Taboo

Last night I took N out to an excellent Italian restaurant in New Farm.

As usual, it was an utter disaster. I was late, she got the time wrong and wasn't dressed, I couldn't find her place. OK, not so much utter disaster as the constant feeling that the universe was against this enterprise and was throwing in as many curve-balls as possible. At least she liked the restaurant.

The conversation was great fun and she was on top form. I was telling her about my Sydney job interview ("How many petrol stations are there in Australia?") and we ended up playing a kind of mathematical taboo quiz: "How many people have I slept with?", "What is my net worth?", "What is the most immoral thing I have done?".

She guessed I'd slept with 31 people, I guessed she slept with 6. We were both wrong. This simply reveals that I'm looking for that virgin goddess, and she's looking for that experienced lover. Reminds me that at some point I need to work out how many women I have slept with.

Last time we met up I casually joked that I didn't like blondes when she asked me my opinion of a certain woman. Turns out N is a blonde who dyes her hair brunette, so she took many an opportunity to remind me of my taste.

I mentioned K to her, she called her a slut. I mentioned Scorpio to her, and she told me not to talk about ex-girlfriends unless I was going to talk about how bad they were. I steered clear - I wanted N to know that I was seeing others, and I'd completed that messy but necessary obligation. N was sharp enough to connect K and the moving to Sydney.

N was beautiful, smart, funny and great company, and there wasn't a spark there for me. I suspect there isn't one for her either. I'm going to suggest friendship to her before the next time we meet up in another two weeks.