Does He Make Your Soul Sing?

I had a date last week, I was going to this super-fancy cocktail party and I surreptitiously got dressed for it at work. And like, ok, so maybe I take the liberty of wearing denim mini-skirts and tank tops and flip-flops to work a little too often (cultivating what M likes to call my “Casual Sunday Look” which is one or two steps down/more casual than Casual Friday even. And sometimes he just comes right out and says: “Hey, Jen, going to the beach today?”), but honestly, I was trying to be really subtle about my after-work plans and was sneaking out of the bathroom all stealthily (as stealthily as one can hope to be while wearing a low-cut silk wrap dress and beaded shoes in an environment that employs un-flattering fluorescent lights, a cubicle-situation, and well, ME) when I accidentally intercepted my boss, his boss, and essentenially their TEAM on their way back from a Very Serious Meeting (or maybe it was they who intercepted me?). Mission: So Not Accomplished. And also honestly, EVERY SINGLE PERSON I passed commented (positively, which was a good thing) on my dress, you look great/beautiful, where are you going etc. “A cocktail party” sounded way more innocuous than “A Date” (insert dramatic “Ga-GONG”-like sound effect here) and plus, maybe I’m old-fashioned but I strongly believe in strict separation of Work & Date. And even further, if I said “A Date (Ga-GONG),” then people would ask lots of questions and I’d have to provide follow-up who knows how far down the road, and I just wanted to head that whole mess off at the pass.

However. One co-worker who I love because she’s totally beautiful and wise and gets me and on top of that even, as a total bonus, she is a major True Fan & Supporter of Me & My Writing, stopped me to tell me some variation of how great I looked (see: major…Supporter) and where was I going? I told her, my stock answer: “A cocktail party.” She smiled (she is SO WISE!) and said, “You’re going to meet someone tonight. I can tell.” Which was like, totally cool to hear, and really neat that someone else is having (and further) dedicating their time to having psychic premonitions about me.

The next morning I ran into her and she asked me how it went. I told her about a celebrity I sort-of-met at the party, by which I mean I stood near him and smiled incredibly-widely while nodding semi-vigorously, because that seemed like the better option (my other choice was to GUSH senselessly and uncontrollably – total side note, there is a musician I used to love to see play at a piano bar and one time I said to him (all mushy-and-gushy-like): “You like, sing like, how people should LIVE.” At which point my sister told me that I should a) stop drinking and b) refrain from ever talking/letting myself gush to said musician EVER AGAIN).

Back to the action: I knew that this celebrity-information was not going to satisfy my co-worker (I mentioned she is wise, right?) re: her “You are going to meet someone tonight” prediction, and follow-up that I had promised her. I knew she wanted, and deserved (as my True Fan & Supporter, and plus, a really freakin’ cool person on top of that even) more. So I gingerly fessed up: “Actually, it was A Date.”

Here’s what she didn’t ask me:
-What does he do?
-Is he cute?
-How much money does he make?
-Did you kiss/make out/get any action/fuck? (Ok, she would have totally never asked me this because it would have been completely inappropriate as she is my co-worker and not my BFF or anything, but still, the point I am trying to make is that sometimes people have been known to ask this, or some variation of this question, and although fun and juicy to know, it does border on the superficial, no?)

Or even:
-Did you have fun?
-Where was the party?
-Who was the celebrity?
-Who else was there?
-Is your date famous?

This is what she did ask me:
-“Does he make your soul sing?”

Huh.

And then she followed-up with:
-“You know, does he get you? Does he make your soul sing?”

And let me just say that I am a woman whose number one criteria for a man is that he GET ME. I am a woman desperately in need of BEING GOTTEN.

And I also want to say this (because apparently I am also using this blog as a means to communicate with men or in this case, one man in particular):
-“Hey Date – if you’re reading this, my answers to her two questions are:
1) YES and
2) YES

Yes, you do. You totally, do.”