Yesterday I went to the gym at a different time than I usually do. There was a cute ginger doing some sort of exercise with the barbell close to the squat rack, where I had just started doing pull-up sets. I went up to her (only 2 or 3 steps), turned my body fully away from her, and said, “It’s quite busy today, huh?”
She asked me to repeat myself, but when she understood what I said she agreed, then she told me she usually comes at another time when it is even busier, and I told her I usually come at a time when it isn’t. I then told her “You sound Italian” and she said she was indeed Italian, from the north, and asked me where I was from.
Then I saw her walk to a guy, who I assumed was her boyfriend.
Later in the day, I sent a couple of texts to
train chick, excited about securing her for a second date using the tried-and-true methodology employed by the text masters on this forum, i.e., getting her to invest and then rewarding that investment by pacing what she said and suggesting a meet casually (soft close).
Only about 2 hours after sending her those three texts I realized that I hadn’t sent her a clear enough soft close, especially considering English isn’t her native language. “How does a catch-up sound?” would have been too vague to send even if she were an English native.
I realized then that – considering she would 99% likely ghost, and that I would have to correct that last text by explaining it in plainer terms at least 48 hours later with a further text (thanks for the advice Kvothe), whereupon the investment-reward effect would have lapsed – this was probably the death knell of the entire edifice of my interaction with this girl, which left me somewhat despondent.
The positive side to this mishap was that it spurred me to action.
In the evening, I was on my way to go see a couple of buddies at a bar. I had gotten on the bus. Of the good seats, meaning, those that face the direction the bus is heading towards and that are located high enough for you to have sufficient leg room, there was only one vacant, next to a cute girl.
I went and sat next to her. I took off my jacket. I then, a few moments later, took off my jumper, as the heating inside the bus was on full blast. It took me some time to gather up the nerve to open her. She was browsing her smartphone.
I came up with an approach on the fly. I got on my smartphone and browsed to the Weather app. I turned its screen to her. She took off her headphone. I told her that I thought it was highly unlikely that the temperature displayed on the app was accurate. She said she didn’t speak English. So, I repeated what I had told her, this time in her language. She agreed.
We started chatting. I noticed she was staring at my lips.
She had just been jogging, hence the leggings. After a bit of chit-chat, where I gathered that she is studying Architecture and comes from the neighbouring country, and I told her about my own studies, and we talked about where we were headed, I asked her if she’d like to get a coffee. She said she couldn’t as she was on her way to meet a friend. I asked her if she’d like to get a coffee some time. She said sure. I got her number and told her I’d text her later.
I got off the bus (one stop later than where I was supposed to, because it took a bit longer to execute the close than I had anticipated) and realized that the number she’d given me didn’t have WhatsApp. I thought it might be a dud. But then I just texted her (outside WhatsApp) anyway. It was around 8 p.m.
This morning, I noticed she’d replied at 11.30 p.m. the night before, and even asked me a question about how my night was at the bar with my buddies.
Game on.
