After my David #1 didn’t go so well, I was already pretty sure that the name David probably has nothing to do with whether someone makes a good partner!
My second David ended up being a mixture of chance and coincidence. All rolled into one package.
The package of a tall, handsome man with brown hair and glasses.
In my job, I meet new people every single day I turn up to work. Each day I work with different crew and obviously hundreds of different passengers too. You’d think it would be a great place to meet someone but I’m here to tell you otherwise. It’s like trying to find that lost sock you’re missing.
One fateful night I was working on a short haul flight going to somewhere in Italy and back. On the return flight home, I turned to ask my next passenger what he’d like to drink. It was a guy in his mid twenties, I’d guess. I’m just going to mention again that he was very tall (even sat down), with dark, messy hair and glasses.
He was very handsome!
I smiled and asked him if he would like anything to drink. To which he smiled back to me and mouthed the words apple juice please. I figured I had just missed what he said but read his lips enough to understand. As I passed the drink over to him sat next to the window, I noticed that his travel companions were all signing to each other. He mouthed the words thank you and smiled that big beaming smile again.
So this young man is deaf. He is also mute.
You’d think the story would end here but of course that wouldn’t be worth writing about.
Once the service was finished I sat for a little at the back of the cabin and read some of my book. Whilst halfway through a page I noticed two rather large shoes standing next to me. Looking up I saw the same guy who had ordered the apple juice. I looked him in the eye and asked if I could get him anything and he pointed at the carton of apple juice on the side.
I smiled and poured him a glass.
We both stood in silence for a bit while he drank it. It was a little awkward. But only because I felt like an idiot that I didn’t know how to communicate. Luckily this stranger knew what he was doing because he pointed at the book in my hand and silently asked what it was about. I looked directly at him and briefly explained. It was slightly embarrassing considering I was reading a biographical book about depression, written by a guy who had contemplated suicide.
He tilted his head to one side as he read my lips and smiled, only looking away to point at the seat I was sat on followed by the one next to me. I gestured for him to sit with me and he did. For the next 10 minutes, we both sat and conversed by lip reading each other. It was difficult for me at first but he was very kind and spoke his words slowly.
My new acquaintance was a teacher at a school for deaf children.
He taught PE (cue hearts melting). Mr. Handsome stood and went back to his seat but not before he pulled out his phone and asked me for my number.
Just like that, with so much confidence so I couldn’t refuse.
I saved my number and pointed to my name badge so he knew my name. He put his hand out in front of him, which I shook, and mouthed the name David. Oh come on. Of course his name is David! This was just a massive coincidence that this guy was thrown into my lap. With the name I was interested in to go on dates.
David and I texted for a few weeks before finally meeting up for a drink. I already got from him that he was very sweet and considerate. He was very kind but also had a wicked sense of humour. He joked about us having a date and not being able to talk to each other which relaxed me a little.
I was obviously anxious about the communication side of things but for him to joke about it made me feel at ease.
On D day (date day or David day works too), I drove up to a bar roughly halfway between us as arranged and walked inside to see David sat at a little table. He caught my eye and stood up smiling at me. I went over and he hugged me. At this point I was suddenly very aware that I was going to have to watch his lips all night to lip read what he was saying to me. We managed through the first few minutes of hellos and how are yous before he handed me a drinks menu and asked me what I’d like.
We were both driving so opted for some soft drinks in the end and David kindly went up to order. Once sat down, he pulled a small notepad and pen out onto the table and looked at me with a cheeky smile and laughed. There’s that sense of humour again. On the first page of the notepad he had written down ‘Just in case’.
The date was lovely.
David was so lovely but, as expected, we struggled to communicate with each other throughout. I forgot to look at him so would sometimes look away while talking. He’d have to gesture for me to look at him because he couldn’t see what I was saying. I had to ask him to speak slowly so I could read his lips and I missed a lot of what he was talking about at times. David was so patient with me and bless him. He went to sign some words but then would apologise for forgetting I can’t read sign language. We laughed about it and it wasn’t uncomfortable at all; just difficult. We discussed our families and work and got on well despite a few silences.
He laughed at one point and said people must think I’m crazy because I’m just talking out loud to someone but not getting anything in return! It was actually a really nice evening but neither of us could ignore how difficult it was to communicate. When we left, David hugged me and then stood and placed the most delicate of kisses on my forehead.
He walked me to my car and we said goodnight.
When I got home, there was already a message from David waiting for me. He thanked me again for the evening and admitted to having a lovely time. He also went straight in and said that he understood if I didn’t want to meet up again because it was difficult for both of us. I did want to meet up again though.
He was so lovely and I could always learn sign language.
One of my best friends from Uni learned sign language so maybe I could ask her to help me. After a few more weeks of texting each other, David made the decision to call it a day on account of the fact we struggled to communicate with each other. He did leave it open and said that if either of us changed our minds, we could always meet up again and see what happens. I can’t blame him at all or even fault him in this because he was just such a decent guy!
He was right; it had been difficult to communicate so I couldn’t be angry at him for being honest.
Who knows, maybe I will learn sign language just in case.
Me – 1
The David Experiment – 1
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