Love is Everywhere in New York, You Just Have to See it
I went to a model casting call in Soho one night, after being recruited by a woman at the mall who said I had an “interesting look.” I wasn’t sure what it was going to be like, but when i got there everything seemed to be legit. I was measured, asked my breast cup size, and taken into a room with a bunch of other people with “interesting looks.” Becasue we were being seen by the order in which we arrived, we were asked to sit in specific places. I was sat next to this really cute, really tall (6’2″ is what he said) Latino gentleman in black slacks. He immediately opened up conversation with me, and me being the person who ALWAYS talks to strangers and makes friends in any setting, I of course obliged.
We realized very quickly as the room began to fill up that we were probably going to be there for a while. We talked about the low budget yet-to-be-released music videos that the company was showing us. Soon after, it was the movie “Zoolander.” As minutes passed and conversation continued the thought came to my mind: To flirt or not to flirt? I couldn’t make up my mind whether or not to be my flirtatiously assertive self with this cutie.
His name was Jacob and I liked his shy temperament. He seemed to be flirting with me, first asking me how old I was and telling me that I looked much younger. He then pretended not to like the fact that he looks older then he is (which is younger than me), but I could tell he really liked it. At one point he gave me the biggest red flag to flirt with him and I didn’t pick up on it,
“Do you know of any really good poetry or spoken word restaurants?” he asked.
“Um…not really. Ugh…” was my dumb response.
“Because I would really like to go to one soon.”
“I know someone who knows where one is, I think in Harlem or something like that.”
“Yeah I’ve been trying to find one for a while.”
“Really. Why? Do you write spoken word?”
Jacob then proceeded to tell me no and at that moment I mentally re-evaluated my responses. I figured at that point I should have at least said, “Well, I don’t know any spoken word places right now. Why don’t we exchange numbers and if I find a place I’ll call you, and if you find a place then you call me. We can even go check it out together. And in the meantime, if you want to just call me up or do something else, you have my number.” (smile)
What happened to the regularly flirtatious me in the presence of this coi cutie? Maybe his shyness dictated my actions. A girl never wants to be too forward with a guy, especially if you already see he is a bit timid about approaching people. But sometimes its hard to read whether or not a guy is just being friendly or if he’s into you and is just too afraid to make the first move. Despite the difficulty, I usually manage to sense something and take a step towards making him my “boo.” I keep in mind that the worse that can happen is he’ll reject me and perhaps even try to take a cheap shot at my self confidence. But hey – who cares what strangers say? You might never see them again, take the chance. I am disappointed in my failure to pick up on any possible hints Jacob dropped, and I’m disappointed in my failure to take a chance.
New Yorkers complain so much about not being able to find someone in a city of 8 million people. I had someone in my midst who I easily laughed and joked with, conversed with non stop, who was attractive and had a job. I was crazy for letting him leave without getting his number. I didn’t even get any work with the modeling agency ($795 for comp cards? Give me a break!) The one up side to this pathetic story is that he did tell me where he wroks. Maybe one of these days I will upgrade to semi-stalker and get gutsy enough to stop by his job while I’m “in the neighborhood,” or so I’ll say.
