I do not have much time—Duerre is waiting for me to join him for an assignment—but I am pleased to report that Lauren and Jonathan’s first date went well. Of course, both of them would object to the use of that word for it, but I cannot see why it would not be called such. They met at the bar Lauren had recommended, not far away from Jonathan’s shop. He knows the owner, who came out to talk to him and offered a nicer table, but both of them preferred to sit at the bar.
“What?” he asked when he found her looking quizzically at him.
She smiled. “Well, it’s weird. You seem to be one of those people who is totally unlikeable, until you get to know them, and then you can’t imagine why you didn’t like them in the first place.”
This made him smile. “I’m an acquired taste, is that it?”
“Yeah, exactly.”
This led him to tell a story about how at one point his mother wanted to change the name of the shop to ‘Acquired Taste’, the only time in Jonathan’s memory that his father went against her on a large decision. He and Lauren laughed at this, and then Lauren told a similar story about her parents, and the conversation flowed between them.
I think that Jonathan is very discerning about the company that he keeps. He will not seek out the company of others, solitude always being his first choice. When he does meet with others, an innate anxiety makes him stiff, which he masks—sometimes ineffectively—with politeness. But once he has found an interest in a person, his more relaxed demeanor makes it easier for him to make connections.
There is certainly a connection between the two of them. I can say that with confidence because they entirely forgot to talk about the musical this evening, and so they are meeting one another tomorrow night, as well.