I had been exchanging messages with Debbie for a few weeks. We both wanted to meet in a safe place and follow where that led. After a few unproductive hours on the site one Saturday afternoon she came online and hinted at being free that night. A lonely weekend stretched ahead of me so I wasted no time in taking the hint. It would mean a long drive but my only other options were loneliness and Vodka while waiting to go back to work. I suspected she was online for a meeting that evening and was playing a little coy. Eventually we made arrangements to meet at a pub in her home town and we logged off. I killed some more time before dinner and making my way South.
Fears of another no-show were dispelled as I recognised her sitting on a low wall adjacent to the pub car park. Since accepting my need to re-learn the dating game I had given a lot of thought on how to handle first meetings. Characteristic of my bookish nature, I had bought a few titles on dating and NLP. I had started to develop the conversation structure which would transform those first few cringingly bad meetings into smooth, enjoyable and successful encounters. That she was for real gave me a chance to apply what I had learned.