Echo

Read me the letter, baby,
Do not leave out the words.
Stories and cigarettes ruined lives of lesser girls,
And I wanna know,
‘Cause I want you to know…

–Pete Yorn, Strange Condition

So I’ve been slowly trying to accumulate furniture without spending too much money. This means going through craigslist. I’m not in a rush to get anything, since I already have a reading chair and a bed, but what I’ve been really wanting is some patio chairs so I can sit on the balcony and watch the sun set.

I found an ad for a couple of chairs that this guy was selling. They were pretty pricey for used chairs, but they looked nice…not junky like a lot of the other ones. The guy said he was selling because he was moving to Germany.

We agreed to meet up at his place this morning, and before I left, I sent his email with his address to Rie, telling her that in case she didn’t hear from me for a while, to know that I had been heading there. I’m always a little wary about going to a stranger’s house.

He lives in Kirkland so I ended up being about 15 minutes late because there was a detour due to a 5K run going on. I wish I had known about it earlier. I’ve been wanting to run a 5.

I knocked on the door and was shocked to see a very good-looking guy in a backwards baseball cap and athletic gear open the door. Of course, being me, I was immediately shy and awkward because I was caught off guard. I was expecting an older guy. Plus, Seattle isn’t the best looking city, so I was definitely not expecting anyone hot.

I bought the chairs and he threw in a little patio table. As he helped me bring everything to the car, he said he was surprised that I was buying patio furniture just when the weather was getting cold. I told him that I’d just moved here a week and a half ago, and that I had a balcony overlooking the water so I’ve been looking for chairs, though probably because it’s getting cold, they’ve been hard to find. He tells me that Seattle has beautiful nature here and names off some islands, but I can’t quite understand him because of his accent. I make a mental note to look up nearby islands. He sees my car and says I have the same car as he had before he left Germany (he works for Panasonic and was transferred here, but is transferring back). I asked him how he liked the car and he said, “Not so much.” I tell him that I haven’t been really happy with mine. The technology has problems.

We shake hands when we part. He tells me, welcome to Seattle and I tell him, good luck in Germany.

I leave and email Rie to tell her I’m still alive, and the guy had been really hot.

I still feel like such a dork. I hate how shy I get sometimes.

I see an email from him come in later, but it’s been truncated for size on my phone, so I can’t read it. Maybe he’s writing to tell me how stunning I am, I think, stating the face-saving improbable. Shut up, dumbass. Since he’s German, he’s probably sending you a receipt or something.

I check my email when I get home and get a pleasant surprise. I open his email and the reason it was truncated was because he’d attached a picture of himself with another guy. Oh-kay. Then I read the email and he’s listed 10 things I should check out in Seattle and the surrounding areas, which was very nice of him. He ended it with this:

10. Have dinner with me. :-) You are very beautiful and seem to have a great personality. ..will skip this question because I have an astonishing girlfriend but every guy shall count himself lucky if you allow him to date you. If you have a boyfriend he should tell you every day. Welcome to Seattle and have a great time here. It is definitely different to California but it’s got its charm and the nature is breathtaking.

Wow. That email really made my day. Even though I seem perpetually stuck in the place between Not My Dude and He’s Already Got a Bitch, it’s still nice that he felt that way after a short encounter and was nice enough to tell me, and especially because I’d been feeling kind of stupid about how no matter how confident I get about myself and my direction, I still experience traces of social awkwardness around people I find attractive.

I think this is a positive sign though. Like the universe is telling me to keep up the faith. I think the right guy for me will find me, and know without a doubt that he’s lucky to have found me. Even if I’m hiding under my shyness, he’ll be able to see me. And he’ll be in a place in his life where he’s ready to build something meaningful and extraordinary with me.