She drove a BMW convertible and I didn’t.

I wasn’t broke or a “buster,” but I doubted whether my finances were adequate.

We met when she was on the verge of cursing out a salesperson at the Verizon store. She damaged her cell phone and wanted a replacement, but the store wanted to repair the original. (I think it was a Motorola Razr.)

“Then get your district manager on the phone,” she said, sending the poor sales guy to the back of the store with his head down.

I was standing near the sales counter pretending to look at phones that were in a display case. “These cell phone companies are awful,” I said.

“I know, right,” she replied. “This is the second time they don’t want to honor their contract.”

Well thank goodness for disingenuous cell phone companies and their dreadful contracts, because the young lady and I talked and hit it off before we left the store, and she walked out with a brand new cell phone in a box. The sales guy put it in a little plastic bag with the Verizon logo on the front and everything.

I offered to walk her to her car and when we arrived in the parking lot, she stopped at one of the cleanest, dark blue BMW convertibles I had ever seen. She opened the door and I smelled the “newness.”

At the time, I was driving the silver 1996 Ford Taurus my mother gave me when she bought a new car, so I was impressed with the Beamer but I didn’t let on. “I’ll give you a call sometime,” I said, after we exchanged numbers.

“You better,” she said.

She got into her car and when she was behind the wheel and had secured her seat belt, I pulled a sucker move: I closed the car door for her.

I never do that.

We talked on the phone that night and a few nights after, and we eventually met for dinner at a fancy restaurant that she chose. I remember it was fancy because I paid the bill and had to calculate the remaining balance on my debit card. Fortunately, the bottle of juice I bought earlier that day cost $1.00 and not 1.50, or we would have been mopping the restaurant floor.

After we ate, we talked at the table and she told me she liked to read. I told her I liked to read as well. She asked if I was currently reading anything and I told her I was reading a book about linguistics–which covered semantics, etymology, and orthography.

She was fascinated by the word ‘orthography.’ When I told her what it meant, she was more impressed. “That sounds interesting,” she said.

“Yeah, I guess,” I replied.

The restaurant was closing around us so she invited me to her apartment, which wasn’t far from the restaurant in uptown Charlotte. We were in our cars and at her place in no time.

Her apartment building had a parking garage and a lobby decorated with mirrors and a French console table with a bowl of mints on top.

We rode the elevator up to her floor and entered her apartment—it was spectacular. The place was decorated in earth tones of brown, orange, and rustic greens. She even had a small fountain in the corner of the living room, with rocks and running water. The lights were dim and the ambiance was mellow–it was like we hadn’t left the restaurant.

She offered me a seat before she went to the back to “take off her shoes.” I sat on the sofa and looked around the room, imagining how many women I would invite over if I lived in the apartment. (I know, men are awful.)

The lights in the room grew dimmer and she returned wearing a tank top and a pair of pajama shorts with her alma mater printed on the leg. She sat beside me on the sofa and as the water trickled in the fountain, she eased closer and said, “I like you.”

“I like you too,” I said.

“No, I really like you,” she said. “You’re smart, and funny, and you like to read.”

“Thanks,” I said.

“And what was that word you used at the restaurant?”

“What word?”

“You know … the word.”

“What, orthography?”

“Yeah, orthography … I like that word.”

Suffice it to say, the water in the fountain wasn’t the only moisture in the room and I ended up spending the night.

After my apprehension about living up to her BMW, fancy restaurants, lobby with the French console (and the mints), and lavish apartment, she was impressed that I used the word ‘orthography’ in a sentence.

Lesson Learned: Women are goofy … and I love’em!