I was talking to a friend the other day about the best and worst parts of being single.
“Oh my God, sex!” she said, as if that’s a huge selling point. “It’s so romantic!”
I disagreed.
First of all, I’d never have sex with anyone unless I wanted to, but even if I did, there’s no quantifiable amount of fun I’d have. Second, I’ve been in relationship after relationship where sex was a big deal, and even if there wasn’t a huge fanfare, it was still intense.
If you’re talking about going to a bar, you probably won’t find a more enjoyable activity than going out on a date. You’re paying attention, paying attention, and listening. But for someone looking for something regular and routine, that can be hard to pull off.
“You’re so boring, Kristen.”
That said, I’m not sure what it is about Kristen Stewart that makes people gravitate toward her. She’s cute, she’s pretty, but in the context of a movie actress, I think it’s hard for people to fathom that she could ever have real life success.
So when friends talk about Kristen Stewart, they might mention her looks. Or maybe it’s her YouTube channel with over 2.5 million subscribers. Or the fact that she’s single. Or that she’s maybe one of the richest women in Hollywood.
But back when I was talking with my friend, she brought up something I hadn’t considered. Sex.
“Do you think we should go on a date?” she asked.
I was having a hard time considering the situation. Sex, for anyone’s first time, is always exciting.
“No, I don’t think so,” I said. “I mean, I know our friend said we should, but I don’t think it’s a great idea. I don’t want to just go on a first date, then don’t come back.”
I’ve done it several times before, and even though it was more of a “we” than a “we all” I was okay with it. And even though the friend who asked me wasn’t looking for a “straight” guy, I just assumed that it would go something like this:
“Hey, I’m Kristy, and it’s great to meet you! How are you? Good? Yeah, we should go on a date. Want to come over? Oh, yeah, my friend said we should. Yeah, that sounds fun. Oh, okay, sure.”
It was easy to pretend like it was never going to get awkward. I’d been doing this for years, so I knew how it went.
But this time, I wasn’t pretending. I was ready to be like the others before me.
“Okay. Let’s do it,” was all I could say as I sat up in my chair in front of the mirror.
I pulled my shorts and t-shirt up over my head, still feeling awkward about my presence. I pulled the doorbell off its post and hung it on the other side of the door.
My friend walked in wearing a puffy vest with a hood that left her face uncovered.
“So, what’re you doing here?” I asked her.
“I’m seeing if someone is hiring,” she said.
I felt embarrassed about the situation, but also wanted to see what this “someone” thing had to do with my friend.
“Oh, cool. So, you’re the one who asked me out,” she said.
“You’re right, I was just doing my job,” I said. “What do you want me to say?”
“I don’t want you to say anything,” she said hesitantly. “I just need a little bit of privacy right now.”
“Okay,” I said. I had no idea how to proceed, so I just said that I’ll try to be respectful.
She left the room and I stood by the door, waiting to see what she’d want to do.
It was getting late, and I didn’t have anything to do when my phone started to ring. It was coming, I figured.
A couple minutes later, the caller said they were outside. I went out the front door and they were a few yards away from the parked car.
“Hey, want to go to a movie?” He asked.
“Why don’t we go to the movies?” I asked.
“Yeah, I can drive.”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“Okay, great!” I said, grabbing my friend’s hand and heading outside.
We waited in the parking lot while the car drove up to the front door. My friend got out and we walked to the car.