Then, of all the people on the boat, who should appear on my deck, but Lorenzo. I thought, “If it were anyone else but you, I’d say ‘good-night’ and go to bed.”
We spoke for a while ... the best we could. I felt at ease in his presence. Lorenzo told me he was thirty-three, an “old man” among the crew on the boat. After three years traveling to Greece, Canada, America, and the Amazon, he was looking to leave Le Ponant and start a “real” life on land. I remember thinking, “He’s older than I thought. How nice to find a ‘little buddy’ on this boat.”
The next few nights, we continued to meet on the back deck and talk.
Mid trip, we arrived in Salerno on the Amalfi Coast of Italy. Instead of going on the bus tour to Pompei, I decided to take a walk through town. Lorenzo was on deck as I was exiting the boat. Surprised I wasn’t with the tour, he asked where I was going. I told him I needed a walk and asked if he would like to join me.
DATING DIRECTOR TIP #3: It is always appropriate for a lady to ask a gentleman for “escort services.”
Lorenzo told me he had to stay on the boat, but he would love to show me another island.
I said, “That’s great. What are you thinking?”
He said, “uh ... How about Corsica?”
I said, “Great.”
DATING DIRECTOR TIP #4: This was the pivotal moment of our courtship. I did what’s called a “bait and switch.” That means I turned a casual acquaintanceship into a date. In my former, unskilled dating life, I would have said something stupid like, “No. That’s all right. You don’t have to do that,” because I would not have recognized that he was actually interested in me! (Yes, I was that dense!) When Lorenzo said he wanted to show me around another island, I pretty much knew he didn’t have a plan, but I positioned it as if he did by asking, “What are you thinking?” At that moment, Lorenzo went from “little buddy” to “man I’m interested in dating.”
The next day we stopped on Ponza and met up with my friends, Pino, Adele, and their two children. I spoke very butchered, very baby-like Italian. They were very impressed.
