A super wholesome first date experience

**Found this while going through my old journal. Felt like sharing :)**

This was my first ever legit date experience. Where should I begin with? Well, S asked me if we could meet. Lowkey, I had been wanting for him to ask me out for some time. I was tad-bit nervous, but excited the night before we met. He said he would come to pick me up and this was the first time someone had ever asked me that. Chivalry isn’t dead after all! Moreover, his home is quite a bit far from mine so it was really sweet of him to make such an effort. I complied.

The next day, around 10:15 a.m., was waiting for him near a bridge for some time. Albeit I was anxious that morning, I was somehow nonchalant about the whole thing when I was waiting for him. He arrived shortly after and we headed towards a cafe at Bouddha. We had small talks in the beginning, but it was not particularly awkward. As we both lacked proper road navigation skills, most of our talks on the way to the cafe were based on finding the route.

Reached there, and had such a wholesome breakfast. All the while we talked about super random stuff: societal pressure that cements the career bubble in the East, Instagram-pushed ads, scanty sun in the West, to navigating friendships and family relationships at this stage of life. He has OCD as I do; he kept his glass in the perfect order as I would. We both are not into petting animals; we both don’t hate them either. It was the first time I met someone with whom I didn’t have to feel dorky about just ignoring the dog lying in front of me. He showed me the pictures I took that he saved in his gallery bc apparently he finds them aesthetic. What an emotionally secure person!

We stayed there for a while and I don’t particularly remember but one of us asked if we could stroll around Bouddha. It was quite sunny during that time so we dropped the idea. Parking around the area would be a hassle too. So S suggested that if I had some free time, we could go to Shivapuri and so we did! For some reason, it just felt safe to hang out with him. He was polite, soft-spoken, and most importantly, respectful.

On our way, he asked me if I’d like to listen to a song and also admitted that he was thinking of playing Fluorescent Adolescent when I entered the car but it ran out of his mind earlier. Apparently, I recommended him that song quite some time ago and he associates it with me. I don’t know what to make out of it bc I am oblivious to how he interpreted the lyrics. I find the song quite sexy tho. So, the first song we played was obviously Fluorescent Adolescent. Then he shared with me the songs he likes and added that he doesn’t share his playlist with just anyone. Of course, it made me feel special.

Now, imagine a movie scene where a boy and a girl go on a date at a hill and talk about all the deep stuffs: meaning of existence, universe, yada yada while staring at the horizon and having the lush green jungle as their backdrop. Yes, we were having that moment! It was all so peaceful: birds chirping, and whirling wind in the background. In addition, I guess S’s calmness rubbed off on me. We both were super glad that we escaped Kathmandu’s dust at least for a while. While talking to S was easy, sharing silence was not awkward either. He even quoted a “comfortable silence” scene from Pulp Fiction later. At that time, I guess we both were romanticizing life a lil bit.

It started drizzling, so we went back to the resort. Stayed there for a while sipping Hot Lemon bc we both had caught a cold. A cat came out of nowhere and sat beside me. Neither of us was willing to pet it and we both tacitly understood each other. We then talked about what the mutual people we know would make out of our situation, S trying to quit smoking, me trying to quit drinking altogether etc etc. It was already past 3:30 by then, so we decided to leave the place.

On our way back, we started playing songs again. But this time, he handed me his phone and asked me to play whichever song I like. I meannnnn c’mon! That was super considerate of him. We mostly talked about dark academia, childhood nostalgia, and other random stuff. On one stance, when I was trying to take a video of a curvy road along the way, he pulled over for some time to let a bike pass just so I could take the perfect shot. I couldn’t manage to do it but the gesture made me admire him all the more!

His home was on the way so I told him that I’d take a cab from there. “No, I’ll drop you off,” he said and added that it’s not everyday we get to spend a day like this. I was totally flattered but simultaneously concerned that he had been getting calls from his home since an hour ago and it’d be a long ride back for him. “I wouldn’t ask you to pick me up in the morning as well if we were going to Jhamsikhel, it’s too far from here,” I said, to which he replied, “I wouldn’t mind, far bhaye ne lina aauthyee.” At this point, it’s even needless to repeat that he’s really kind.

He asked me where should he drop me off. “Timi lai jata comfortable huncha, ma teyi drop gardinchu.” Ideally, I would have departed near the bridge bc HELLLLOOOO as a brown girl, one always has to be careful in order to avoid gossip in the neighborhood but my urinary bladder was already about to burst at that time; soooo needed to pee as I stupidly drank tons of water earlier. So, I told him to drop me off in front of my gate. We hugged and departed.

All the while, I never got any butterflies. One of my friends says that getting butterflies is a bad sign anyway when you’re dating someone. Maybe it has to do with comfort level. With S, I didn’t have to mask anything. S’s energy was comforting: I could just be my unfiltered self. And I hope I allowed him the space to be his authentic self as well. I am not sure what the future holds for this friendship but I cherish every moment we spent together yesterday! This was the best thing to have happened to me in a while. I am glad that I was back on Instagram right on time and super glad that his flight got postponed.

\~*The only caveat was a neighbor saw us hugging who I am sure is likely to fill my dad up with the gossip. But later, I realized that probably dad saw us hugging too, which I find really awkward. Nonetheless, he has been acting normal, so I just hope he won’t ever bring it up.*

View on r/Nepal by septemburrito