The Beautiful Kind

I met a guy last week from OkCupid who already has the doctoral degree I’ll be getting in a year or so. We decided to meet in person for lunch the other day.

We had a pretty typical date, and I was really amused by the way he kept saying, “What else?” whenever he wanted to know more about me, which left the conversation open to go in whatever direction I wanted to take it. I wanted to ask him really dirty and embarrassing things – Has he ever tried anal? What kind of porn does he love, yet is embarrassed to watch? What is his creepiest sexual fantasy? Has he ever been tied up? But I refrained – he and I are loosely connected on a professional level. Not to mention this was our first face-to-face. He probably wondered why I kept trying to wipe away a sly smile.

A few days later, I watched a video of him interacting with an client. He spoke to the client in the same way he spoke to me. His voice was velvety yet precise – the kind of voice you might hear on NPR.

I couldn’t help imagining him coming over for a home health visit (we’re both in occupational therapy) to give me a sponge bath, tenderly commanding me to take my shirt off as a cool spring breeze flows through the open living room window… Then he could help me put my socks on and give me some tips for dressing.

Sex, incidentally, is an occupation.

-Belle