Wine'd and Dine'd by a Beautiful Stranger

This past Sunday night proved one thing to me: chivalry and respectful men are not a thing of the past. They are not simply men that we daydream about from Old Hollywood films, or the "Prince Charming" that we always wanted as a child. As a woman whom has experienced several narcissistic people and their behaviours, I have always been skeptical of others that automatically treat me as a princess. I mean, I deserve to be treated like royalty, but how can one know that upon first meeting? Ya feel?

While this is something that I have always secretly wanted, my education and strong feminist opinions have encouraged me to be extremely vigilant about men that seem "too good to be true". WELL, QUEENS let me tell you - these men that we dream of do actually exist. Let me break it down for you.

Having just moved to a new city, I was staying in a hotel called the "Robin Hood" (side-note: I have also moved to a city that is known as the "most romantic place in Canada") for four days. I've been running in and out, looking at new apartments, coming and going from my room. On Saturday morning, I spoke with two lovely-looking men briefly in passing; I didn't think much of it. On Sunday morning though, the taller of the two introduced himself to me in the parking lot behind the hotel - he was at least 6 ft 5, with some silver in his beard, but dressing like a grown-up skater boi. At first I thought nothing of the conversation, until he asked for my number and if he could take me out for lunch. Now - I have quite literally never been this girl. I am not the girl that randomly gets asked for her number by an attractive man, let alone to be taken out for lunch. Drinks, maybe.

I'm trying this new thing where I play hard-to-get, so I gave him my number but remained elusive of my plans for the day. As a writer, I went down to the beach and wrote for most of the day, while he checked-in with my location and what I was up to. Normally, this would make me paranoid that someone is following my movements; but with him, I felt an instant connection.

Fast forward through the day and our lunch date turned into a beautiful dinner-date; he took me downtown where we walked through Fisherman's Wharf and chatted about everything and anything. He took my hand and held it close to his chest, like I was a prize he had won. Again - this would typically make me very skeptical as to his ulterior motives; instead I felt swept off my feet. We ended up at a very high-end restaurant on the harbour-front, where he paid for a spread of appetizers and a tall glass of wine for each of us. We continued our discussions and covered everything from our life goals, to our personality traits, to our favourite hobbies, to family and marriage goals. When I went to the washroom, I came back to him having paid for the whole meal; he took me by the hand and led me to a quieter bar for more drinks.

He took me to an old bank that had been transformed into an upscale "old boys' club" type establishment. The architecture was phenomenal, with crystal chandeliers and crown moulding. He purchased a bottle of wine for us - a top shelf wine. He pulled me close to him, and was very affectionate; again, something I normally would be very uncomfortable with in public, but with him I was happy to be showered with kisses and to feel his strong hand around my waist.

From there, we strolled the cobblestone streets, hand-in-hand, as we tried to make our way back to our hotel. During this walk, he revealed his family history to me - that he comes from royal descendants. Being a historian, my ears automatically perked up at this. Could it be possible? Of course it could! The Royal Family has arms spread throughout all of the Commonwealth countries, and not many people have spent the time tracing the lineage of people like Queen Victoria or the Hapsburg Dynasty. Do I believe that his family have titles? Of course! Royal Titles? The skepticism sets in.

We ended up at our hotel, smoking a fat blunt in the back parking lot where we first met; he wanted to Netflix and Chill in my room, but that was not going to happen. Even after this man dropped at least $400 on this date night, I was not going to give him the one thing he was clearly looking for. I have been in this situation before, and typically feel obligated to perform sexually when a man-figure has paid for my drinks or taken me out on a date; any women that are reading this will know the feeling I'm talking about. When he asked what my plans were, I straight up told him that I was going to bed in my room, and that he was going to bed in his room...half expecting him to turn aggressive and hostile to get what he wanted. This has been my experience in the past with several different types of men.

But with him - he respectfully said "Alright, no worries", and sat and finished our joint, with a smile on his face. He continued to shower me with compliments and kisses, and took me back to my room. That was that.

In the morning, I woke up to a "Good Morning Beautiful :)" text on my phone - I haven't received one of those in a very long time. Did it freak me out at first? YES. Did I also get giddy and blush? OF COURSE. How can we know how to navigate certain situations when our first instinct is to put our guard up, and the second instinct is to let it down? The answer is this: TIME.

I have not added that this beautiful stranger is 10-years my senior; he was born in a different time, and grew up while I was in my childhood. We lived through the same events but have completely different perspectives due to our generational gap. While this poses annoying issues in some cases (for example, he hardly understood any of my Millennial-childhood references), it opens up the possibility of teaching each other about the other side of the coin in many different scenarios. I have never been on a date with a man that much older than myself, and never really understood why women gravitate towards older men. WELL, I can tell you honestly that now...I do. I get it. Looking at this man, you would not think that he does anything important with this life, that he's a "bum", or that he is lazy, due to the way he dresses. However, I can honestly say that I have never had a well-dressed man treat me like I'm royalty; and I come from a Town that is filled with Boujee, formally-educated men.

The moral of this story is exactly this: you cannot judge a book by its cover. You need to be open to love, but remain vigilant. Remain skeptical. Do not "fall" in love - CHOOSE love. And even though this was just for a night, this beautiful stranger reminded me that it's ok to do exactly that: Choose Love.