Leaps and landings

5

Jess wasn't going to pretend to be someone he was not - not wealthier or more sophisticated than he really was. There hadn't been anything stardard about his entire life - more like a mixture of random events, failures and kismet event. He wanted to stay true to himself.

He had a list of bad date examples she'd described when they'd gone for drinks last time, and while he had been quite distracted, he still remembered the highlights. She hated when guys brought flowers on dates, expecting the woman to carry the heavy bouquet around the entire evening, she had also clearly stated that there was nothing more dull than taking a French woman to a fancy French restaurant. She'd even joked about men who spent far too much on dates expecting it to make up for whatever they were lacking. So at least he knew some of the mistakes to avoid.

They met in the afternoon, after Jess had been to the HPG for half a day for a few meetings and then had gone back to his hotel to change. He wanted her to see him like he felt the most like himself, wearing a simple pair of dark green pants along with a denim shirt, one of his favourite casual leather bomber jackets thrown over it instead of the corporate suit-look. He'd felt like the corporate formate had been somewhat forced upon him, something he'd never really aimed for - it was like a shoe that didn't quite fit.

She'd insisted they meet on site, not wasting time on the official motions of 'picking her up' as they were coming from different directions. When Odette's Uber arrived in front of one the apartment buildings he was looking at in Brooklyn, where Jess had waited for just a couple of minutes, he raised his sunglasses on top of his head, taking in the sight on her long legs pulling out of the car in a pair of ankle strap heels. She wore just a simple black dress, with a V-neck, nothing too revealing, but universal enough to work wherever he was taking her later. It went without saying that she looked amazing.

"Hi," she greeted, as she stepped close confidently, and kissed both of his cheeks, but just as she always did. She was just about to step back when he stole a quick kiss on the lips as well, her nearness being too tempting.

"Hey," he said smugly, as they parted, still standing close. The attraction was instant as their eyes lingered.

She smiled in response, her look scolding his boldness playfully. The excitement in her gut made worry - for just a distraction, this felt too good.

"So, are you buying or renting?" Odette asked, jolting herself back to reality, wondering what she could do to help.

"Renting for now, but if I do decide to stay here more permanently, I'll want to buy once I sell my place in Philly," he replied. Jess had fixed up a loft apartment in his mid-twenties in Philadelphia, and thankfully the area had gentrified since, proving to be a good investment. While the place was large and open, with lots of light, it was still very much of a bachelor pad which he seemed to be growing out of.

"Alright," Odette replied, feeling a little silly for having boasted her real-estate capabilities. While she was fairly good at buying realestate, usually providing more room to haggle, she knew very little about renting in New York City.

Taking someone apartment hunting on a first official date would've scared a lot of guys - exposing a lot about their financial status and preferences - what he would look in an apartment, whether they valued the number of single women in the house or whether he was handy. It demonstrated what the person usually did at home - whether he preferred to lounge in front of the TV or prioritize his work, what he did to work out, how he commuted and whether he cooked or not. On that note Jess felt he had little to fear, and his fearlessness showed as he discussed these things openly.

Though this didn't really feel like their first date. In addition to their first non-date, as she'd called it, they'd spent a good few hours talking the other night on the phone and texted a few times since then, mostly about what they were reading or recommended, and it almost felt like that counted for some sort of a half-date at least.