A chat with a girlfriend a good year ago came flooding back to me during the final week of my Five in Five campaign.
We’d been discussing the plethora of dates I had been on of late, and the various reasons why I (in most cases) had decided not to see the guys a second time.
In looking for that elusive ‘zing’ I was overthinking it she’d decided, and I needed to revisit simply to get the real gist of these blokes, and whether there was anything worth pursuing. At the time I was simply too much of a scaredy-cat.
It’s bizarre I know, but in the past I have absolutely been too quick to judge, so worried I’d inadvertently get in over my head I barely stuck my toe in the water at all. It’s only a second date for God’s sake – I don’t pretend to understand my logic.
‘Revisiting’ in some capacity was always on the cards for date #2 since we got along so darn well, but I also like to think of it as a bit of a (delayed) personal achievement, consciously making Chris my fifth date. *I checked the Five in Five rules by the way, and it seemed ok to do!
Probably typical of two Melburnians, our meet up this time was at the London Coffee Festival at the Old Truman Brewery on Brick Lane. We chatted away while watching the last of the day’s demonstrations by some insanely talented baristas.
There was coffee themed artwork to browse and samples galore; coffee, the occasional tea, chocolate, more chocolate and my favourite – espresso martinis! OK, we did pay for those. Musical entertainment kicked in, the crowd (amped up on all that caffeine and booze no doubt) got louder, and so we headed to a nearby pub to continue talking outside, enjoying the mild night. Once again we got along like a house on fire – no weird moments. I don’t think he even flinched at a couple of typical-me foot-in-mouth comments, phew.
Will I be seeing him a third time? Absolutely. Does this mean it’s like, totally on and I’ve had Five in Five romance success? Let’s not get ahead of ourselves!
This challenge has succeeded in showing me the fun that can be had getting to know a date that you haven’t extensively scrutinized online beforehand. It has introduced me to a bunch of truly decent London men who put a great deal of thought into our dates, and seemingly enjoyed them as much as I did.
I think the real challenge for me wasn’t so much the dates themselves however, but having the courage to consider them for something more.
Carlie and her fellow Five in Fivers have managed to crack this year’s fundraising target – with over $70,000 raised for Australian charities Whitelion, Kids Under Cover and St Kilda Gatehouse.
