I bite my lip. He catches my eye and smiles. We’ve moved on to what brings Charlie to Edinburgh and I cannot stop staring at his full lips as he talks.
‘I had a bit of a crisis a couple of years ago. I’d fallen into a job after uni and it was fine, it paid the bills, but it didn’t make me happy. Deep down I knew that I should be brave and make a change, but it was scary and for a while I just buried my head in the sand. Then I got offered a promotion at work and that should have felt great, but it didn’t. I remember sitting in the office with my boss and thinking, “This is actually my career now.” I quit there and then, applied for some architecture courses and here I am. It’s strange, being a student again. My savings have taken a huge battering and a buy-one-get-one free pizza is now a sophisticated night out. I’m the oldest on the course by far and one of the students confused me for a lecturer in our first year.’
‘Youdo have a kind of sexy lecturer look about you,’ I muse.
‘A sexy lecturer, huh? Maybe you’ll let me teach you a thing or two. . .’
When did it get so hot in here? I pull my hair into a ponytail and let it fall back around my neck.
‘So you’re happy now?’ I eventually recover.
‘Absolutely. I wouldn’t change it for the world. Even though my future’s still uncertain, I wake up every day knowing that I’m going in the right direction.’
‘You’re really brave.’
He looks down, spinning around his beer mat, before meeting my eyes again.
‘Brave, stupid, who knows. All I know is, I feel better for taking the risk than I would for staying in my comfort zone.’
I kissed a boy and I liked it! Charlie insisted on dropping me off at my b&b and I didn’t want the night to end. Suddenly a surge of sass took over and I was drawing him close using the belt hooks of his jeans until our bodies were pressed right up against each other. He took his glasses off and pushed his hair back from his face and BAM, I had to kiss him. We stayed like that for so long thatthreeseparate hen dos stopped to cheer at us as they danced their way past. It was delicious. When we finally stopped kissing and I looked him in the eyes, I thought,this is enough.
I’d had such a fun evening and Charlie was a gorgeous, open, honest, interesting date, but for the first time in forever I wasn’t desperately thinking about how we could make it work, or when I’d see him again, or in fact anything to do with the future. I was just happy to be.
Charliethe Courageous was lovely. AND WE KISSED! We’re leaving it there, because #longdistance, but I had the best weekend. I think I’ve developed a thing for hot geeks? Getting away has been an eye opener in more ways than one. New type on paper score: 6/7
OMG PROUD. OF. YOU.
