We have nicknamed the gentleman that this post is about “lunch guy” because all I really got from him was a lunch date and a whole load of lies. But to get a better understanding of “lunch guy” we must start from the very beginning.
About two years ago or more I was on Plenty of Fish and had spoken to lunch guy a few times. He ended up adding me to Facebook and we must have made plans to meet at some point which obviously fell through. Regardless, at the time I started dating somebody else so I don’t recall the exact reason why me and lunch guy never met up but we just didn’t work out.
Three weeks ago I was spending a lazy Sunday at home wasting endless hours on Facebook when I got a message on Facebook Chat from lunch guy. We started trying to figure out how we knew each other. After about four hours of talking back and forth, I felt like we had the BEST conversation and really were hitting it off. We talked about everything, laughed, I enjoyed his humour. He told me he was a brand manager for a company and he got to see many cool things like hockey games as well as tickets and a flight to the Superbowl. That all sounded very exciting and after a while we exchanged phone numbers. Funny enough, I have had the same contacts on my phone for ten years because I happened to have his phone number already. Neither one of us could exactly remember why we didn’t pursue going on a date but if we got to the point of exchanging phone numbers we may have.
Regardless, two days later he took a cab over to my work and met me for lunch. He was a true gentleman. It was raining a bit so he held his umbrella over me, had his arm around my waist and took me to a very nice restaurant, nice than I expected for lunch. He had a witty sense of humour, joked with the hostess and waiter and said a few things that actually made me laugh out loud. I will not lie, I was impressed. He was six years older than me, owned his own place (seems to be rare for guys in their 30s around here) and seemed to have a pretty successful career. He held my hand across the table which was pretty cutesy and he gave me a peck on the cheek when I returned to work.
I went to work with a big smile on my face and constantly kept wondering why he had been sitting there in my friend’s list for so long and I never ever noticed him before or wondered why we didn’t talk.
That week it seemed we both had already made previous plans so we were unable to see each other. The conversation kept going back and forth. He made it clear that he was extremely busy with work and usually worked 7 days a week and sometimes until late hours of the night. I have different views on this. Although I enjoy working, I truly believe one must work to live and not live to work. Regardless, since he made the time to see me during our lunch, I figured he would put in that same effort on a second date and so on.
He went away for that weekend and was completely MIA. No text messages back or phone calls and I figured he was just busy. Then Sunday I finally receive a text from him saying he’s had a crazy weekend away for work and he would tell me everything over lunch later that week. We planned for lunch on a Friday…after he was leaving the following weekend for the Superbowl. He messaged me saying that he had to catch his plane and was unable to make it to lunch. Okay so I got over it, I realize it was kind of a big deal why he cancelled an moved on with my life.
Again; another weekend of MIA but then some sporadic messages saying how he just really liked me, saw himself dating me for the long run and that we had great chemistry. I don’t really fall for these words at this moment and I think it’s impossible to feel all this after a 45 minute lunch date. Regardless, I appreciated the effort.
I was given promises that when he came back he would make it up to me by taking me on a real dinner date. But I somehow had a weird gut feeling about him. He would try to squeeze me in during lunches but dinners seemed to require much planning. In the evenings he would usually not answer his phone or messages and then send me a random one here and there. I felt like he may not only be busy with work but also maybe be in a relationship?
As we were finalizing plans for our dinner date and he was almost upgrading his nickname from lunch to dinner guy. He told me that after dinner maybe we could hang out for a bit. I said, sure that’s a good idea and figured since he mentioned his place a few times that maybe I could check it out. Before I suggested his place, I had a funny feeling that an excuse would come up as to why we shouldn’t go there.
He told me that his sister works close to his place and sometimes works late so she often crashes at his place. This is why going there would’ve been a bad idea. I questioned him on this because his sister seemed to be married with a husband and a two year old baby. I’m not a mother myself but I figure that a new mother would want to make it home every night to at least see her baby, especially when living in the same city.
Regardless, I told him it sounded odd to me but sure moving on. He said I had no reason to be doubtful and to trust him on this. He called me from his work and assured me that he is not lying about whatever life he is living. I expressed that there were no hard feelings but I really could not get involved if he was already with someone or even living with them. His phone called was assuring. Regardless, I didn’t really care what the outcome of it was, more like something to do?
Later that day I get a message that says “You’re going to kill me but I may not be able to do dinner, I may have to work late” I replied “Don’t worry about it” and that was the end of that. I got several other messages saying that he would try his best and so on. We were supposed to meet at 5:30, anyways the whole evening came and went and he never even gave me a text or a phone call. I went home right after work and didn’t even try to contact him because I was clearly done with him and his lame excuses and pathetic lies.
The next morning I receive a text that says “Hey are you mad at me for last night.” Clearly I ignored it, then I received another one saying “I’m sorry but I really tried.” I tried my best to ignore him but the messages just would not stop. The last thing I wanted to do was let him think I was busy or something and that I was fine with being cancelled or disappointed. So I messaged him back and told him that I did not think it was a good idea for us to see each other. I needed someone who was available for me and who would be willing to do things with me. Not someone who has to pencil me in and cancel on me because they are obsessed with their job, or worse in a serious relationship. He told me that he felt I was making a huge mistake and that he cared about me and really liked me and that he had a gut feeling we could be something great.
My favourite thing is when he said “Sometimes in love things dont go the way you wan them to but it’s never that easy and you have to be patient and try. I am upset that you are not fighting for this and are giving up so easily”
EXCUSE ME? Since when are we talking about “love” here. And also, I explained that I would fight and not give up in a relationship with someone that had put the time into being with me, who fights for someone after a second date and a series of disappointments!
Regardless, I told him that mistake or not I guess if I eventually feel like I made a mistake, it would be my problem to deal with and my loss. It’s really too bad that in some cases the bird dance lasts a few months or a few years but at least in this case the bird dance lasted a lunch date and then two weeks of lying and pretending to be in a relationship and that we should “fight for it.”
In the end, I fought for what I believed in and that is what’s important.
I believed that I am worth somebody’s time, I am worth being important and a number one priority. And I am worth having someone want to learn about me and what makes me different or unique. I also am worth someone fighting for me through actions and not words. Showing up and taking me somewhere, or out to lunch. Not once, but a few times and showing me a great time and that, just maybe might make me fight for them and make me realize that they are worth fighting for.
Tags: 30s, dates, dating, deceiving, disappointment, double life, Facebook, lunch date, lunch guy, lying, messaging, nice lunch, online dating, plenty of fish, stood up