3/22/09 - Date Thirty Four: Gin Rummy

Not talking about alcohol here, people. Talking cards. I met Platinum Tooth Cap (hereinafter, PTC ... the other one is too hard to type every freakin' time) at an outside sculpture garden on a lovely Sunday afternoon armed with a pad of paper, pen, and two packs of cards, ready to do battle. I was really excited to play cards with him because I hadn't played in awhile and I was really enjoying the fact that PTC always wants to do some sort of activity on our dates. We've not had your typical dinner/drinks trajectory, which after all this time spent doing dinner and drinks, I was finding very refreshing.

I met him at the garden and we found a table in the sun. He went inside to the little cafe to get us a couple cups of coffee and I set up, shuffling the newly unpackaged cards. It was then that I started feeling sort of nervous about our card playing plan. I'm not really a competitive person but was a really sore loser when I was a kid and was hoping that that wouldn't emerge or reveal itself at an inopportune time, against my will. On this point, I had a little internal monologue with myself, reminding myself to keep calm and just enjoy this as a date, not focus on winning the game. Then I started getting concerned about his game playing persona ... what if he was cut throat or mean or a sore loser? Would this diminish my attraction to him? I suddenly had the unsettling thought that maybe we weren't ready for this game playing date, maybe we didn't know each other well enough to compete against each other and potentially reveal parts of our personalities that most people wait to reveal after they've already "hooked" the other one!! Before I had time to calm myself down though, he had returned, handed me a cup of coffee and offered to deal the cards. Then for some odd reason, I had to overwhelming urge to yell "Let's get ready to RUUUUMMMBBLLLE!!!" but I restrained.

We played for about two hours. We talked a bit, not much. He's not chatty, as I've mentioned and though it takes getting used to every time we hang out, I have come to look at it as a positive challenge for me to face. The first hand he had was a total killer, while I just did ok. In the end though, I prevailed. He wrote me a text later that he was 'beguiled' during the card game and still couldn't believe I won. The guard came round and told us that the park was closing, so we packed up the cards, threw out our empty paper cups and rolled out, he to his car, me to the bus.

Similar to last time, we had a hug goodbye at the corner. Same corner, same weak hug. I think he might have gone for the kiss on the cheek but wasn't sure. I walked across the street feeling happy, yet confused by him. I really enjoy spending time with this one and we definitely have similar interests activity-wise but I can't tell whether he's interested in me romantically. Sunday afternoon probably isn't the best time to make a move so I should cut him some slack. We'll see.

Oh, BTW, he wore the fake contact again. It had me wondering the whole time whether he wears it everyday or whether he feels like he has to wear it everytime we hang out because he wore it the first time and still wants to persist in the ruse that it's real. There are many odd things about this guy, many mysteries that require solving. I'm intrigued ...