Date #24: The Fall of Something Special

August 4th, 2022

“Whoever gets there first shares their location,” Date #24 texted me. We agreed to meet up at the Washington Monument for our first date.

“How about, whoever spots the other one first and takes a picture gotta buy the other ice cream?” I replied.

“Scavenger hunt hmm. Hints or no hints?”

“No hints.”

“Good luck with that. This is like playing a game of tag on a big ass field.”

I don’t like looking like I’m anticipating someone when I’m arriving for a date, but this was such a fun and unconventional way to meet up with someone for the first time, so I was already excited. It’s August in DC so you can imagine how humid it is outside, but it also started to rain a bit. When planning for this date, I told him that it was supposed to rain, to which he replied “what’s a little rain?” Well, we soon found out.

I ended up spotting him first, taking a few pictures before he spotted me too. We arrived and I heard some type of accent that I hadn’t heard before. I inquired about what I was hearing to which he told me he was from Cameroon. Because of this little fact, we will call him Cameron for the remainder of this story.

He was good looking. I liked his lowkey fit, and pairing his looks and his outfit with the accent and the previous text messages? Oh, I was already feeling him.

As we were planning for the date he told me he liked nature and just being outside and he mentioned he had never been to the national mall before, so we figured this would be the best place to meet up. I don’t know about yall but I love me a nice little walk. They are so underrated so I was glad to be able to do something so relaxing and comforting with someone else. I also like the national mall area – the greenery, the open space, the crowds – it has always been one of the best places in DC to just walk around and enjoy the scenery (in my humble opinion).

As we’re walking, there’s obviously nothing more for us to do than to literally just get to know each other. Typical date conversations were had, but we didn’t make it too far until it started raining more. We decided to head to his car (I took the metro since I didn’t have a car at the time), but before we knew it… we were caught in a whole thunderstorm. I had a dinky little umbrella that was extremely flimsy; it was no match for the rain. We stood under a tree as others ran every which way. When I say a thunderstorm y'all I’m talkin the rain, the thunder, and the lightning. Now I love me a good thunderstorm, but… not when I’m physically caught in it. I like witnessing it from my window from the inside of my house. 

As we were standing under the tree, some type of crab looking bug kept crawling up my ankles. Cameron was holding on to the umbrella, and I was holding on to my will to not completely freak out. The rain wasn’t letting up anytime soon so we said let’s try to just make it to the car as quickly as possible. We couldn’t be too quick about it as there were huge puddles everywhere. At one point we even slipped when trying to jump a few feet onto the curb.

We made it to the car, completely soaked from head to toe. I was wearing a spaghetti strap shirt with shorts, luckily no flip flops or sandals, but both of our white/tan shoes were now a light shade of brown. My tote bag and everything in it completely drenched. I could’ve wrung out my tote if I wanted to.

He had some napkins in the car which… didn’t help much but at least it was something. We were both laughing about the water ride we just experienced, but still continued our conversation. At some point he took out some UNO cards and we played a few rounds in the car. It was a real low maintenance date and it’s really all you need when getting to know someone. I always say it isn’t what you do it’s who you do it with, because although we didn’t do very much on the date, it was still very memorable.

August 10th, 2022

That second date came about a week later. My friend and I were supposed to go to a Leon Bridges concert (I had only heard one song from him and she automatically thought I wanted to go), but she ended up not being able to go anymore, and naturally I didn’t want the ticket to go to waste. I’m going around asking everyone if they knew who Leon Bridges was and everyone kept telling me no. At this point, I had never been to a concert (and never was interested in going to one before), but I was starting to accept that I’d be attending my first concert solo, and of an artist who I only knew one song of his. I was expressing this to Cameron at the time and he offered to go with me. I was truly surprised. He didn’t know who Leon Bridges was either and he also hadn’t been to a concert before, so this was a first for the both of us!

We spent the few days leading up to the concert listening to all of Leon Bridges songs, trying to prepare for this concert, and thankfully we both thoroughly enjoyed his music. The concert was held at The Anthem at the Wharf in SW DC, and as we’re headed there, what do you know, it starts raining again! This time though, it wasn’t as bad as before, and luckily we were inside for most of the night.

It was a great experience though and we both actually enjoyed ourselves. I messed up by wearing booties so my feet were killing me towards the end but, we both stated we’d go to another concert, hopefully of an artist we were more familiar with.

After this, we went on a few other dates: ice cream (that he owed me from the first date), the movies, a jazz concert, and a few others over the next 2 months.

October 2022

About three weeks had passed and although we were talking, we hadn’t seen each other in that timeframe. Now, I’m one that needs to see the person I’m dating at least once a week. I started to get that feeling where a shift was happening, so I asked how he was feeling about me. About half a week goes by before he answers. He gave an honest answer, then I expressed where the question came from, what I was feeling, and I pointed out his behavior that resulted in why I was feeling like this. After multiple texts and voice notes back and forth trying to work out what was happening between us and if we wanted to continue dating, I threw the ball back in his court basically leaving it up to him if he wanted to pursue this further or not. His response didn’t come until a week later:

“Hey I am truly sorry for not responding until now, i was unsure of my decision for awhile. After overthinking on it for the past days, it’s best i be honest with u. At this moment i cnt give u the same consistency u will like. And i dnt want to say let’s continue nd not be consistent as before. I wanted to be honest with u on tht nd not make the same mistake again. I kno i took way too long, i was busy over thinking. If u got some to share, please feel welcome to express ur self or ask ur questions.”

I told him I had no questions. I thanked him for the time we shared, and that I enjoyed every moment we had together. He thanked me for sharing his first concert experience.

December 2022

A little over a month later, the same friend that had the Leon Bridges tickets, came upon some Burna Boy tickets (she’s really the plug). I was excited to go, and wanted to share this news with Cameron. We hadn’t talked since our last conversation, but I figured since we ended amicably, there would be no problems in texting him with this news, and hoped there was no bad blood between us.

“Guess who’s going to their second concert ever? And in case you don’t reply imma just tell you bc I’m excited. Burna Boy!”

The text came in minutes. It wasn’t awkward or anything. We were talking as if we were a couple of old friends. Funny enough we actually both went to that concert (with our respective friends), so in an odd way we experienced our first and second concert together.

Since then, we became really good friends. I took him to get a pizookie from BJ’s restaurant since he said he didn’t know what it was (and he loved it and wanted another one). In the next two short years we’ve really watched each other grow. He was one of the first few people to ride in my car when I finally got one, and he was there to witness my frustration and excitement of getting my first apartment. When I got a new job he gave me a gift – two candles, one being a “magnolia'' scent (a Leon Bridges song), a paris cup, a panera gift card, and a card congratulating me on my job and wishes of a promotion (which I eventually received and told him about). He didn’t believe me but that gift truly made me cry because it was a surprise for one, and for two it showed he really listened to the things I was interested in. It is to this day one of the most thoughtful gifts I have ever received. Once he, too, got a new job, I also gave him a gift that included cologne, a card with a $50 gift card, and his favorite cookies which he opened and smashed a whole row right as he opened it in front of me.

I have no words to express how grateful I am to have Cameron as a friend. For him to be man enough and honest enough to admit that he couldn’t give me the consistency I needed is something that I admire immensely. I hold Cameron in the highest regard, surpassing anyone I've dated previously, being that I have never encountered a more mature and sincere “breakup”. This is what has set him apart from the rest. I have the utmost respect for him, and although it hasn't been much time, his friendship is one that I cherish deeply. He has always held me accountable, always gives me kind and encouraging words, and always gives me logical advice, even if it’s regarding my love life. We talk every few weeks and when we do it is nothing but laughs. Although we weren’t meant for each other in a romantic sense, I hope we remain meant for each other in a platonic sense. I can’t wait to see him succeed and I have no doubt that he will be the perfect person for someone new.

P.s. He came up with the title of this post.