Well, we went out late that night.

First dates always start the same. Nervous anticipation, that butterfly effect flapping in the belly at full throttle. Racing heart. Too much smiling. Not enough eating. Laughing to fill any silent spots of conversation.

First dates typically begin with dinner. Usually "neat" food is ordered so as not to spill, stain or make a slip up with table manners. Beverages are sipped, napkins are folded on laps, knives and forks are used by correct hands. Discussion ranges from careers to family, but doesn't veer into the nitty gritty - like the crazy uncle who shows up on weekends with his own cooler of beer and spends most of his visit on the phone with his bookie. Quick trips are made to the bathroom for continuous breath, make-up and teeth checks. 

The next phase of the first date is often a movie. In the darkened theater, both parties pretend to watch the actors on screen, but instead spend 90-plus minutes over analyzing every moment of dinner conversation or are thinking ahead to what might happen after the movie's end credits roll. Elbows bump. Fingers brush against fingers in the popcorn bucket. Soft laughter and stolen glances are shared. 

Maybe there's coffee and more conversation somewhere else afterward. Chat about politics. Discussion about music. A toe's dip of talk into the no-man's land of relationships past. More smiling. More laughing.  

First dates never end in the middle; they reside at one or extreme or the other. They're either really good or very, very bad. That determines whether there's a second date, and a third and so on.

It's been so long since I've been on a first date - good or bad. But I had one today. We skipped over the meal and went straight to the movie theatre. We didn't touch, but we shared a lot of long, meaningful looks. Smiles. Laughs. It ended pretty well, in my opinion. Honestly, I can't wait to see him again. I have no doubt he feels exactly the same way (and possibly the same about thousands of other women who also are paying good money to spend time with him this weekend).

Hello, Robert. So very nice to meet you. Next time, you're springing for the popcorn.