Baby Boy...

“…You stay on my mind fulfill my fantasies...”

Here’s the deal. My girlfriends and I were out at a popular eatery having dinner, and in walked a group of young guys. They occupied the table adjacent to ours and from the moment they sat down we could tell that they were significantly younger than us. It wasn’t overly evident, after all, they actually wore belts and weren’t adorned with excessive jewelry, but they had young faces and eager eyes. One of the guys in the group stood out amongst the rest…he was friendly, vivacious even and very handsome.

The eatery was a very casual place, and the service wasn’t that great since it was overly crowded. The young handsome man (that I will call Baby Boy) asked in a fun loving way if they could merge their table with ours, and we obliged. From that moment on, Baby Boy was on my tip! We posed for a couple of photos together and laughed and joked. He began asking all of the right “getting to know you” questions…then came the question of age…that’s when he confirmed my suspicions….he was more than 5 yrs my junior….and I’m still in my twenties! That makes a difference. I never revealed to him my exact age, but he was quick to let me know that he was not concerned with the fact that I was older than him by some years.

We exchanged numbers and email addresses once the night ended. He brought up the idea that we should get together the next day. The next day came and our schedules kind of conflicted. I ended up being out and about with Charmed when he called to see if I wanted to do lunch. It just so happened that Charmed and I were already in the process of searching for a place to get our grub on. We told him the spot, and he said he’d meet us there.

Baby Boy entered the restaurant with his signature smile and eager eyes. We had a decent convo which ended up turning to his profession. I assumed that he was a college student or a recent graduate given his age and the fact that we met him at an eatery which wasn’t too far from the colleges in the city we were in. My assumptions were completely wrong and I was shocked when he told me that he was a professional baseball player. We conversed a little more about his career and some other general things and then the bill came. Baby Boy never made any attempt to pick up the little black billfold. As a matter of fact, he didn’t even look in its direction.

Didn’t he just tell me he was a professional baseball player??? Even beyond the fact that this bill should be drops in a bucket to him given his salary, he is a man- isnt't he??? At a table with two women- right? Heeeerrrreee we go again…

Charmed looked at the check and then passed it to me for my review, we put up our respective amounts, and Baby Boy STILL didn’t pick up the check! Did he think that we were gonna pay his portion too? So I slid the billfold over in his direction so he could get a clue and stop looking like he was stuck on stupid. He put up his $20.00 and we paid the bill and left. He was kind enough to walk us to our car which turned out to be not too far from where he parked himself. He opened my door and told me that he’d call me later.

I got in the car and didn’t say a word, I knew what Charmed was thinking and she knew what I was thinking, but was our thinking unjust? Should we just amount it to him being young? Certain things men are supposed to learn as they grow and begin to date. I am a firm believer that any man should pick up the check whenever he is out with women….PERIOD. However, he was enough of a gentleman to walk us to our car and even open my car door for me. Things that make ya go hmmmmm…

As I sat in the car on the way from my lunch date with Baby Boy, I began to wonder if I am really in the mood for “teaching” a boy how to be a man. There are obvious differences in our maturity levels that go beyond him not picking up the check. Do I have the patience to endure a man more than 5 years my junior? After all, men mature slower than women anyway (so they say).

Don’t call me Stella just yet…after all, we all know how the real life version of that turned out!

XoXo,

CC