I come from a cold country so I am always wearing my Italian-looking neck scarves when I go out. They wrap loosely around my neck but offer a bit of warmth. The only reason I'm giving you the detail is that it plays a role in what happen next.
A buddy and I went out for a drink which we do every 2 to 3 weeks. This time is no different than the other, we talk about work, we talk about our families, and we talk about ideas that we think are intriguing. Both of us work in the field of marketing and innovation.
After about an hour and two beer, we're getting fairly animated about a specific innovative idea we've heard of; lots of hand waving, pointing and animated talk. All of a sudden a guy appears over my right shoulder and asks if he can interrupt for just a second. He was polite he was nice enough, about 45 and in good shape. He was wearing a jacket so I couldn't see his body. And I'm not usually interested in guys bodies when I'm at a bar. Nobody knows of my inner desires in my personal circle.
We invite this guy jump into our conversation for a minute. He says "I just wanted to comment on how nice it is to see somebody like you. You express it interestingly compared to most of the others in this bar. It's winter so people wear brown and black and here you are wearing an orange check shirt, a sky blue scarf, tight tapered pants and a pair of zipper boots."
My immediate thought was this guy must've been bored because he knows everything that I'm wearing. I can't say as I knew anything anyone was wearing in the bar except for the black and brown jackets and sweaters.
We all started a small conversation about the lack of colour in the bars at this time of year. We surveyed the bar together to prove the theory. At one point, my new friend nudged my thigh as I sat on my hi-top stool. This could have been unintentional so I didn't mention anything. I thanked him for his compliment and he went off to the washroom which had been is in initial intent. About 10 minutes later he came back and disappeared back at the bar. My buddy and I were in a deep conversation so we didn't need anybody else to join us. Nor had he asked to join us.
About a half an hour later we finished up our drinks and our Lyfts had arrived so we paid up and both got in our respective cars and took off.
I have never been picked up in a bar. And I was really intrigued by this guys forwardness. I only live about 15 minutes away from the bar so upon reaching my home, I made some excuse about leaving something at the bar and got the Lyft driver to take me back. On the way back my heart was pounding. What was I going to do? Should I buy this guy a drink? Did I even want to pursue this? Was this a pick up? All unanswered questions.
My car pulled up to the bar and I hopped out. I walked back-and-forth about three times before I said to myself, "oh fuck it. I'm going in." As I walked into the bar the waitress who had served me before asked "Are you OK?"
"I think I left something at the table."
I went back over to the table where I was sitting and pretended that I was looking for something. The guy was still at the bar and he was watching me look around the table. I noticed him looking at me and pretending to give up on my search, I acknowledged him and he waved me over. I went over, told him "I thought I forgot my ipad case."
He said "My name is Grant, Let me buy you a beer."
My heart was thumping but I pulled up a stool beside him at the bar.
He asked who my friend was and what the relationship was. I told him we were old buddies and we go out every couple of weeks just to catch up and get away from families. He leaned in denoting that he wanted to ask me a question. He said "Are you two lovers?" I told him "No as a matter of fact we are old friends and our families know each other pretty well. We were both straight family guys who just like to get out and grab a drink to catch up from time to time."
