Chapter 1: The Nice Guy
Earlier on Thanksgiving morning, I am sitting reflecting on my dating journey. I am in my apartment, roommates out of town, sitting on a couch sipping on warm milk and croissants. The sun is shining in from one of the windows directly to my seat. With a sigh of relief, I close the tab of one of my dating apps and begin reflecting. 2020 has been a year; my dating life has been something: a roller coaster, an adventure, and a tale to tell for generations. Hopefully, I became the epitome of women dating all over the world.
I began 2020, or the truth my senior year (late 2019), with a goal to date as much as possible or as me and my friends called it “get as many internships as possible before settling on one main job!” and that is what I did. As if the universe had listened to my joke, my wish was granted. On Christmas Eve it all began. Almost a year later, I have been on 6 dates, been in the talking stage with at least 10 guys, and have possibly two dates lined up this weekend. I have dated graduate students, professionals, trade school graduates, Christians, non-Christians, dads, black, white, and Indians. In conclusion, I have seen it all. In the end, all of them are men. Here is the list of the type of dudes I met, the lessons I learned, and how it turned into a self-discovery journey.
I began this journey with a happy-go-lucky attitude, and on December 24th, it all began. I was on my way to a Christmas dinner with friends.
The makeup was on point, and I looked really good. That is when I met one of my former classmates in the lobby of our building. He was a graduate student, Nigerian, and 28 years old. As we were chatting before I knew it, he was offering me and my friends a ride to the restaurant. As soon we went into the car, it became a ride from hell. We were 8 People in a corolla. The guy could not listen to the GPS and as a result, he dropped us in the middle of the street. I should have taken those and cues and ran for the hills, but I am all about giving chances, so I gave him a chance. He called me the next day to ask for a date, and two weeks later, we went out to the fanciest sushi restaurant. That is when I met the “I AM A NICE GUY”. I had never understood why nice guys finish last until I dated this dude.
As we sat in the restaurant, it became apparent he had never had sushi before. He had brought me to this place to impress me. He would pick me up, tell me of his business progresses, and whenever he finished telling me he would turn around to search for my look of approval and support. He asked me to be his girl at the end of the first date. That scared me, but I was impressed with this level of commitment. I decided to continue to a talking stage with no commitment. As the dates went on, the timeliness he showed initially slowly started to dwindle. Maybe he thought he had got me and in turn, he got to show his true colors. On the third date, My man communicated he would be two hours late five minutes before our scheduled date. I was already there. I tried to be understanding, had some drinks as I waited for him. When the two hours passed, I waited for 15 minutes more minutes and left. He dared to lie that he was at my apartment waiting for me to walk out so that he would give me a ride though we had previously agreed we would meet at the place. I was mad, furious, and most importantly awake.
Ndabaga 