Midnight Cravings

Okay, so it's not quite midnight, but the smells coming from my downstairs neighbor's apartment are downright intoxicating!

I'm an adventurous eater. I love just about all cuisines -- Thai, Japanese, Indian, Mexican, Greek, etc. My palate is a venerable United Nations!!!

So tonite, as I sat in my apartment -- reading, listening to music, surfing -- I didn't anticipate the smells that would be coming from my downstair's neighbor's apartment.

Up until now, he had been a quiet guy. Friendly enough, but never seemed to cook. Much like my next door neighbor, who is a single lawyer and obviously eats all his meals out.

Anyway, about two weeks ago, downstairs neighbor was nowhere to be seen. Rumor had it he had returned to India to take a wife. A pre-arranged marriage. Well, he has returned and there is definitely a female presence.

I now hear a woman's voice when I pass by their open window, and now, there is more activity and more cooking.

Tonite, there are smells emanating from their apartment that almost make me want to go downstairs and ask exactly what they are cooking and if I can have a taste. First, their was the aroma of seared beef, now, a smell of burnt soy sauce, which may sound gross, but actually smells reallly, really good!

And, it is not dissipating, nor getting stronger. It is simply remaining. And, it smells delicious!

That is part of what I like about living in the complex that I do. There is a variety of lifestyles and nationalities. For some reason, the aparment below me always seems to end up being middle eastern -- and their cooking gives me a glimpse into their lives.

The guy who lived their before was Saudi, and the cooking smells were always spicy - and filled with the intoxicating scent of curry and cumin and seared vegetables being stir-fried with the skins on.

Now, there is a guy who hails from India and recently married, and altho I still get the smells of seared onion and ground beef, I get both curry and a burnt sweet smell that makes me salivate!

Since he brought his wife home, he has kept a low profile, but I hope to get to know him better (and get some of his new wife's recipes!)

Weirdest Date EVER!

Okay, so last Friday I had a second date with a guy I had first met two years ago online. The initial meeting went well, except for the end of the date; as we left the restaurant and stepped outside, he stopped dead in his tracks.

I asked him where he was parked; he asked where I was parked. So, I assumed he was going to walk me to my car. Well, he then said he was actually parked behind the restaurant, in the total opposite direction and then started walking that way.

I thanked him for dinner, and went to my car. Well, when I got back to my car, I didn't immediately pull out -- it was cold so I opted to wait for a minute or two to let my car warm up. Well, less than a minute after starting the car, the guy appears in front of my car. No, he wasn't stalking or following me -- he was parked directly in front of my car. Totally lied about being parked behind the building.

Feeling brazen, I rolled my window down and called to him, "hey, I thought you said you were parked out back..." He said nothing. Had the deer in headlights look, shrugged and quickly got into his car.

A couple of days later he emailed to say that he had had a nice time, but had recently met another woman a week or two before meeting me and was opting to pursue a relationship with her. However, if things didn't work out, he'd still be interested in then seeing me again.

UGH. I never replied.

Since then, I had seen him out at different social events, at bars, etc. and always said hello, was pleasant.

A week ago, he asks me out again. I agree and we meet for drinks. Well, drinks turn to dinner, which turns to an after-dinner drink and the date ended up lasting 5 hours. And we had a nice time. I wasn't crazy about him, but liked him enough to spend that much time with him and as the date was ending, I was thinking, hmmm -- no major fireworks, but I do kind of like him, so if he says something about getting together again, I'd be interested.

So we leave -- and the same damn thing happens again. As soon as we get to the parking lot, he freezes, and so I say, "well, I'm parked just over here -- that's my car there." He says, "Oh, okay." And that's it. So I ask where he's parked, he says across the street. Deja Vu!

I don't question it, I simply thank him again for dinner, gave him a quick hug, and go to my car. Within 30 seconds, I'm pulling out of the lot -- but here's the rub. As I am pulling out, there is no sign of him - he totally disappeared; I don't see him walking through the parking lot or out of the lot's exit and as I exit the parking lot, there are absolutely no cars parked across the street from the restaurant.

WTF?!? I couldn't believe he would pull the same thing again. I mean, okay. I didn't even care that he didn't walk me to my car; but why lie about where you're parked? Why not just say good nite and simply go walk to your car then.

Next day, I text another thank you, curious to see what he would do. He responds quickly and says he had a nice time. Maybe we could do it again sometime. I say sure.

This week, I get an email from him -- telling me, in detail, about how he injured his foot the day after our date, and his doctor visits and antibiotic, etc. REALLY?!? Seriously.

Then, I get another email -- So, how've you been?

I swear -- I am a weirdo magnet.

This guy is 50 years old. He's not a teenager on his first date, or a college guy still not experienced in dating and protocol. And this is how he acts.

I mean, even dates that were disasters, with both of us knowing before leaving that we wouldn't be meeting again --- even then, those guys either still walked me at least part-way, if not all the way to my car, or said goodbye and simply walked to theirs.

There was no lying about where they were parked and quickly loping out of my view.

And to do it a second time!

I definitely have to write that book about my dating experiences that I keep telling my friends I'm going to write one day.