The Arcade

I spot Comic Book Guy from a few yards away. He's facing the other direction where he thinks I'll be coming from and I have a moment to look at him. "Huh," I think. "He's taller than I expected, and thinner." I think the photos of him on the website are a few years old, but they're still incredibly accurate. Comic Book Guy: Glasses, sandy brown hair, goatee, gangly kind of build, and wearing a faded long-sleeved t-shirt the sleeves of which are a bit too short and come an inch short of his wrists. Now, I know we're meeting in an arcade, but would it have killed him to wear a decent shirt?

Me: Hi.
Him: Hi. It's nice to meet you.
He shakes my hand. (Really? Really?)

Then it's onto the games, which are a good thing as they're both something to talk about and a partial distraction. We work our way up to two games of air hockey and I totally whip him both times, then it's two games of pool where I lose both, so it all evens out. By then, I'm dying for a drink so we shift gears and take a break at the picnic tables.

By now he's comfortable enough with me to actually start talking. He tells me funny stories about his siblings, about his niece (she's 6 and he adores her), and, above all, cars. Once again, my brother comes in handy because I can talk about his cars (a '52 DeSoto and '72 El Camino). But, Comic Book Guy is still awkward enough that he doesn't look at me much, even though we're sitting at the table across from each other. He looks to the left, he looks to the right, he looks at his lemonade...

From there, we start walking around the nearby park and past the shops. By now he's downright chatty. Eventually, four hours have passed and some weather's moving in and I say I'd best be heading home. He shakes my hand again and there's a half-way hug thing, then he walks me to my car a few blocks away. At my car there's an actual hug and then I'm on the road, calling Amanda.

Amanda: So, what'd you think?
Me: He's pretty much what I thought he'd be. Nice, smart, but kind of... timid.
Amanda: Yeah, that's him. Do you like him?
Me: I don't know yet. I mean, I like him fine, but do I like him enough to want to kiss him? I don't know.
Amanda: *frustrated sound* It takes you so long to decide. I always knew right away.
Me: If I had to say, right now, gut-reaction, I'd say probably not. But, I don't know. I like him enough to know him a little better before I decide. So, we'll see.