A Rejected Kiss

Capri Pants and I went to a museum to look at some art. I picked her up at her place. I greeted her with a kiss on the cheek and a hug. The museum was fun. We traded quick comments back and forth as we looked at things. The sound of her heels *clopping* on the museum floor really turned me on for some reason.

Afterward I decided that we needed to get some dinner. I found an Italian restaurant and we ate there. The conversation wasn't as smooth as it could have been. I am really afraid of running out of things to talk with her about. She's really shy and doesn't open up very easily. I suppose the screaming kid at the next table didn't help the situation too much. At the end she insisted on paying for her meal. The whole dinner wasn't as terrible as it sounds though. It went all right. I'd give it a "B."

As I am driving her home, we start talking about her artwork. I say, "You need to show me your artwork sometime." As I'm pulling into her parking lot, she invites me up to her place to show me her art. That's a sign of intrest!

I go up with her and she shows me around. We talk about her paintings for a bit. Then we end up sitting on her couch. She shows me a magazine article and I pull her close to me so we can both look at it. I leave my hand on her waist.

When we're done with the magazine, I put it down. Our eyes lock. I think to myself, "I need to kiss her. I have to take the lead." I am terrified, but I keep thinking of all the high intrest things that she did--giving me her phone number, returning my calls, inviting me up to her place. I pull her in to kiss her on the lips. I feel her body tense up and become rigid. She says, "I'm sorry..." and turns her head so I only kiss her cheek.

The awkward moment quickly fades back into some light conversation. I take my hand off her waist. In the back of my mind, I'm thinking "I must have grossly mis-read this situation. What do I do now? I should probably leave as soon as possible."

I get up to use the bathroom. It is impeccably clean and stylish--just like the rest of her place. When I come out. She has moved to the dining room and has turned on some upbeat jazz music. We chat for a bit more. Then I say, "Well, I need to be going."

She insists on walking me to my car. She gives me a hug good bye. I hug her, but choose not to kiss her on the cheek. I say good bye without any reference to seeing her again. As I'm driving away, she is waving at me.

I am confused for the rest of the day. She gave me her number...we went out a few times...she invited me up to her place...what did she think I was going to do?!? I'm going to do what a man does and try to escalate things! Good grief!

----------------------------------------------------

The next day, Capri Pants calls me. I aswer the phone.

"Hi, Capri Pants."
"Hi Kaizen. How are you?"
"Good. I just got back from the store. I got some art supplies and I'm about paint something."
"That's nice. Um...about last night. I'm sorry. I guess I just don't feel like I know you well enough yet."
"I understand. You can't blame a guy for trying, though. So what are you up to today?"
"I'm about to go into work. My two hour break is just about over."
"Hmm...work. Well, I'll let you go then."
"Okay."
"Don't have too much fun at work."
She giggles, "Okay. I'll try. Have fun painting."
"Talk to you later, Capri Pants."
"Good bye."

And that is where things stand. I wish I had added something like, "Thanks for calling me, by the way. I'm sure that took a lot of courage." Oh well, we can't think of everything on the spot.

Maybe she doesn't know me well enough. Who knows. It's not my job to figure out why. All I know is "I don't know you well enough" was the best reason she could come up with after she had a day to think about why she didn't kiss me. I'm going to take her call as a sign of high interest and continue to persue this.

We'll see where things go from here...