decided I could stand to hang out with him again, so I gave him my phone number.
I did give him the warning that I did not want to receive an bland text messages asking how my day was, or what I was up to. I told him I would like to hear from him again in the form of setting up a date. He informed me that he doesn’t even have a texting feature on his phone, and he could he call me to set up a picnic at the local state park. He was respectful and I suspect he has a good sense of humor when he’s not so nervous, so when I left I actually found myself smiling at the thought of going on a picnic with him.
Two down…ten to go…

May 9, 2012 - Posted by Tabatha Stewart | Uncategorized