Return to sender

I don't write about every date I go on (not that there are that many to be discussed); I prefer saving those stories to share with my friends over a few margaritas. This last run-in with "the boy," however, I think bears mentioning. We got off to a bit of a rocky start when, after hanging out briefly, he didn't call. I mentioned it to a friend of mine who worked with a friend of his and I heard from him shortly thereafter. Were it not for the fact that he had supposedly mentioned to the friend that he was in a state of limbo, but was very interested in me I probably would've written him off an refused to go. We decided to meet for sushi. Minutes before I entered the restaurant I received a text from another friend who thought it might be funny to declare his love for me via text message. It wasn't. I know it might come as a surprise, being a self-declared spinster and all, but I'm not always quick to warm up to strangers. Things went well. He was cute, funny, smart. I thought it went fine. And then I didn't hear from him for a week. It wasn't until I sent an e-mail saying something to the effect of, "If I'd known you weren't going to call, I would've at least copped a cheap feel. Or something," that he was prompted to call back. We had an even better second date. We made plans to hang out again, but he "forgot" me in favor of getting new tires for his car. We made plans to meet out later and he couldn't understand why I was giving him the stink eye. He left to take home some friends and said he would call me the next morning. He didn't. He didn't call again for a week at which time he met me out after dinner with a friend. My friend was parked several blocks away, so I said that we would walk to her car and that I would give him a call later. As we were approaching our car, he pulled in and said, "I'll be back in a minute," as he ran around the corner to talk to his friend outside of the local strip club. After waiting several minutes, I was kind of disgusted with myself for waiting that long and we headed home. I called him. He said he'd call me back when he was finished talking to his friend, and you guessed it -- he never called. He called seconds within receiving a text message from me to explain what had happened. So this is where I find myself. Thinking about what I want in a relationship and what I need in a man. I have enough people in my life who want to be there. I'm blessed with great friends. I don't have time to chase people who don't want to be part of it. And looking back on it all, I'm more offended that he never tried to cop feel than the fact that he didn't want to spend time with me. I think next time I go out with someone with whom I'm solidly on the fence about, I'm just going to skip to the "good stuff." Traditional gender roles be damned. Spinster girls need love, too.