Date #6: Bubble

Last night I met Bubble at Clyde's in Chinatown. Bubble lives out in Virginia, but far out in Virginia. He hasn't spent much time in DC, except at his office and Chinatown, which is why I nicknamed him Bubble. I don't think he's heard of Dupont Circle or Adams Morgan. Not a big deal or anything, but worthy of a nickname. Oh, that, and the fact that he admitted he's a little sheltered (hasn't done much traveling).

The date was the most traditional date I've had in a while. Dinner, movie, ice cream. It was refreshing, and I needed a break from drinking. When I got to Clyde's, he was waiting outside, dressed casually in a striped polo shirt, khaki shorts, and sneakers. Bubble is 28, 5'10, Puerto Rican (born in Pittsburgh), short dark hair, the sweetest looking face imaginable, soft spoken, a software engineer, and a drummer in a band. He seemed like the type that likes to let the girl take the reins. Though, it might just take him some time to open up. He seemed a little nervous at the beginning.

The food at Clyde's was delicious, and I got my favorite sandwich (turkey reuben). He dared me to order it as a "Rachel", and our poor foreign waiter was really confused. Conversation flowed, and a good balance. We talked about the typical stuff. Then I suggested we go next door and see Toy Story 3, because I was dying to see it. He agreed. Bubble paid for dinner and tried to pay for the movie tickets too but I insisted that I would do it because it was my idea. He was a complete gentleman all night.

When we got into the theater, the movie had already started, even though we were a good 5 minutes early. We found seats in the middle of the second row (after climbing over some large families) and tried to figure out why the movie had already started. It was also in 3D, which was very uncomfortable to watch from the second row. I knew there was a non-3D showing 45 minutes later, so I suggested we go see that one and get good seats and watch it from the beginning. He seemed ambivalent (he was excited about the 3D), but I made the executive decision to leave. When we got out of the theater, we realized we had gone into the wrong one. It was a good laugh, and we ended up getting great seats in the 3D show. Toy Story 3, by the way, was AWESOME. Throughout the whole thing, I was smiling and laughing. Definitely go see it.

After the movie, Bubble bought me ice cream and we walked around outside. By that point, he seemed to loosen up more. I want to get to know him better to see if there is a darker side to him. I bet there is. Self excluded, people are always on their best behavior on first dates (I tend to let things slip out here and there), so it's hard to tell if you're getting an accurate picture of who they really are. When we said goodbye, it was again a hug and a "Had a great time". I'd love to go out with Bubble again, and hopefully see more sides of him.