Jaleo

Tonight, about ten of us took Fee out for her birthday. And we took her to a tapas restaurant in Bethesda called Jaleo . This was the second time I’ve been to Jaleo, and enjoyed it greatly. They make the absolute BEST sangria. I’m guessing the group had about 6 pitchers or so. My favorite tapas is still the one which has endive stuffed with goat cheese, orange sections and almond slivers. So easy, but so good!
All was fine until one of us started to “act up”. Donte, who has very similar mannerisms to Dave Chappelle, decided to LOUDLY act out those mannerisms. Yes, he was hilarious, but yes he was loud. I’d even go as far as to say he was disturbing some of the other guests in the restaurant. I was so embarrassed when the manager had to come over to ask him to keep it down. Donte’s response? “I was about to throw up until I saw your backside”. OMG, can speaking to someone that way EVER work? Ummm no.
Well, I’ve learned this before, but apparently I didn’t learn it enough. When going out to eat in a group, get a separate bill. I ended up paying more than what most of the rest of the group paid per person. UGH!!! One of these days, I swear!
So, our waitress was a really nice, tall girl, named Leslie. She was really cute, and the rest of the crew kept telling me that it seemed like she was flirting with me. So, I kept it cool, and kept feeling her out. I realized how stupid I was when I asked her how tall she is (she’s 5’11” barefoot, or 5’13” — her words — in shoes). So, I asked her if she normally goes after shorter guys or taller guys, and she responded that her ex-boyfriend was taller than her, but she doesn’t really have a height-type requirement. She did say that most of her boyfriends were about yea tall (hand between eyes and nose), though.
I didn’t catch it at the time, but my friends pointed out that she did say her “ex-boyfriend”… They even ventured enough to suggest that it was a hint that she was available. Well, I kept chatting, and kept trying to feel her out, and couldn’t get anything more than “she’s nice”. But I had to know, I had to try. So, when the bill had been settled, I walked the signed receipts and pens over to her and somehow asked if I could have her number that we might go out sometime. I’m sure I was stammering and looking away, and I felt like a kid in school again. Well… she smiled at me and …
… and she said that she was sorry, but she was seeing someone at the moment. Yep, I got shot down.
Well, what do you normally do then? Well, I just said something to the effect that I couldn’t go without asking and that I would kick myself for not trying. And she was so nice, and just said something to the effect that if you don’t ask, you’ll never know.
Well, that’s my first attempt at finding a date since March. And even though I got shot down, I don’t feel down about myself. In fact, I feel better about myself. Too many times in the past, I simply would not have asked. And I would have wondered for a little, and then forgot about it.
But, even after feeling so terrible about everything, and especially aobut myself a few months ago, I have indeed begun to rebound. The healing continues, and I’m actually excited and relatively optimistic. Me, optimistic? Who’d have thunk that? Things are looking up, and my patience, and being one of the good guys will eventually pay off. I know it will!