"Race you to the Gate. Loser buys dinner!" I yelled against the blowing wind in my face and sped of, pedalling as hard as I could, huffing and puffing. "Loser buys breakfast, lunch and dinner!" the Date screamed back. In lightning speed, he shot beside me with a grin plastered on his face and pedalled furiously ahead. I tried to pedal faster but my legs refuse to cooperate with my will power and the sight of the Date's butt was distracting mine concentration. It was ineluctable that victory would be on his side. He was bigger, stronger, and close to being the next Lance Armstrong whereas I was petite and far from qualified to compete in any Tour DE France. I reached the Gate glowering at the Date who flashed me his oscar award winning smile and was standing pridefully at the Gate, waiting for the petite tortoise to arrive. I was flustered and a sore loser. Being the magnanimous person he is, the Date ameliorated my loss with an ice-cream treat. We both sat licking our ice cream cones while watching the picturesque sunset at the horizon. The sky was painted with shades of orange and crimson, the giant glow of the sun setting behind some hills and fluffy cotton clouds were forming shapes around it.
A date could be a walk in the park or even a cycling race. It doesn't have to be dinner served with candlelight for romance to fuel. My ideal romance would be a moon in the sky lighting up my walk with that one person along the beach but the little outings, such as last week's cycling race with the Date has adumbrated how small things count, how childhood activities still excites and how much I have missed out as an adult. How I have forgotten that not everything ideal is perfect and not everything perfect is ideal.
So often I look for that extra something in a date be it, the one who makes me laugh the most, the one who with the most wit, or even the one with the nicest teeth that I overlook the one special thing in that person. He who brings out the best in me. He who gives no room for louche or sly behaviours. That one person who was determined to put the cares of the world behind him and do what he loved best -- enjoying an evening of anecdote and badinage with the girl who lights up his world. Maybe by saying this, I am being paradoxically because the statement goes deeper than the superficial attitudes or physicals of a person but rather to the core of his character and upbringing. Its asking for more. Like PEPSI - ask for more. Not just the fizzy taste of a carbonated drink or the sugar high from a can of soda. Its that exquisiteness that sets PEPSI apart from Coke...that dash of lemon twist perhaps?
The Date would be like that dash of lemon twist. He makes me ask for more of his companionship, more of his ebullient character and more of his attention. Like a craving that is insatiable and an addiction that keeps you high. The circumstances that kismet throws me in may not be my ideal romantic notion nor may it be perfect. I dare not hope for anything more than a good time when out with him for I believe "Hope" wraps you in a frolly of make believes and it can be inconvenient. Hope is paradoxical. It can be painful. It can search my heart and motives to the very bottom. I don't ask for hope, and often I don't actually want it. What I really want is for the desire to go away, or be granted.
I do well to remember that romantic love cannot be bought, even with the coin of deserving or longing for that love. Ultimately, romance is a mystery. Even Solomon, with all his wisdom, included it in his list of things that were "too wonderful" for him to fully comprehend.
With The Date, I have stopped trying to catch that love bug. Stop trying to comprehend the complexity of situations. He has taught me to seize the moment. carpe diem. seize the moment with his genuine longing for a whale of fun. sometimes, you just have to keep things simple. Make a simple wish. He may be just one of the gazillion stars in the sky, but his honesty and simplicity shines through my heart for me to want to make a wish upon.
Here's to more titillating dates.
