I met Nathaniel when he called and scheduled a meeting with me at work. During our initial meeting I sussed out pretty quickly that his company probably wasn't going to be able to help me much, and that was fine, because so was he. I make it a pretty firm rule to not date anyone with whom I'm doing business. He took the "thanks, but no thanks" like champ, and that isn't always the case. He even followed up with an email letting me know how the restaurant I had recommended turned out.
That email spawned about a week's worth of flirty emails back and forth and eventually a happy hour invite with the promise to call me to sort out the details. True to his word, he called me that night and after a fun and flirty phone call we settled on drinks at a bar I love in my old neighborhood in Santa Ana. It had somehow become a running joke about getting him to venture out of Laguna.
The day of our happy hour date he texted to say he needed to cancel because he had to go to LA for work. I texted back, "That's fine and completely understandable. Another time."
Over the next week a few hap-hazard attempts were made to reschedule, but it never worked out and I kind of forgot about him.
A few weeks later, I ran into him at an event where I was serving as one of the panelists. I managed a quick wave, but was literally surrounded by people who wanted to talk to me (Now I know how Lady Gaga feels...), so I couldn't actually talk to him.
Oh well.
That brief run-in spawned another round of flirty emails.
Here we go again. A lot of build up, and little to no follow through. I thought as I typed another coy line.
It was in one of these emails that I mentioned I was having people over for Memorial Day and he was welcomed to come.
He said thanks, but he would be in San Francisco most of the weekend.
So that was that.
Handsome.
Successful.
In my field, but not a direct competitor.
And, never gonna happen.
Dang it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As I headed back to my house on Sunday of of Memorial Day Weekend my phone rang. Glancing down, not recognizing the number, but being concerned that a work project wasn't going as planned, (nothing was on this project) I answered.
"Hello, this is Mackenzie."
"Wow. Someone is formal." said Nate with a laugh.
"Oh! Hey! This isn't your usual number... I thought you were going to be a guy from work calling to ruin my day by telling me something awful had happened on a project."
"Nope. I'm calling from my personal phone. I am just getting back to the OC and I was going to see if the party plans were still going."
"They are indeed. I'm on my way home right now to start drinking. The party will probably kick off in a few hours."
"Great! I'll try to come by. I'm supposed to hang out with a few friends."
"Well, they are welcomed to comes as well. The more the merrier!" I said hanging up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Around 10:30 that night Nate and his three friends showed up on my doorstep to a party that was going full force. We had made our way in from the beach and we were just setting up drinking Jenga and eating the last of the open bag of marshmallows. I had nearly given up that he was coming, despite his text messages to the contrary, so when he walked in, I was pleasantly surprised.
We spent the rest of the evening congregated in the kitchen alternatively sitting on bar stools, leaning against cabinets and perching on counters as our friends slowly mixed.
It was nice. And it never occurred to me to brush my beach bonfire wind blown hair, or change out of my sandy leggings and v-necked shirt.
Eventually, the party thinned out with people claiming couches, calling cabs, or staggering to the local bars. I hugged Nate, and told him to give me a call and we'd hang out again.
But once again I didn't really know whether or not expect his call.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Imagine my surprise when he called the next day to say thanks for including him and his friends in the festivities and also to invite me over to his house in Laguna Beach to watch the new season of Arrested Development. At this point I still had a few hung over stragglers in my apartment, so I told him I'd have to let him know and went back to watching Arrested Development with Jesse.
Eventually, Jesse left and I called Nate to tell him I was free for the rest of the day if the offer was still open.
"Come on over! I'm just hanging out. I'll text you my address."
"Sounds good. See you soon." I said hanging up the phone and hopping in the shower.
I brushed on a little make up, half dried my hair so it had a nice wave to it, but didn't look like I was trying too hard, and slipped on a pair of skinny black jeans and a striped top.
Perfectly casual I thought, slipping on flip-slops and grabbing my leather jacket in case it was cold that evening.
"I know you don't like vodka, and that's pretty much all I have." said Nate after he'd given me a tour of his apartment.
"No worries, I brought a bottle of wine." I said pulling it out of my purse. "Do you have glasses."
"Yep." he said reaching to take the bottle from me and opening it. "They are just behind you. Can you grab them."
"Sure." I said opening the door to the cabinet.
"How far along in Arrested are you?"
"Pretty far... It is so much funnier now that I live here. I can't stop watching it!"
"Want to watch some?"
"Of course! That's why I'm here. It has nothing to do with the company." I said with a wink over my shoulder as I led the way into the living room.
Dang it! I should have let him lead the way. Now I have to figure out where to sit. If I sit in the chair, that kind of says don't sit near me. But if I sit on the couch, maybe that says something too. Maybe this doesn't even matter and we really are just buddies who like the same TV shows...
"Ahhh... watching Mad Men?" I said sitting down on the couch.
"Yep. Nearly finished with the episode. Do you mind?" He said taking the chair.
"Nope. Not at all. I watched it this morning with the hung-over crowd. It's a good one."
Three episodes of Arrested Development later we decided it was time for dinner and walked down the street to a restaurant with a great outdoor patio overlooking the ocean.
"Let's walk down to that little view point first before we go in." Nate said motioning about 50 feet on down the sidewalk.
"Is that where you are going to kill me and toss my body into the ocean."
"I figured I'd let you eat first."
"That's nice of you." I said stepping into the gazebo set up at the view point. "Its so gorgeous here." I said as we took in the last of the sunset.
"Yeah. I try to walk down here and to the boardwalk everyday. If I don't I feel like I'm missing something."
"I know what you mean. If I don't at least see the ocean everyday I feel like I'm not taking advantage of where I live!" I said smiling up at him.
"Yeah..." he said, trailing off as an Indian couple walked into the gazebo. "Ready to head to the restaurant?"
"Sure." I said following him up the short path to the restaurant patio.
We ordered drinks and food and settled in under the heaters with the waves crashing down below.
"Are you warm enough?" he asked reaching over and rubbing my arm.
"Oh yeah. I'm fine. My jacket is warm, despite the run in with Wolverine." I said raising my arm to show him the tears in the fabric that were the result of an unfortunate fight I had with a moving walk-way in Vegas.
"How did that happen?" Nate asked wide-eyed.
"It was mostly karma biting me in the bum." I said launching into a story that makes me sound evil.
"You are horrible." he said with a laugh. "I hope I'm never in a wheel chair and depending on you for help!"
"I know! I know! I told you the story makes me sound like a horrible human!" I wailed.
We talked on about our families, how we ended up doing what we are doing, cities we love, wedding toasts we have given, worst jobs we've had, and the time just flew by.
"Not that I wasn't before, but I am even more intrigued by you after hearing all your stories." Nate said as we waited for the check.
"That is one of the most flattering things I've ever been told." I said smiling. He's either extremely honest, or extremely smooth, but regardless, that is extremely flattering.
"Let's go down to Nick's. They have a great Moscow Mule and I owe you one since I never met you for Happy Hour at the place in Santa Ana." He said standing up.
"Yes, you do! But I bet their Moscow Mule isn't as good as Chapter One's! A guy with a handlebar mustache makes it for there, and that makes all the difference!"
We headed down the boardwalk and kept chatting the whole way. There weren't any awkward pauses with us trying to fill the silence. It was easy, and fun.
Arriving at Nick's, Nate ordered us two Moscow Mules and we continued on the date that I wasn't initially sure was a date, but we pretty sure now it was since he bought my dinner.
An hour later we finished our Moscow Mules and decided to head back to his house since it was getting late and we both had to work the next day. Walking back along the virtually deserted boardwalk Nate pulled me to stop and turned to face me.
"I'm not sure this is the right place to do this, but... what the hell." he said putting one hand on my cheek and bending down to kiss me.
Yes... kissing me on the boardwalk in Laguna Beach is clearly the wrong place. If this is the wrong place, I'm not sure where the right place is? A canal in Venice? Under the Eiffel Tower? On the back of an elephant in India? Hmmmm... he's a pretty good kisser.
We continued to kiss on the boardwalk, his hands getting tangled in my hair, for a few more minutes. I could hear footsteps passing us on the boardwalk and a couple out walking their dog. It never occurred to me tone down our PDA, and I am not one for PDAs.
Eventually, we stopped kissing and continued our walk back to Nate's house hand in hand.
"Well... I'll see you later." I said digging in my purse for my car keys.
"Wait. You can't leave. We still have the final episode of Arrested Development to watch!"
"It's late... and you have to work early and so do I."
"It's one episode."
"I'm so sleepy though. I'll fall asleep."
"Come on. One more episode. You know you want to know what happens." Nate said pulling me gently toward the stairs.
"Ok. Fine. But if I fall asleep its your fault."
True to my word, I fell asleep and woke up to the Arrested Development theme song being played and my head resting on Nate's chest.
"I have to go home." I said softly to Nate who was also asleep.
"No you don't. Just sleep here." he muttered hugging me and kissing my forehead.
"I can't sleep here. I don't have pajamas. And I'm not sleeping in these jeans. They have like a million zippers." I said sitting up.
"OK... Fine... I"ll walk you out." Nate said standing up and stretching. "But you really can stay here. I'll sleep on the couch."
"That's a nice offer. But I need to go home." I said putting on my jacket.
Nate kissed me again as he opened my car door, and waved me out of his drive.
As I drove down PCH I wondered, Could I date him? Yes. I decided. I definitely could. Would he date me? Will this go anywhere? Or will it be like my other amazing date in Laguna that went no where fast?
Oh well.
That brief run-in spawned another round of flirty emails.
Here we go again. A lot of build up, and little to no follow through. I thought as I typed another coy line.
It was in one of these emails that I mentioned I was having people over for Memorial Day and he was welcomed to come.
He said thanks, but he would be in San Francisco most of the weekend.
So that was that.
Handsome.
Successful.
In my field, but not a direct competitor.
And, never gonna happen.
Dang it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As I headed back to my house on Sunday of of Memorial Day Weekend my phone rang. Glancing down, not recognizing the number, but being concerned that a work project wasn't going as planned, (nothing was on this project) I answered.
"Hello, this is Mackenzie."
"Wow. Someone is formal." said Nate with a laugh.
"Oh! Hey! This isn't your usual number... I thought you were going to be a guy from work calling to ruin my day by telling me something awful had happened on a project."
"Nope. I'm calling from my personal phone. I am just getting back to the OC and I was going to see if the party plans were still going."
"They are indeed. I'm on my way home right now to start drinking. The party will probably kick off in a few hours."
"Great! I'll try to come by. I'm supposed to hang out with a few friends."
"Well, they are welcomed to comes as well. The more the merrier!" I said hanging up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Around 10:30 that night Nate and his three friends showed up on my doorstep to a party that was going full force. We had made our way in from the beach and we were just setting up drinking Jenga and eating the last of the open bag of marshmallows. I had nearly given up that he was coming, despite his text messages to the contrary, so when he walked in, I was pleasantly surprised.
We spent the rest of the evening congregated in the kitchen alternatively sitting on bar stools, leaning against cabinets and perching on counters as our friends slowly mixed.
It was nice. And it never occurred to me to brush my beach bonfire wind blown hair, or change out of my sandy leggings and v-necked shirt.
Eventually, the party thinned out with people claiming couches, calling cabs, or staggering to the local bars. I hugged Nate, and told him to give me a call and we'd hang out again.
But once again I didn't really know whether or not expect his call.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Imagine my surprise when he called the next day to say thanks for including him and his friends in the festivities and also to invite me over to his house in Laguna Beach to watch the new season of Arrested Development. At this point I still had a few hung over stragglers in my apartment, so I told him I'd have to let him know and went back to watching Arrested Development with Jesse.
Eventually, Jesse left and I called Nate to tell him I was free for the rest of the day if the offer was still open.
"Come on over! I'm just hanging out. I'll text you my address."
"Sounds good. See you soon." I said hanging up the phone and hopping in the shower.
I brushed on a little make up, half dried my hair so it had a nice wave to it, but didn't look like I was trying too hard, and slipped on a pair of skinny black jeans and a striped top.
Perfectly casual I thought, slipping on flip-slops and grabbing my leather jacket in case it was cold that evening.
"I know you don't like vodka, and that's pretty much all I have." said Nate after he'd given me a tour of his apartment.
"No worries, I brought a bottle of wine." I said pulling it out of my purse. "Do you have glasses."
"Yep." he said reaching to take the bottle from me and opening it. "They are just behind you. Can you grab them."
"Sure." I said opening the door to the cabinet.
"How far along in Arrested are you?"
"Pretty far... It is so much funnier now that I live here. I can't stop watching it!"
"Want to watch some?"
"Of course! That's why I'm here. It has nothing to do with the company." I said with a wink over my shoulder as I led the way into the living room.
Dang it! I should have let him lead the way. Now I have to figure out where to sit. If I sit in the chair, that kind of says don't sit near me. But if I sit on the couch, maybe that says something too. Maybe this doesn't even matter and we really are just buddies who like the same TV shows...
"Ahhh... watching Mad Men?" I said sitting down on the couch.
"Yep. Nearly finished with the episode. Do you mind?" He said taking the chair.
"Nope. Not at all. I watched it this morning with the hung-over crowd. It's a good one."
Three episodes of Arrested Development later we decided it was time for dinner and walked down the street to a restaurant with a great outdoor patio overlooking the ocean.
"Let's walk down to that little view point first before we go in." Nate said motioning about 50 feet on down the sidewalk.
"Is that where you are going to kill me and toss my body into the ocean."
"I figured I'd let you eat first."
"That's nice of you." I said stepping into the gazebo set up at the view point. "Its so gorgeous here." I said as we took in the last of the sunset.
"Yeah. I try to walk down here and to the boardwalk everyday. If I don't I feel like I'm missing something."
"I know what you mean. If I don't at least see the ocean everyday I feel like I'm not taking advantage of where I live!" I said smiling up at him.
"Yeah..." he said, trailing off as an Indian couple walked into the gazebo. "Ready to head to the restaurant?"
"Sure." I said following him up the short path to the restaurant patio.
We ordered drinks and food and settled in under the heaters with the waves crashing down below.
"Are you warm enough?" he asked reaching over and rubbing my arm.
"Oh yeah. I'm fine. My jacket is warm, despite the run in with Wolverine." I said raising my arm to show him the tears in the fabric that were the result of an unfortunate fight I had with a moving walk-way in Vegas.
"How did that happen?" Nate asked wide-eyed.
"It was mostly karma biting me in the bum." I said launching into a story that makes me sound evil.
"You are horrible." he said with a laugh. "I hope I'm never in a wheel chair and depending on you for help!"
"I know! I know! I told you the story makes me sound like a horrible human!" I wailed.
We talked on about our families, how we ended up doing what we are doing, cities we love, wedding toasts we have given, worst jobs we've had, and the time just flew by.
"Not that I wasn't before, but I am even more intrigued by you after hearing all your stories." Nate said as we waited for the check.
"That is one of the most flattering things I've ever been told." I said smiling. He's either extremely honest, or extremely smooth, but regardless, that is extremely flattering.
"Let's go down to Nick's. They have a great Moscow Mule and I owe you one since I never met you for Happy Hour at the place in Santa Ana." He said standing up.
"Yes, you do! But I bet their Moscow Mule isn't as good as Chapter One's! A guy with a handlebar mustache makes it for there, and that makes all the difference!"
We headed down the boardwalk and kept chatting the whole way. There weren't any awkward pauses with us trying to fill the silence. It was easy, and fun.
Arriving at Nick's, Nate ordered us two Moscow Mules and we continued on the date that I wasn't initially sure was a date, but we pretty sure now it was since he bought my dinner.
An hour later we finished our Moscow Mules and decided to head back to his house since it was getting late and we both had to work the next day. Walking back along the virtually deserted boardwalk Nate pulled me to stop and turned to face me.
"I'm not sure this is the right place to do this, but... what the hell." he said putting one hand on my cheek and bending down to kiss me.
Yes... kissing me on the boardwalk in Laguna Beach is clearly the wrong place. If this is the wrong place, I'm not sure where the right place is? A canal in Venice? Under the Eiffel Tower? On the back of an elephant in India? Hmmmm... he's a pretty good kisser.
We continued to kiss on the boardwalk, his hands getting tangled in my hair, for a few more minutes. I could hear footsteps passing us on the boardwalk and a couple out walking their dog. It never occurred to me tone down our PDA, and I am not one for PDAs.
Eventually, we stopped kissing and continued our walk back to Nate's house hand in hand.
"Well... I'll see you later." I said digging in my purse for my car keys.
"Wait. You can't leave. We still have the final episode of Arrested Development to watch!"
"It's late... and you have to work early and so do I."
"It's one episode."
"I'm so sleepy though. I'll fall asleep."
"Come on. One more episode. You know you want to know what happens." Nate said pulling me gently toward the stairs.
"Ok. Fine. But if I fall asleep its your fault."
True to my word, I fell asleep and woke up to the Arrested Development theme song being played and my head resting on Nate's chest.
"I have to go home." I said softly to Nate who was also asleep.
"No you don't. Just sleep here." he muttered hugging me and kissing my forehead.
"I can't sleep here. I don't have pajamas. And I'm not sleeping in these jeans. They have like a million zippers." I said sitting up.
"OK... Fine... I"ll walk you out." Nate said standing up and stretching. "But you really can stay here. I'll sleep on the couch."
"That's a nice offer. But I need to go home." I said putting on my jacket.
Nate kissed me again as he opened my car door, and waved me out of his drive.
As I drove down PCH I wondered, Could I date him? Yes. I decided. I definitely could. Would he date me? Will this go anywhere? Or will it be like my other amazing date in Laguna that went no where fast?
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