Still Waiting for Mr. Right

I know it’s been a while since I’ve been on a date and maybe things have changed since then, but last I checked a person isn’t supposed to abandon their date for the balance of the evening. If that’s how things are trending these days, then maybe I’m not so sad that I don’t date much. By way of explanation, last Tuesday one of my friends, G.I. Joe, texted me to see if I was working. I wasn’t and he informed me that he wasn’t either and asked if I wanted to join him on an adventure to Portsmouth. As I wasn’t otherwise occupied, I agreed. He told me that he had some things to do in Portsmouth and we’d get home around 11. I figured we’d be getting dinner and wandering around town. It took us about two hours to get there and we had a comfortable conversation on the way there. We went to the base in Portsmouth so G.I. Joe could get his combat medals mounted. We had to go get me a visitor’s pass and the army guy in charge was hoooot. Since we weren’t going to be there long, he just let us go. I would have happily stayed there with him, but oh well. After that, G.I. Joe decided we should go to the waterfront, so we drove down to the ‘beach’ for a ‘picnic.’ Since it was windy and drizzly, we sat in the car and G.I. Joe made me a wrap of sorts. It consisted of a tortilla with some guacamole and slices of Edam cheese. It was not good, but I ate it like a good little girl. After ‘dinner,’ we got out of the car and walked along the beach that was made up of rather large rocks, which was fine with me because it prevented any sand from getting in my shoes. We walked far enough that we came across a little restaurant. G.I. Joe asked if I wanted to grab a hot chocolate and I figured it was the least he could do after the disgusting dinner he’d made. So we went in and they sat us at a table overlooking the sea. It was lovely. We each ordered a hot chocolate and then he said I could get something else if I wanted. I wasn’t entirely sure what the protocol was so I followed his lead and got an ice cream sundae. The hot chocolate was huge and the ice cream wasn’t that good.

At this point the adventure took a strange turn. G.I. Joe had to go to some sort of Army training thing. He hadn’t mentioned to me before we left that I wouldn’t be allowed to join him. So I volunteered to just hang out at a shopping center we had passed earlier. It had a cinema so I thought maybe I’d just go watch a film. G.I. Joe told me he’d be done around 8, though, so since he dropped me off at about 6:45, I decided I didn’t have time to watch a whole film. I walked around the shops until they closed and then went to the cinema to pretend that I was waiting for someone, which I guess I was. After sitting there for about half an hour, I decided to go walk around outside a little more so I didn’t look too pathetic. I even bought myself some fries at Burger King to pass the time. Totally, not worth the calories. At around 8, I texted G.I. Joe to let him know that I had decided against seeing a film and was ready when he was. I didn’t hear back from him until about 8:30 at which point he told me he was running late and would be leaving soon. I went back into the cinema where there was at least somewhere to sit while I waited. I’m pretty sure the employees felt sorry for me for getting stood up. Well, 9 o’clock came and went without a sign of G.I. Joe and I was beginning to regret my decision not to see a film. Luckily, there were trailers playing on a big screen on the wall, though after seeing them all ten times, the thrill diminished. Finally at 9:30, G.I. Joe called to say he’d be there in ten minutes. Perhaps needless to say, after waiting an additional hour and a half, that was music to my ears. The ride home was enjoyable and I do enjoy his company, though if he ever invites me to anything again, I’m taking a book.