Stranger encounters of the Close kind

AAt the local Meet Market, they were making the single mingle. In a local pub somewhere north of St. Clair on Yonge @ 7PM, one Thursday evening.

And this is the story of how a Guy meets Girl at these speed dating events. First everybody gets name tags. They circulate. Chat. Wear their eyes out looking all around. Right after Girls are asked to sit at numbered tables. Guys are then told to rotate ten tables based on their alphabets. A goes to table 1, B to table 2. Five minutes with each person. And then clockwise to the next table. Until they reach the tenth and last woman in waiting ... Organizers watch the clock. And ring the bell for the next round.

This really happened. At my second table. In the pages of my unblemished past when I lived as an Urban Monk. Living in the world I had renounced. Celibate. and ready to share an opinion with a stranger for the chance of keeping my distance without leaving them behind ....

He "So tell me something about myself"
She "But I just met you"
He "Yes, and you were hoping for somebody else weren't you?"
She ... looks at me, looks away, laughs nervously
He ... waits
She "Okay, I get it ... you're here to meet people. So am I. is this your first time"
He "Doesn't matter. I know why you came here though"
She "Why?"
He "Because you were sure that you wouldn't know anybody else here"
She "What makes you say that?"
He "Speed dating is marketed at people who'd rather go shopping than hunting"
She "Hahaha that's funny. I do like shopping aisles ....
She ... but seriously it's a numbers game isn't it. In an hour you get to meet ten people ... "
He "But you're not getting ten choices are you? ...

She ... "Umm yes, You get to rate each person. They get to do the same. Yes it's only if we have a match we get a choice"

She smiles wryly ... "You're right"

She "So what are our chances then?
He "It all depends on what the other person remembers ... after this is all over ..."
She nods and smiles in agreement ... "How do we make sure the person we really want remembers us?"
He "Well if you package yourself right, the shopper will check out the merchandise ..."

He "But really selling relationships is not your thing is it ..."
She blushes ... but remembers to smile "Why do you say that?"
He "Because what a person is willing to talk about tells you the kind of risks they will take you know ..."
She "Really? What makes you think it's that easy?"

He "Bah forget all this philosophical theories ... let's do a test you and me, and see if I know what I'm talking about" ...
He "If I tell you which of the ten guys here is going to be your #1 choice, will you be willing to buy me a drink?"
She giggles ...
He "Okay write the name of the person down on your slip, and I'll write the name on my slip"
She nods looks at me sees me watching her unblinkingly ... breaks eye contact, nervously looks around ... writes
He looks at her ... when she's finished he writes on his paper ... they exchange papers.

She gasps "But how?"
He " ... but first the drink no?"
She "Okay now?"
He "No after, I'll go up to the bar, point at you, and you can nod yes ... that way you can continue to stay here"
She "Sure, okay tell me"

He "When a woman is attracted to a guy, she tries to make eye contact yes?"
She "I guess ...." He waits and then gives a knowing grin. She's nervous now "Yes"

She "Okay but I didn't try to make eye contact"

He "Well, the second thing a woman does when they're attracted is to figure out how to make the first move yes?"
She gasps ... "I don't know"
He "You know what's the first thing I did when they told us we'd be doing the rounds?" She "What?"
He "I figured out who'd be my first, second, third ... etc"
She "Why?"
He "That way I can give myself a minute to check the other person out before I make my way over"

She "And ..."
He "If I'm their first choice they'd be sure to make eye contact, because they automatically look around for the guy they were interested in the first place to see if they're next"

She "How can you be sure of that?"
He "Like I said ... eye contact" grins
She "That was it ... you looked at who I was looking at and you figured it out"
He "No, I couldn't see who you were looking for ... as people were milling around"
She "Then how"
He "my initial questions, they unsettled you ... you looked away ... you looked for him again"
She "No, I did not ..."
He "Not consciously but you couldn't resist seeing who he ended up with ...."
She shakes head kind of ruefully "Hey you seem to know a lot about women"
He "Not in general no, but if you had been interested in me I could have told you a lot about you" grins
She "I'm not so sure you are interested in me either ... but hey return the favor who are you interested in?"

He "Do you really want to buy me another drink?"