FR: Philly D4: New Friends and Fireworks

7/4. Spent most of the holiday journaling the events from the past few days.

Finally parked and walked and made it to Fairmont Park where another free concert was being held. The Philadelphia Freedom Concert: Elton John plus Pattie Labelle plus Bryan Adams. Plus fireworks. Met two community guys that had emailed me and we talked for awhile. One wanted to drink at a bar and skip the concert altogether. I walked with them and talked on the way to the bar. I had not brought my ID and personally I wanted to see fireworks. It’s a big holiday! I told them that I could hang out in a bar any day and I wanted to enjoy the concert and the celebration and perhaps we could get together the next day. OK.

Kept playing phone tag with the teacher from yesterday. By the time her classes ended, the traffic would not permit her to get downtown. (She later told me that she watched the fireworks through a chain-link fence outside the school. Yes, Temple is this nice college smack dab in the middle of the ghetto.)

I fought the crowd back to the two girls that I had previously joined. Opener: “Thanks for saving me a spot. Man I love Philly. This is so cool. Do they do a big free show every year?” And we’re off. They love my road stories.

Common problem: They are both attracted. I’m joking around with both. Touching both. Asking questions of both, and telling my stories to them both. The less attractive girl is slightly more receptive and responsive. They are art and graphic design students at Philadelphia University (where they met one year earlier) although one lives in upstate PA and the other in Long Island, NY. They are both twenty years old.

One is two solid points higher on an attractiveness scale. Wavy blond hair, like tons of it. Very expressive eyes, and a ring through her bottom lip. I’m pretty sure I have never kissed a girl with such a piercing. So I have a really cute 8 and a chubby-but-definitely-not-ugly 6. (Of course, I’d do them both if there is threesome potential—still thinking about Annapolis ;).

Anyway, the rapport had been established before I walked away with the guys. Elton John was playing as I worked back to them. They don’t seem overly happy to see me again. Indicators of interest are weak to say the least.

No need to talk while the show is underway. I’m exclusively kinesthetic with the cute girl now. And increasingly intimate. Little touches on her arms, leading to pretty solid head, neck and shoulder massages. She’s really liking it—the holiday atmosphere, the music, the massage. What could be better for her?

I’m smelling her and brushing my face against her hair. She smells really good. We’re both kinda in this trance where the rest of the world has disappeared. And we kiss. Like it was a really slow and intimate barely-mouth-open kinda kiss. The kind where you don’t even realize its going to happen until you are already in it. She has the fullest lips and I could distinctly feel the lip ring. Mmmm…

So then I look at her friend and she is standing with her arms crossed and she looks miffed. Just as I suspected. I break touch with the hot girl and talk to her friend for a bit. I put my hand on her back and she recoiled.

I was thinking of saying something like, “Your friend and I really like each other. You are okay with that, right? We want you to arrange our honeymoon and we’ll name our first born daughter after you.” I just wanted to say something to get her to lighten up and be okay. After some more talking, I did tickle her a bit and I got her to thumb wrestle. I think she was alright with things. One of those instances where the fun guy always goes for her friend and not her.

And my girl was not really aggressive or forthright or pursuant of me either. Probably out of the same respectful observation of her friend. Don’t rub it in, you know?

But I thought about the logistics…the fact that they had to catch a train tonight and how we lived so far away and how just sharing this moment together was really nice whether there was ever to be another kiss or not.

So we all sat down to watch the fireworks. Spectacular. I’m holding hands with them both. My girl is leaning on me and I am leaning on the other girl. We look and feel pretty comfortable together.

Once the show is over, I hug them both and I sincerely thank them for sharing the night with me. I give them my email and we walk separate ways.

So I didn’t get to make fireworks on Independence Day, but I at least got to enjoy some in the company of a beautiful woman and her cool friend.

What makes this a greater loss that it seemed at the time is the apparent impact I had on my girl, as evident by the email she sent five days later:

Hey there, *Deep Breath (sigh)*.... I'm not exactly sure how to go about this so please don't mind me if I start to ramble or not make sense. I'm not sure even if you remember me but you seemed so fond of the story telling I figured I'd try to refresh your memory with a short story of mine as well....

On Independence Day I woke up at the 'butt crack' of dawn to get ready for a long day of glamorous fun in the sun and in the great city of Philadelphia. I drove from good ol' Jackson Center, PA to Long Island, NY to spend a week with my best friend. We planned on taking a day trip to Philly (where we originally met during our academic year at the university). Elton John and Bryan Adams were playing at the Art Museum, so we dressed to impress in our white "duds", bought a beach mat, and found a spot to take in the days festivities.

As our afternoon and evening progressed a pleasant suprise plopped right down on our mat.You see, this random guy sat down with us and began to strike up random conversation as if he had actually known us. This was really great and truth be told I found this to be very alluring, and he to be very attractive.... but not in the stereotypical sense. No not at all, because this fellow dressed in a khaki Orlando ball cap and a dusty blue Cape May tee and carried carefully a beautiful camera. Yeah, he was the traveler type all right but the short stories he told and the jokes he made really captured the attention of my friend and I. (even though somehow he did manage to mess up a reference to the great movie, Office Space.... but I suppose I being younger and less wise can find a way to forgive him... lol)

Anyways, long story short we parted ways and he continued on his travels as us two girls found our way back on the road for the two hour ride back to Long Island where we talked the whole car ride of 'what if's and 'did you notice's... All we really had left of him is a photo on the yet to be developed disposable camera and an email address written on the back of a gas receipt.

So, that leaves me here.... I let curiousity get the best of me and I'm writing that email address which I'm hoping and assuming belongs to that wonderful young traveler. I just wanted to say it was nice meeting you and I hope to talk to you again someday!