The Christmas-Party-Boy (Part Two)

Roll on a month and a bit and I'm now living back in England. In the meantime, myself and the Christmas-Party-Boy have kept in contact and after a brief spell of 8 or 9 dates whilst I was last in England, we said that should I ever be back in the country, then we should hook up again.

After work date decided, I chose the restaurant, a quirky little Italian place in Mayfair and we meet underneath the clock at Selfridges. Even though this was essentially a second "first date", we had technically already experienced a (very good) first date already. This provided me with a rather large dilemma of deciding what to wear. I couldn't possibly wear my "first date outfit" on another first date with someone I'd already had a first date with! A black dress with a full skirt was decided upon along with my favourite work man's boots - cute whilst edgy was the look in my mind...

Now wires had been slightly crossed when arranging the time to meet and severe delays on the jubilee line hadn't helped matters. This naturally, in my slightly paranoid way made me think that the Christmas-Party-Boy had stood me up. That thought didn't last for long but it did annoy me slightly that a) I didn't need to rush so quickly from work and b) I could've got my eyebrows done whilst I was waiting for him to arrive.

Anyway, some time passes and we eventually meet and it was lovely. We walked straight to the restaurant and spent the whole evening there. We literally picked up from where we left off over Christmas and we both had a good time. Conversation did flow, flirtatious smiles were smiled and hands were held across the table. In fact, I was having such a good time in his company that I completely lost track of time and missed my last train home resulting in a late night cab ride to my parents.

Now I class this date as a first date, even though we had seen a lot of each other over Christmas. I realise that upon reading this, I haven't actually explained much of the date and in total honesty I'm not sure that I can write anything else other than to say I had a really enjoyable evening in his company and it was just like "old times". In terms of rating the date I'd put it up there as the best first date - better than the first date with either the Wedding-Boy and the Ex-husband.

I appreciate that this date has fallen in 2011 when it was 2010's new years resolution to have more romance in my life however I feel it only fair to conclude this mission on a high. My pro-active year of dates, potential relationships, crushes and snogs has not only provided me with much fun and amusement, it has also entertained a number of friends. I used to work with a single girl who was so desperate to met someone yet so painfully reluctant to actually do anything about it for fear of embarrassing herself. Now don't get me wrong, there have been plenty of cringeworthy moments with some of these men over the past year, however, if I'd not put myself out there and been confident and willing to meet new people then I'd never would have had these dates and the ensuing fun. So, in conclusion, put out, smile, accept a cheeky date and enjoy it whether good or bad. 

The Christmas-Party-Boy

Now the Christmas party season should essentially provide any willing single girl with a potential snog and Christmas just gone was no exception. Enter the Christmas-Party-Boy.

Now in all the horrid clichéd manner, our eyes met across the room at a party. His smile caught my eye, I, in my naturally modest way was looking amazing. We hadn't been introduced, as I've learnt over the past three years, is the British way. In Sweden, the first thing you do upon arriving at a party is to quickly make your way around the room shaking hands with each person whilst saying your name. It sounds very formal and its very unlikely you'll remember everyone's name but by the end of the evening everyone will be your best friend as you hug them goodbye whilst simultaneously organising a coffee for later that week. In the UK no such introductions take place.

But I digress.

So there got to the point where myself and the Christmas-Party-Boy were standing in the kitchen getting a drink. In that slightly awkward manner where there wasn't enough space for both of us to fix drinks at the same time, he let me go first whilst I tried to make polite conversation to say thanks. Small talk becomes chatting which invariably leads to a bit of flirting and for most of the evening we stood there talking before finally introducing ourselves.

It was a fun evening, he made me laugh a lot, he thought I was cute, there was some definite flirting so we arranged to meet up again for a drink.

Roll on a week later and I'm preparing for our date. Its a late afternoon/early evening midweek affair so I naturally opt for my designated "first date outfit" of favourite shirt, jeans and boots and hop along into town. Now essentially this was a classic first date. A generic bar with light wooden interior and lots of chrome.  A couple of glasses of wine in and I come to the conclusion that this date is going pretty well. The conversation is flowing, there's lots of smiles and the odd tactile moment too. If I'd have had the Eye-Spy Book of First Dates I would have been ticking off all the quintessential dating elements.

Naturally the last two points to tick off are the second date arrangement and the goodbye kiss. As he walked me back to the station the conversation rolled round to "lets do this again some time". What with it being the Christmas season and not having to work, a second date was planned for two days later. At the point of a possible snog, he leant in and gently gave me a good night kiss. It was lovely. Eye-Spy marks on the date? Top marks and a badge if I send in my book to the publisher!