The cinema is a pretty stupid place to go on a first date. Especially when you've never met the person you're dating before. I suppose I knew this already, but I needed some kind of a break from the relentless drinking and eating that has come along with this week's dating activity (I have still managed to lose three pounds in weight despite this) and I suppose if I am doing a dating experiment I need to actually try things out to see if my preconceptions are true.
But the cinema just got in the way. We'd had a good hour chatting and getting to know each other and then we had to sit in a dark room and keep as quiet as we could. Given the fact that I was pretty exhausted already (I hate to think how I am going to be feeling in a month), this also had the effect of taking the wind out of my sails a bit.
After it was over we went to a bar and it took as a while to get back into the swing of things. I felt a clammy sweat on my forehead, that had come from too much booze in my system in a week. I felt a bit awkward, like I had let my date down a little bit. The film had also affected our mood a bit (it was the new Charlie Kaufman one which leaves you a lot to think about, not least the horrible way that romance can decline) and we were both trying to work out what exactly had happened in it and what it was meant to mean.
After a few minutes though, the nervousness went and the conversation returned and although I was conscious that I might have short-changed my date, because of my tiredness, I think she ended up having had an enjoyable night.
It has been a fascinating first week of dates and though looking too far into the future makes me feel a bit sick, if I do like I did in the Marathon and just think a short distance ahead and concentrate on my next immediate goal then I think I should get through it OK.
But then I have got on with everyone so far. The law of averages says I have to meet someone who I am not going to get on with. But what turns out to be quite cool about this idea is that it doesn't really matter. It's only a few hours in their company. And I suppose that's when suddenly deciding that we should go to the cinema might be my salvation.
