Tinder and Blind

Location: Muswell Hill, Carluccios

Source: Twitter/blind

(Names changed for anonymity)

Date: 26^th March 2014

So the context in which I met this one is a long one so bear with me while I condense. Last year I started seeing this guy casually, it started turning into something more but I kept my guard up. At the beginning of this year I received a facebook message from his GIRLFRIEND- Laura. I had no idea, I told her everything because she deserved to know, she ditched him as did I and we have since become great friends. Weird from the outside but it works! Anyway I set her up with a colleague of mine, in return she said she thought I would get on well with one of her friends..the bearded vegan model pilot.

I researched (*cough* stalked) him a bit, found out he was quite a successful model and now training to be a pilot. I found him on Twitter and gave him a cheeky follow. A couple of weeks later I noticed he followed me back, and also on Instagram. Social media is the new face to face approach isn’t it. There are a few photos of myself and Laura, so he must’ve put two and two together.

Anyway, I’ve got nothing to lose, let’s message him, I thought. So I did- why not. Extremely creatively of me I put ‘Hello Aaron’, expecting nothing back I just went about my day.

The next morning I get a reply asking ‘how’s life?’. He catches me on a morning when life is consisting of early morning gym sessions and crash dieting in order to fit into a bridesmaid dress in 4 days. We message via twitter for a little while and eventually I give him my number.

A tube and bus journey later and we meet the next evening. I find out he’s a vegan (he can’t even eat Haribo). I’m open about my passion for steak and chocolate and he doesn’t judge- this is already going better than the Oxford Graduate.

Speaking of Oxford, Aaron has been training for the last year or so there to be a pilot. In fact, the last three dates I’ve had all have a link with Oxford, so I’m hoping they don’t all bump into eachother one day and get into a conversation about a clumsy Beckham obsessed brunette.

Anyway, the vegan thing is new. Since he’s been single he decided to be a bit wacky, grow a beard and just eat rabbit food. Totes fine with me, but knowing I’ll never get taken to Gaucho is a bit heart wrenching. I ask when he’s going to chop the beard off, when he gets his lapelles he’s going to jump in a pool and then have a shave. He’s got lovely eyes and usually I’m not a beard lover- I have a friend who loves beards and I thought the whole way through that she would bloody love him- anyway, the beard doesn’t actually put me off him which is a surprise to me.

We order wine after about 20 minutes of toing and froing- I was going to be good but that soon went out of the window and we ordered a bottle of white between us.

There was a lot to talk about, seeing as our mutual friend circumstances were out of the ordinary, so we talked about that a bit. He tells me he’s been growing a beard since November and has become quite attached to it- he puts argan oil in it to keep it soft (if that’s not an invitation for a feel then I don’t know what is).

It gets to the end of the date and I’m feeling a bit squiffy, conscious I have an early start, we leave and head to the bus stop. My bus is in the distance and it’s one of those ‘do I run for it because I don’t know how long the next one is going to be? or do I walk extra slow as to miss it and have more time for a goodbye?’ moments. I decide I will miss it anyway and no one wants to see me run after a couple of glasses of wine. Then it sits there a bit longer, so I decide to run for it. He runs with me and I jump on the bus just in time, in a mild sweat. We don’t have time for a proper goodbye so it’s one of those quick hugs and oh god, do I kiss you on the cheek or will that be awkward? So I do a quick hug and make it awkward by being indecisive on the kiss, and then he says ‘oh god, this is awkward’, before the bus doors close.

Since then we have exchanged the odd message, but he’s now based back home in the Midlands, so until he’s back in London/finishes his pilots training, I think it will be a matter of just keeping in touch as and when. The circumstances at present are a bit too complicated for anything more, which is just as well because I can carry on writing about subsequent dates.. (going on one tonight)..