Signals

“So how exactly do you tell if you share interests with a woman? Can you tell when you meet, rather than suffering through a bad first date?” Tom wondered as he scanned Judy’s for any potential girlfriends.

“Well, what do you talk about when you first meet them?” Louise questioned and Tom diverted his attention back to her.

“It depends…” he said and Louise gestured for him to continue. “Well you remember how I got your number; I just asked and then left. Which, by the way, was a dare from a friend.”

“Of course it was,” Louise shrugged and Tom gave a short chuckle.

“Others I do talk to for a while, but I can never hold the conversation for long before I start to think that she feels awkward,” he continued with a grimace. He could hardly believe that he was admitting this to someone who was essentially a stranger, let alone a female stranger.

“So what is it, the ‘what are you doing here’ and the ‘what do you do’ kind of casual conversation?” Louise guessed and Tom nodded. “You can never get much from that, and women love to talk so ask them more, figure out what you want to know before the first date.” She stirred the ice in her drink and Tom lowered his head.

“But I never know how to bring that up. I mean, how do you ask a woman if she likes Shakespeare without scaring her off? Or ask if she would like to travel the world without enticing her as a gold digger?” Louise paused and pictured how she would want a man to ask her about those things so she could answer honestly.

“Well perhaps you could slip it into the conversation that you went to the theatre last night and see if she is interested in that statement. If that conversation doesn’t go very far, then you know that she’s not that interested,” she suggested and he nodded along. “And for the travelling… Ask if she has a favourite travel destination and why, which will give you some insight to her. France, she’s probably a hopeless romantic. Hawaii, she loves sun and sand.”

“Makes sense,” Tom agreed before taking a sip of his beer.

“I’m sure that would get a conversation going, which could go down many different paths, and that would help you decide if you want to get her number.”

“Thanks, that’s actually really useful advice,” Tom said softly and Louise smiled, glad that she was helping. “So where do you most want to travel to?” Louise laughed and diverted her gaze down to her drink.

“France,” she confessed with a slightly embarrassed grin.

“Me too.” Tom’s smile disappeared when his phone rang and it turned into a frown when he saw that it was work related. “Sorry, I have to take this.” Louise nodded her understanding and he left their table to find a quiet spot outside.