One issue down. One to go!

So, I’ve been having a blast with the Mango and Co., and somewhere in there fitting in occasional yaks on the phone with Mr. Arbitrage.  He’s in Hawaii at the moment.  He has a condo there.

There was one particular yak which left me sort of reeling.  I’m not going to divulge all the tidbits, but here’s just one example.  It came up that he was used to paying for his girlfriends to go on vacation with him.  Like, if/when we get serious, he would think nothing of flying me out to Hawaii, all expenses paid.  This really worried me.  That and a few other things made me send a message on Wednesday morning saying, "I need a day to absorb.  No chatting today!"  He responded with a simple "sounds good.  hope you’re having fun!" …  I spent the day hanging out with the Mango and L.  We had oodles of fun and good talk (for example. we got made up at a MAC cosmetic store, took pictures, discussed the different ways we walk … ), but every now and then I would space out, thinking about the things that needed absorbing.  Then, at the end of the night, I e-mailed Mr. Arbitrage with the results of the pondering of that day.  In essence, I was telling him that this all felt REALLY FREAKING FAST.  I asked if we could agree just to be friends right now.  I added, "I realize it’s sort of lame to do this kind of thing over e-mail.  Can I call you tomorrow?"

Thursday morning, I got the message from him apologizing for talking about certain things that were "inappropriate" at this point, and saying that he looked forward to my call.  So I was able to go sugar-shacking in a comparative state of relaxation.

I drove in L’s car.  We listened to the Pet Shop Boys.  I hardly ever get to listen to them (don’t own any) and I know hardly anyone in my sphere of work who would admit to listening to them, and it was FUN to sing along gutsily with L.  Incidentally, one of the reasons I got so excited about Mr. Arbitrage was his eclectic list of music he likes to listen to, and Pet Shop Boys was on there …

About nine of us got jacked on maple syrup-soaked EVERYTHING you can think of, and then after a huge snowball fight (I got the Chou in the back and L on the shoulder – but otherwise I was just being pelted), we sang our way home again.

The Mango wisely had scheduled nothing for the evening but "movies and digesting."  We watched Little Miss Sunshine and the first half of (barf) Pride and Prejudice.  I’m sorry, but Keira Knightley just looks like a modern girl playing dress up.  And she thinks she’s too sexy to talk properly.  Ew.  I like her in Bend it like Beckham and other movies like that, but she so didn’t get into the spirit of Jane Austen.  She needed a movement coach.

We turned off the movie because I had a headache (which I blamed on Keira) and then the Mango looked at the clock and said, "Oh.  Time to call Mr. Arbitrage."  She shepherded me into the study where she lit candles and left me with the phone.  I was really nervous.

So we talked it out.  We are in agreement.  He was even the one who explicitly said, "No kissing, no touching, no yakking about verboten topics, just hanging out and getting to know each other better."

Then we yakked a lot and continued to get to know each other better.  😀

I had sent some pictures from my Montreal adventures.  Of the picture of me looking down and trying not to laugh, whilst having makeup applied, he said something like: "That is damned cute.  Almost makes me rethink my loathing of makeup … "  (He doesn’t like makeup as a rule.  Neither do I.  This is good.)

His comment that my hair was "not as big as you made it out to be" and that he actually liked it, led to a discussion of our experiences in school.  Teasing and whatnot.  It was nice to see that side of him.  He apparently used to be the fattest kid in his school, and one summer he decided he was going to change his lifestyle and get more active.  In September no one recognized him.  This led to a discussion about our lifestyles and thoughts on fat and whatnot.  When I said it wasn’t something I really thought about much, he said, "Good!"  Which relieved me.

And when I asked, "If this all doesn’t pan out, and we decide that we aren’t meant to be together, will we still be able to be friends?"  He said, "I hope so!  I love just talking to you, you know."  And instantly I sighed with relief and he laughed.  "Is that better now?"  "Yeah, I just felt a huge weight lift from my shoulders."

But he took the dating profile link off of his website.  And admitted that he isn’t talking to anyone else from that website now.  Basically, he isn’t looking at anyone but me right now.

Oh dear.  😀

Now there’s just that other issue.  The big, big potential deal-breaker.