This dating story comes from earlier this year. I went to meet a friend and some of his friends for a walk on the beltline in the afternoon. I couldn't decide whether I should bring my dog or not and he said I definitely should because the girls like dogs.
So I met up with them at a patio bar and the whole group was I believe 4 girls and 4 guys (only one of which was a couple). We were there long enough for 2 beers and this one girl, let's call her Alice (not real name), was super interested in Winter (my dog, real name). Upon making moves toward dinner, Alice and Winter and I walked together well behind the group and were getting along well. At dinner, we tied Winter to the fence next to our table and Alice was responding to everyone's requests to pet her and pretty much had claimed the dog as her own. After dinner, the rest of the group went inside and it was just us again and she talked more and more, which is totally fine by me. I wanted to get some more words in but she was doing well by herself with my adding an occasional follow up question or quick joke.
After awhile we walked back up the beltline and I dropped her off at her apartment and asked for her phone number. Things seemed great. It may have been the dog that initially attracted her but by the end of the night she seemed genuinely interested in me as well.
The next day, I called her at about 10am because I don't believe in waiting and our specific situation was such that it would be two weeks before I would be in Atlanta again so it seemed appropriate. Anyway, we agreed to a lunch date at another patio restaurant along the beltline and of course I brought the dog. Lunch was fine, conversation was good, and I probably made a bit more effort to share more about myself since the night before she did at least 90% of the talking. This day it was close to 50-50. Lunch lasted over two hours and like the day before, I walked her home and kissed her.
We exchanged a couple of texts over the next week until I tried to arrange another date and she said no. Being someone who wants to learn from experiences, I asked her why not and she said it's because I talked too much about myself. Wtf? No one has ever said that to me. People consistently get the exact opposite impression from me - that I don't say enough, that I'm too reserved.
Oh well.
