Posted Friday morning
This past weekend was like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. For lack of better words, there was a disturbance in the force, and I may never be the same again. I met a girl online. No, not another one, the potential game-changing one.
We had three consecutive five-hour conversations on the phone this week, but that still wasn’t enough. We texted each other morning, noon, and night, not caring about playing it cool. As much as I was into her, she was into me, and it was obvious.
Carolina and I talked about everything underneath this solar system and the next. Casual talks about life took random nerdy turns at cartoons, movies, sports, and even politics we had in common. After months of dragging my feet through this single life, I finally met someone that has everything on my female suitor wishlist.
It all started with an innocent post on her Myspace wall welcoming her back from vacation. A few days later, I received a strategically worded message from Carolina full of adorable dorkiness. By the length of her endearing correspondence, I could tell she undoubtedly wanted to be my friend.
Carolina graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School the year after me with a class I knew very well. She remembered my red North Face bookbag roaming the halls, but unfortunately, I didn’t recognize her. Luckily for me, we never met back then because the friendzone was never far behind.
Her sweet young voice was full of good intentions of getting to know the real guy behind the conceited pictures on MySpace. All week, she sent me potential first date ideas ending each text with a cute wink emoji. I started thinking she was too good to be true after she sent me ticket prices for the New York Yankees.
After Carolina told me she graduated from Columbia University, I made sure to enunciate every word slowly as if I was in a spelling bee to save my life. Trying to impress her, I gave Caro a deep sexy version of my job interview voice, avoiding problematic pronunciations like salmonella. Speaking with her was super easy. As we shared intimate details of our past, I never once felt judged by her.
I couldn’t wait to meet Caro in person, but unfortunately, our weekends were jam-packed. I had a date on Friday, and she had plans for Saturday. But we set a date for lunch at City Island on Sunday. For the first time in my life, I desperately wanted to expedite the weekend.
FRIDAY NIGHT
Cali was a girl I was casually hanging out with for weeks, but she was slowly distancing herself after our last date. She was distant and acting weird, but it didn’t bother me because I met Carolina.
Dressed to impress with a fresh fade, black on black fitted jeans, shirt, and sports jacket, I kissed my roommate goodbye (aka Mom) and headed for the Metro-North Station. Cali lived in New Jersey and was supposed to meet me downtown at a party but I hadn’t heard from her all day and felt she would probably ghost me. Something was daring me to call Carolina, and as I got closer to the Woodlawn station, this feeling got stronger.
Caro was the only person I wanted to see tonight, so I pulled out my old Muziq flip phone and called her. Luckily, she was home in her pajamas, watching tv with her Yorkie. The fact that a beautiful girl had no plans on a Friday night was a sign of good favor from the dating Gods. Reluctantly wanting to leave her apartment’s coziness, I somehow sweet-talked the girl into coming out with me.
On the bus ride to Caro’s apartment, I finally received a text from Cali, ending our friendly courtship. I wasn’t disappointed because I knew it was coming. If anything, it took away any guilt I had for making plans with another girl that quickly. I wished her well in life and made my way to my Miss Potentially Right.
With the help of the BX16 and the 4 train, I got to Caro’s apartment on the Grand Concourse in less than twenty minutes. Nervously waiting in front of her beautiful building entrance, I shifted between stances under a construction scaffolding, trying my best to look shorter.
Wiping an old crusty pizza stain off my shirt, I finally heard the echoes of delicate high-heeled footsteps walking toward me. I first noticed red stilettos and a beautiful pair of ankles walking out into the lobby when I looked up. Saying goodnight to the doorman, Carolina had a big gorgeous smile approaching the front doors of the building.
This woman was stunning. Maybe too pretty for me, I thought as I tried to hide my chipped front tooth. I quickly knew Carolina was way out of my league, and I was intimidated by her grace. Fat-boy insecurities reared their pimple-faced heads as she kissed me on the cheek. Caro’s eyes grew wide as I stood up and greeted her with an eclipsing hug. I attempted to shrink into my sports jacket as my height took the short girl off guard.
While walking away from the entrance, I took quick robotic glances at her like I was a Terminator.
Hair: Dark, short, and professionally blown out. Nice.
Eyes: Bright, sultry, and beautiful.
Nose: Round and cute, accentuated by a tiny Tupac-looking nose ring. I likez.
Smile: I could easily fall in love with just it. It was fantastic.
Body: Slim and athletic-looking. Not thick in the rear, but the cleavage was IN FULL EFFECT! (Don’t stare, bro!)
This girl had no physical imperfections, which is a major red flag in my dating philosophy. Good-looking girls have big trust issues due to good-looking cheating ex-boyfriends. However, I examined every inch of her Myspace page before the weekend and didn’t find anything alarming. She did have too many glitter effects scrolling down her page, but I gave her a pass. Carolina was hot, but I wasn’t going to let my insecurities mess this up, so I turned on the charm and dialed up whatever confidence I had left. I figured I had already won the night by being in the company of this gorgeous Latina.
Walking towards the Bedford Park train station, we had shy-ish small-talk about our plans for the night. Crossing the street on Jerome Avenue, a light post illuminated her face with a pinkish glow, and I immediately knew who she was. I didn’t recognize Carolina because in high school she sported red auburn hair.
We passed each other many times in the hallways but never spoke. Carolina was an Einstein kid who ranked towards the top of her class, and I was a jock who didn’t know the school was ranking us. We both had dreadful misconceptions of one another as I thought she was conceited and she assumed I was dumb. (She wasn’t entirely wrong).
Carolina was highly flattered I recognized her because, as she said, “It’s nice to know that the captain of the football team thought I was pretty.” Our conversations took off on the Downtown 4 train. We had a great time reminiscing about teachers and classmates we had in common. Shockingly, Caro was mad cool with many of my teammates but they never introduced us. (jerks).
DOWNTOWN
I took her to a little hookah and wine lounge in Alphabet City. The doorman treated us kindly after a minor check issue my boys had the weekend before. The manager graciously skipped us to the front of the line and sat us down quickly in a dark private area. Carolina was amazed at the royal treatment we received. Shit, being broke for so many years, I was also shocked at our accommodations.
The music propelled us to test the limits of our personal space as we looked over the menu. Thank God for Big Red gum because our lips were close enough to touch. Usually, I would start freaking out about my budget at this point of the date. However, I had just found a real job and finally had money in my pockets to splurge. Most of my bills were paid off, so I knew that the rest of the paycheck was available for this woman.
ALL.
OF.
IT.
My years of minimum wage and being a broke college student were over. This attractive woman could have whatever she wanted from the wine menu. There was no going Dutch tonight, and I felt like an adult for once. “Oh, you want a bottle of wine? Bring her two, my dude.” Thankfully, Carolina only ordered one bottle because I almost went full Oprah, “EVERYONE GETS A BOTTLLLLLLE!”
As our lips sipped on the nectar of the Egyptian red wine, Carolina gave me all the good signs any man would die for. She crossed her legs towards me and put her hand on my knee when she laughed. Caro got closer to me on the plush red love seat and snuggled under my arms for warmth. She even dropped hints at potential summer plans together as words like “us” and “we” smoothly left her lips.
From time to time, I caught her undressing my lips, begging me to kiss her, which was alright because I was taking a lot of admiring glances at her fabulous “blouse.” I still couldn’t believe this enchanting girl was so into me, and it felt unreal. As I listened to her, I started cutting and pasting myself alongside her future plans, and I liked what I saw. (That was some good ass wine).
But as usual, the fat-kid Scorpio in me started to overthink. Did I want a relationship right now? Did I want to give up being single after all the fun I was having? Most importantly, was I over the last girl? But then Carolina gave me this sensual smile as she put a loose strand of hair behind her ear, and I let go of the foolishness.
THE WRAP-UP
It was a little brisk exiting the lounge, so I gave her my jacket and held her close to my body. We didn’t feel like strangers as we shared an electric embrace walking and talking about our families. Carolina was very humble about her upbringing in the Bronx and I was fascinated by the loving eloquence she had for her parents and their migration from the Dominican Republic.
It was a beautiful crisp spring night, and by the time we knew it, we had made it to 14th street but Caro never once complained about the walk. Around Union Square, a drunk guy standing outside of a hole-in-the-wall pizza shop told us we needed to try a slice. As he slurred, “this slice would change your lives,” Carolina and I looked at each other, and knew he was probably right. Like the entire night, the pizza was awesome.
It was getting late, so we decided to take a cab back to Caro’s, where I planned to drop her off. However, we didn’t want the night to end, so she invited me upstairs. We spoke all night until the sun rose and no, nothing happened. I didnt make it back home until Sunday night because our first date lasted three days. We canceled all our plans that weekend for each other.
Like chewing minty fresh gum on a cold winter’s day, Carolina is a breath of fresh air. If you looked up the definition of smitten, you will find a picture of both of us next to the word. I’m not sure what I should call her right now, but if it was a test drive for a new car, I’m thinking of making it mine.
One week later I made her my forever.
The back story to this post
Why are you looking for more? There is no back story, you just read it.
Are you looking for random trivia? This ain’t VH1’s pop-up video. 😆
Ok fine. I still have the cork of that wine bottle we shared. Vins D’Algérie.