Brave Enough To Be Bliss

would check in with him after my massage and see if he was still there. So, after a wonderful 90-minute massage, I let him know I was done and asked if he was still out. He had moved to a different location, a favorite spot called The Phoenix, but it was right on my way home, so I told him I would be there soon. We first saw the singer who was performing that night back in August, so we’d seen her enough times that we’d gotten acquainted. Unbeknownst to me when I walked in, my dad had told her my birthday was the next day so shortly after my arrival, she asked everyone to join her in singing me happy birthday. It was fun and even though I was oily and disheveled after the massage, I wasn’t even uncomfortable with the attention because I had read the notes in my phone from Ginger and reminded myself no one cares what I look like, just go in and have fun. I felt light, relaxed, and happy. And I didn’t even have to remind myself not to sit with my arms or legs crossed because I was just having a good time. A gentleman we had seen there once before stopped by and said happy birthday. We had noticed him thinking maybe he was dating the performer since he seemed familiar with her friends and family. My dad left around 8 p.m. and while normally I would have left at the same time as he did, I had taken the next day off to spend with Kylee and Will at their house, so I decided to stay for another set as I really did enjoy the music. It wasn’t long before that gentleman returned to my table and introduced himself as Mack. He asked if he could join me and asked if I wanted to bet a drink who could guess closest to the other’s age or something like that. I won the bet, but he quickly changed the subject, telling me about his friend and asking if I wanted to meet him. He tried to get his friend to come over and it was clear his friend had absolutely no interest in doing so. Anyway, he stayed at my table, and I found out he wasn’t dating the singer, he had been a friend of her mom for years. We got acquainted and her final set ended at 11 p.m. He then asked where we were going next. Normally I would have said I had to go home, but this was my birthday, and I didn’t have to go home, so I decided to just have a fun night out. Since I knew the singer well enough and they were close family friends, I didn’t have any real safety concerns. However, just to be very clear he knew this wasn’t headed anywhere , I poin t blank said, “You know I’m not having sex with you right?” He laughed and said yes. It surprised me that I was so direct, but it felt good. I just didn’t want there to be any misunderstanding. I was interested in a fun birthday eve, but that was it. He drove us to another place to listen to jazz and we enjoyed getting to know each other better. When that place was closing at 3 a.m., he asked the server what else was open and he looked us like we were nuts and said, “I don’t think there is anywhere else.” By that time, I was ready to get home and get at least a few hours of sleep before going to Kylee and Will’s. He took me back to my car outside The Phoenix and was a complete gentleman. It was easy, fun and it was the latest I had ever been out in my entire life. And I thought Ginger would have been quite proud of how it all went. He sent a text to see if I had gotten home alright and then after a few hours of sleep when I was getting ready to go, he told me an official happy birthday and said he wanted to see me again, and asked for a specific day I could get together. I told him I’d have to get back to him after I could look at my calendar as I was in a hurry to get to Kylee’s. I had noticed on Tuesday an email had come in from Allen who was a man I had met the previous summer. He worked for a company I had hired to help with part of an office suite renovation I was leading. We had been emailing back and forth all those months, first just about the project but then after the project was over, we exchanged personal email addresses and had been having some more personal conversations. We recommended books, talked about personal growth, exercise, kids, etc. He was much younger than me, so I was sure he wasn’t interested in more than friendship, but I enjoyed communicating and learning about him. It was a rare sunny and 70-degree day in March when I got over to their house and they made it a very special day. We spent it outside on the deck enjoying the beautiful weather. When I left there in the late afternoon or early evening, I was worn out but so happy it had been such a special week. But little did I know, it wasn’t quite over yet.

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