A couple of months ago I tried to convince myself that I need to give a guy a chance. Even if there were little things that I noticed and didn’t like – ‘come on, Anna, don’t dismiss him so easily’ I said. So just to close that loop – I went on a second date with said guy and realised that I couldn’t look past those not so little things. It was a resounding ‘thanks but no thanks’ from me. Yet another one.

And then I went and reactivated Tinder, the app I loathed and deleted about 2.5 years ago, since Friend Guy (remember him?). I matched rather quickly with 4 nice guys, three of them could hold a conversation and were fun and interesting.

One of those guys stood out. He was charming, down to earth, interested in what stories I have to tell and had some good stories to share himself. It turned out we have similar interests, are laughing at the same jokes and – very important – he was not pushy or angling for quick results. He asked me out on a date and came up with a very quirky bar. The bar served movie-themed cocktails and had an art exhibition going on at that time. We spoke about our favourite exhibitions, and I mentioned that I do enjoy a good cocktail, especially if it is some new combination of flavours. He paid attention and suggested the venue.

My usual first-date mindset is ‘please let him turn up’, followed by ‘I hope he’s nice and as good looking as on his pictures’. He arrived early and texted me that he was a little nervous. I arrived a little late (sorry, work! sigh) but he didn’t complain. As soon as I walked into the bar and saw him, I though ‘holy shit, he is gorgeous!’. I couldn’t believe it – there he was: tall, handsome and charming. With the biggest smile on his face. And nervous. 😉 We clicked immediately. After five minutes sitting on this barstool next to him it felt as if we knew each other for months. To cut a long story short, he kept an eye on the time, didn’t want me to be at home too late as I had an important meeting the next morning. He ‘borrowed’ parts of the drinks menu for us to keep as memorabilia, he dropped me off at the station and kissed me goodbye. A sweet and wonderful kiss. And we agreed a next date that same week.

Our first date was exactly one month ago, we had quite a few dates after that. From the very beginning he told me that ‘this is it’, that he has arrived and does not need to search any longer. This may explain the speed of which everything happened since. He was the one asking me to make it official. He is the one taking pictures of us and posting it on Facebook and Instagram to shout out into the world that he has met a special woman. And I feel special with him. He is kind and genuine, he is funny and serious, he is caring and interesting. I love spending time with him. And I fancy his pants off of him – gosh he is hot! Ha ha!

He holds my hand. He picks me up at home so I don’t have to take the train. He makes sure that he walks on the road-side of the pavement. He asks me to spend the weekend with him. He does the dishes when I cooked dinner. He gets up first in the morning to make me a cup of tea. He texts throughout the day to say he’s thinking about me. He wants me to meet his friends. He asked me to make it official and be his girlfriend after date 2, I agreed after date 4. He sent me his shift plan for the rest of the year to help me plan. He is honest and talks about his feelings. He’s not interested in playing games and wants this to last.

So yes, I am off the market. Finally. At last. I can’t quite believe my luck, especially at the beginning I was very hesitant to trust this, to trust him. But so far (fingers crossed) he has given me no reason to not trust him. To the contrary. I am happy, sometimes so much so that I get giddy and excited like a teenager. A belly full of butterflies is now a constant occurrence.

All dating app profiles are deleted, all apps erased from my phone.

So yes, I am hopeful that this will be it. I am falling in love and I believe that

I HAVE FOUND HIM!

Where have you been? I’ve been waiting for you, patiently. So it’s true, good things will come to those who wait.