Merlot Man

Merlot Man

Sitting down in this quaint little restaurant that I had never been, I sat anxiously waiting for my date’s arrival. First dates always are a little nerve-wracking, but especially more for someone with an overactive mind. His profile read: Actively in the gym, loves walks in nature, and a good glass of Merlot to end my nights while reading and learning something new… and LOVES ANIMALS. Well, I am too (trying) to be active in the gym, I too love nature walks when the sun is shining, and I love my cats. Thinking to myself a wine guy sounds pretty good, I am used to the hard type… Whiskey on the rocks please or I’ll just get a beer, when they order this I tend to launch myself into the future of domestics or a beer belies, but then again that is just off of my experiences in the world of alcohol and men. A Merlot man I like the sound of that! So I presumably order us both a glass of their finest Merlot, I figure go big or go home this could be the one finally!

It is now 7:20 pm and I look at my phone, there is no text alerting me that he was neither running late nor an apology for his tardiness. I am now just about done with my glass of fine red and now contemplating making my way to his glass, I feel I may be in need of some more liquid courage to face the fact I may be getting ditched on this fine night in this cute little Italian restaurant that just speaks romance. So I grab his glass and start to go to town. It is now 7:30 pm, and I am at the last sip of my second glass or what was supposed to be his glass, when I see a tall and dirty blonde haired man with piercing blue eyes approach my side. He bends down to give me a quick half a hug in the midst of a quick apology of why he was late. He sits down looks at the two glasses tries to act like he is not judging my over indulgence in attempts to ease my wait, although I do see some concern in his eyes. How can he judge me when I have waited here for some lame excuse of how his car was blocked in when texting only takes 2 seconds?

So I ask my date “would you like a glass of Merlot?” and to his response “no thank you I am more of a beer guy.” Well, that is certainly not what his profile said and now I am starting to wonder if he is any of the things he claimed to be or am I sitting here in front Fraternity boy number 20. I decide to stick to a classy glass of Merlot, one because it is my favorite, two because mixing could be the death of me, and three because it seems to be keeping me calm in this not so enjoyable moment. So the waiter then comes for his fourth time and asks what he would like to drink. He states, “ah get me the darkest beer you got oh and a whiskey on the rocks please.” As he said that I cringed, well at least he said please. I then went to ask him “I thought your profile said you loved wine?” he replied with, “oh that thing? My roommates came up with it thought it would help me get more dates.” Well at least he was honest however clearly not the person I thought I would be on a date with.

To keep the almost stale conversation going I asked him what sort of things he likes to read/learn about. He then went into a long conversation about how he reads the stocks every day and some funny college newspaper from his school and in detail of the funny yet horrific stories that are captured on campus. He went on and on of all the super cool things his Fraternity does like hold parties and competitions of who can drink the keg the fastest and how many drunk people’s faces can they draw on with sharpie a night. As he went on and on with his drunk and partying stories I looked through my wine glass half full which sort of distorted his face, the first genuine laugh I gave myself this evening.

I drifted away through that glass with the distorted view of my “date”, and suddenly the man in front me was a whole new man. He was clean-cut, hair appropriately groomed, sophisticated glasses, a sweet sincere smile that made its way all the way up to his eyes. This man spoke of beautiful travel stories, intellectual books read by his fireplace in his own home with a glass of Merlot with his golden retriever by his side and his cat in lap. He asked me my interests, what I am passionate about, places I would like to discover, and most important what have I recently discovered about myself.

Looking through that glass half full of Merlot I responded I recently discovered that I deserve more stimulation, compassion, effort, and opportunities than I have been receiving, he looked at me and said well then get what you deserve and leave anything that does not offer that. Looking at this figment of my perfect man, I quickly chugged the last of that magical Merlot not to waste any more time somewhere with someone who I didn’t belong with and decided to follow my heart, with thanks to the man in the Merlot. I walked away from that going nowhere date and decided from now on I would not settle for anything less than I wanted or deserved.