The Architect

After a friend's birthday dinner, the group of us went to our local watering hole. I was having a great time with my friends, laughing, chatting and drinking. A mysterious guy was in the midst. I only say mysterious because he was walking around with a long, black, wool coat on.... inside... in the warmth! I'm not sure what my deal is with these men that dress inappropriately for the weather, but anyway...

While putting on my coat to leave, he approached me! Step one of winning my number is the first approach. He passed. The rest was kind of a blur. I attribute that to being a bit dazed from being up so long that day (it was a Friday and work was crazy), buzzed nicely, and being in a loud crowded place. Anyway, I know I gave him my number, I know he told me his name and I know that he was an architect.

The next day he called me, and left a message! Who does that anymore? Ladies, chivalry may not be completely dead! We got in touch and decided to meet up for a drink on Sunday. Sunday rolled around and I sent him a text to touch base. He told me he was my age, his favorite color and some of his passions. Then, we discussed our meeting.

We planned to meet at a local bar and have a drink/appetizer. 10 minutes later he said that he didn't drink on Sunday. At first I was surprised because I could potentially drink daily. After talking to a friend, she and I decided that it may be a religion based decision, so I let that go. He mentioned that he wanted to get hot cocoa instead, and at a bar that had a fireplace. High maintenance, or what?! I really wanted to tell him that I didn't care what he ordered, but I refrained. Then, a few minutes later he said that hot cocoa actually had too much caffeine and maybe he wanted a decaf tea. Really, I mean Really!?! Now this guy was starting to weird me out/aggravate me.  I replied telling him that making these plans seemed to be too much trouble for him, and got no response...

Then, a while later he sent back this enormous message telling me that I must have good instincts because I sensed that his mood changed. He told me that his wife, YES HIS WIFE, had left a few years ago and that he had a restraining order on her. I guess she'd called him a bunch recently and that put him in a bad place. He said we should get together once his divorce was finalized.

So, there you have it ladies, there you have it. I'd characterize this one as slightly crazy and mostly UNAVAILABLE!

Lesson:  Trust your instincts. Sometimes the little yellow or red flags really mean something.