In football, a 2 minute drill is a simulated drive, from kickoff to score that is designed to be executed at the end of a game (after the 2 minute warning) while trailing or tied. Steve Young, Joe Montana, Brett Farve and John Elway are among the best at this (yes and those Brady and Manning guys too). I had a PUA 2 Minute Drill last night, and I passed with flying colors.
Last night Rapunzel wanted to go out. She gets to my place at 10:30, already a bit tipsy. We drove to the bars close to my place (close enough to walk to in the summer) and split a set of two-for-ones at what we'll call the Frat bar. As we drink these, we talk about our romantic lives and I get annoyed again by the way she tries not to tell me everything, but still tells me something. Allow me to clarify that. I said Rapunzel was my ex, but I didn't go into enough detail to make our situation clear. We still see each other a lot, we're still very close friends, and we still sleep together sometimes. I told her (truthfully) and I don't want to know about her romantic life, but at the same time since we still have a close friendship, it's hard to hear her lie about, cover-up or gloss over what she did the weekend before. Just a little background for the evening.
Our next stop is the Laredo, where Sue and I are regulars. It's pretty busy for a Thursday night, likely due to the live band setting up where the DJ usually is. Rapunzel and I order another round and start talking - unfortunately on the same subjects. We dropped the topic when it was clear that we were both getting annoyed, and by this time the band had started up. We drifted over to the dance floor and I quickly finished my beer and reloaded.
Jade was in the middle of the dance floor (I got the name later). Short brown hair, black top, a beige houndstooth-pattern tweed miniskirt, black argyle patterned tights and black, knee-high boots. I was hooked the minute I saw her, just the fact that she was the most energetic girl on the dance floor was enough to pique my interest, and when I got a close look at her, I knew I wanted to at least dance with her.
I considered jumping right on the dance floor without even asking Rapunzel to, but I decided that course of action was too vindictive, even if I hadn't liked our earlier conversation. I coaxed her on, though she wasn't really moving much. Rapunzel never really got into it, so I bounced between her and Jade's 6 (maybe 7) set. Jade seemed to really enjoy the fact that someone (male) really wanted to dance. I leaned over to her and said,
"I hope you have a warm jacket."
This was golden. We exchanged a few lines, but mostly just danced from here on out. She told me she was originally from Alabama, and lived here now for law school. I would have devoted my attention exclusively to her if Rapunzel hadn't been there.
When I came over to the dance floor, I noticed another set I wanted to get into, though I knew this one would be easy. On the night of the Delmon Young / Matt Garza trade, Sue, Cable and I were at the Loredo. I applauded the Twins for making a smart trade, though no one else in the bar seemed to know or care who Delmon Young was. I complained to the waitress about this, just because I wanted to talk about it and Sue and Cable are baseball illiterate. She knew not only that Delmon Young was a Devil Ray, but liked the current Johan Santana trade talks and thought we should have traded Torii Hunter last year. I only know two men who are this smart when it comes to baseball, so she instantly became even more interesting.
I walked over to her and opened her on the state of the trade talks. She smiled when I came over, and introduced her friend, who also waited tables at Laredo. We talked for a good fifteen minutes when I realized that I'd lost Rapunzel. I excused myself and went to go look for her. When I did finally track her down (long line for the bathroom) she sounded ready to go. I grimaced a bit, knowing that I wasn't going to be able to dance with Jade anymore that night, and wouldn't have the time to get a number. I could tell that Jade and her group were ready to leave too.
"I should have number closed her."
"Alright, I'll give you five minutes."
God, in the AFC days this would have sent me into a panic. Only five minutes to get the hottest-girl-in-the-bar's number? Terrifying. Now I was just glad I had the window I needed.
I walked over to the bar to pay my tab, and then positioned myself so she couldn't leave without seeing me.
"Hey, are you leaving?"
"Yeah," (she smiles) "you're a really good dancer."
"Thanks, you too. So do you go out an do this every night?"
(She laughs) "Well, not every night, sometimes I have to study."
"Well, we should go dancing sometime."
"That sounds like fun."
This is where I said something completely, utterly and out-of-my-mind brilliant.
"You should call me," (said like we were already planning something).
(She laughs) "Okay."
"It'll be kind of hard though, since you don't have my number."
(She laughs) "Well, you should give it to me then. Or I can give you mine."
I pull out my phone, make her type in her number.
"So this is really your number, right?"
"You see the area code - that's for Alabama." I can see her phone light up in her pocket as it's ringing, it is in fact a real number.
"Who should I introduce myself to when I call?" Now I'm breaking two rules here, asking a question and not making her ask my name first, but I figure if I've got the number this is a moot point.
"I'm Jade."
"Nice to meet you Jade, I'm Indy."
She goes, I easily bring this in under the 5 minute mark, and walk back to Rapunzel, who is very ready to go. Those of you who know her know how she gets when she's tired and tipsy.
One very important point I should make here. The entire number close is in front of one of the guys in her group, and I didn't care.
Sure, it wasn't in front of tens of thousands of screaming fans, sure it didn't get me the bonus in my contract, but I'd be hard pressed to trade my 2 minute drill for anyone else's right now. Usually I feel like a rockstar, but today I feel like the hometown hero.
Until the next bulletproof night ...
