I parallel parked and walked toward the restaurant. I’d never been there so I was heading in, but the Realtor was on the patio so I went over there. I asked, “Have you been here long?” She said that she’d just gotten there and that she chose outside and asked if I’d like to move. I said, “Any excuse to be outdoors is one that I always take.” She laughed and said that she sat down at the tail end of Happy Hour and bottles of wine were $24, so she ordered a red that was spicy. I said, “Good choice. I wouldn’t have drunk any white.” She said, “Compatibility! I am so glad that I chose well!” Odd word choices.

And then we talked, and talked and talked. She asked me about Batman right away. She asked if she was a friend.

I said, “She’s not a comet; although she’d described herself to me as that when we went to the Nutcracker, but she’s like a satellite. I see her typically once a week and she’s blocks away from me so I can feel her bat signal.” It gave me pause that was the topic which she chose for the initial portions of our conversation. I told her, “She’s great. She went to my Christmas Party at the University last year and then did the art show with my best friend.” The Realtor said quickly, “I would do that!” I asked, “Are you an extrovert? I certainly wouldn’t.” The conversation was interesting to say the least.

Then we moved to relationship history conversation. We quickly ate the seared brussels sprouts, but didn’t eat our dinner completely or quickly. She’d ordered a Montepulciano de Abruzzo for our wine, which is so funny.

The majority of my Italian heritage is from Abruzzo and we’re Abruzzi.

The two-hours flew by. I walked her to her car and told her that I was hugging her and didn’t give the shitty shoulder hug. I embraced her. It wasn’t like pushing my whole body against the climber as we’d done on Monday, but it was a legit hug.

The whole thing was like a date. She’s a good dinner conversationalist. That’s a date! She doesn’t hike hard like I do and certainly would never try a peak again, but she’s smart, multilingual, easy-on-the-eyes, funny, flirty, and charming. I’m not going to see her until around her birthday. I had her write on the $100 that I had in the Thank You Note that I wrote for selling my parents’ house. She would’ve had to donate it. She put her first initial on it and also wrote 40. She’ll turn 40 three-days after Batman turns 38. Life is so weird.