The curious story of how we met, part 4 – the dilemma

So there I was, on that warm July night, standing in front of the that restaurant door, wondering if I should listen to my fears and turn around and go back home. Or, should I simply do my best to ignore my intense sense of trepidation and forge on ahead, no matter what? I though for a moment about what was the worst that could happen. What if that old guy who messaged me on the meetup site was there? What if he tried to put the make on me? What if he was some trench coat wearing creep lurking in the back corner by the bar? What if he tried to follow me to my car? So then I stopped, and turned back towards the door. I knew where the police station was if I found myself to be followed, and I had parked in a very visible public lot right off of main street. And of course, there would plenty of people in this very crowded bar.

So I reached for the door and went inside. The hostess greeted me, and I told her I was part of a group that was to meet there in the bar that night. She said there were lots of people on the back deck, at the Tiki bar. And so that is where I headed, past the dining room and into a foyer of sorts that lead to the deck. Yes, there were lots of people there, sitting at the bar, eating at tables on the deck and just standing around talking. I pretty much knew I was in the right place as many had the look of those you might expect to see at meeting dedicated to science fiction fans. Many were quite young, barely old enough to drink, but at the far end of the bar sat a middle aged man flanked by a man and a woman who seemed a bit older. This trio looked inoffensive and approachable, as they appeared to be closer to my age than the twenty-somethings milling about the room. I walked up and asked if they were with the sci-fi meeting, to which they answered in the affirmative. The younger man in the middle introduced himself by his first name, which was a variant of his internet handle. And it was then I realized that this was just the person I was hoping to not run into tonight! But I didn’t want to be rude, and so I introduced myself and soon a conversation began. And what a long one it ended up being! Strangely enough I quickly developed a rapport with this stranger, and over the course of the evening I found out a lot about him. The couple that were with him were his renters, to whom he was sub-letting the basement of his house. They also had a keen interest in sci-fi. I didn’t share too much about myself, as being cautious I did not want to give too much information away. Finally, I noticed that it was getting late. The meeting officially lasted two hours, but people drifted in and out over the course of the evening, and some stayed on. I asked the man and his companions if they intended to attend next month’s meeting, and they said yes. So I bid them goodbye and I headed out to my car. I did take a couple of glances behind me, as I was still wary. But it appeared that no one was stalking me, and I drove on back home.

Once I got home I went onto the meeting site and I looked over that man’s profile, trying to glean any other information. It was pretty threadbare, and I quickly realized that he wasn’t so good at writing. As the days ticked by, my daily life went on. But perplexingly I found myself looking forwards to the next sci-fi meeting in August. I don’t know why, but this older stranger intrigued me. Despite my initial fears, I was inexorably being drawn in. The second Wednesday of August could not come soon enough!