Mr. Wrong...Issue #16 (Guest Post)

You know how on Grey's Anatomy Meredith and Christina are each other's person?  I've been lucky enough to have a few of those type of friendships in my life...one of those friendships is with my law school 'person': Laurel.  We bonded over Starbucks during our first month of law school and by the end of that excursion we already had about 50 inside jokes.   I honestly don't know what I would have done without her my first year--but enough of the sappy stuff on my part.  Laurel is guest posting Mr. Wrong today--I hope you enjoy !!  As Always, Happy Wednesday...and I'm still looking for my Mr. Right. xoxo -EA



Laurel and Emily



It’s been both a blessing and a curse no matter where I go,  there is always a new love interest to be found. When I embarked on my journey in DC as a White House intern, things were no different. I was enthusiastic about meeting people who approached life so differently than I. On my first day of orientation, I met the group of interns who I would spend the next few months working with. Of course, one in particular caught my eye. We will call him Chris. Chris is beautiful. He is built like an athlete but poised like a politician. He has a smile that streams confidence, and hair like JFK. When we all took a seat, he sat down right beside me. We begin chatting. We quickly found a common thread in his highschool football days with a guy who then played for the Huskers (I had the athlete part pegged.) Even though I found him slightly more cocky than anyone I was used to, I was intrigued. As the weeks went on, we both became very busy with our jobs, but managed some flirting via e-mail, as well as occasionally on Thursday nights when we both volunteered at a soup kitchen. Chris would always walk in late on those evenings we volunteered. Usually he would snag some low key job, and I would admire him across the room while I was busy serving food or talking to the men and women who came for their meals. (I loved these Thursday nights. They were some of my favorite in DC.)

One of the flirtatious emails I got from Chris one afternoon asked if I wanted to go to lunch with him. I was always pretty slammed with work and rarely took a lunch break because I felt guilty, but I decided I couldn’t say no. I was casual about leaving the office, and walked outside the gates to go meet him. He was late—maybe 20 minutes. I remember I was talking to the secret service guy outside when Chris finally showed up. He interrupted my conversation like I wasn’t talking to anyone, and proceeded to tell me how busy he was. I just listened as we walked down the street to buy sandwiches. It was a beautiful Spring day, so we decided to eat in Lafayette park, right across from the White House. I thought this was romantic and cultured; maybe we would talk about what was going on all around us in the political haze,  where we were from, or what we were interested in. He, apparently, thought it was a great opportunity to talk about his college frat boys, and how crazy his weekends are. In an attempt to change the subject, I later asked him about what he studied in college and what he wanted to do. He mumbled something about political science and how he had enough connections in this city that he wasn’t worried about the future too much. He asked me about my major, but as I started talking, I found it odd that he seemed like he hadn’t asked me anything at all. If you know me at all, you know that I am beyond passionate about social work, and obviously that was shining through. I talked about some of my aspirations for combining law and social work, and some of the areas I would like to work. In the midst of this, he stood up and started walking towards the trash can to throw away the bag his sandwich was in. He literally left me sitting there with my mouth open, blabbing on about something we couldn’t care less about. I realized he was not going to sit back down, so I grabbed my trash and trailed behind him, as it appeared we were now returning to work. I thanked him for asking me to have lunch with him. He kind of chuckled, and waved as he walked in the opposite direction back to his office. I walked back feeling both amused at his behavior, and disappointed.

I didn’t hear from Chris from there on out. I thought it was very odd how our “date” had ended up, and that it appeared to have concluded our short lived fling. Chris didn’t show up on Thursday nights anymore, either. A couple weeks later, when I got off work at a decent time, I went to happy hour with a few other interns. One of my very favorite people to work with, we will call him Jake, came along. He and I walked together to the bar, and out of the blue he asked (with a goofy smile on his face,) if I had gone on any awkward lunch dates lately. Jake worked in the same office as Chris (although that’s about all they had in common… demeanors are completely different,) and immediately I knew Chris had said something to him. I asked Jake how he knew that and he replied by telling me that he was 100% positive Chris was not my type. I was pretty curious at this point. After some coaxing by me, Jake told me that Chris had reported to him that he asked me to lunch, only to find out that I was not the kind of girl he dates. Jake asked him why. Chris told Jake that “as soon as I opened my mouth, he realized I was too opinionated, too passionate, and too intelligent.” He proceeded to explain to Jake that he wanted “a girl who would cook dinner for him each night, wearing high heels and pearls.” That was enough for me. I needed no further explanation for why Chris was not my type, or for why our communication had ceased so abruptly. Poor Jake, one of the most sincere guys I know, felt bad for even telling me that. “Take it as a compliment,” he assured me.

While I am not offended, I am reminded of how superficial dating can be, and for many, how superficial relationships can become. I laugh about it now, (but still think I should have known better.) As awful as it is, I know Chris will find that high heeled, pearl wearing, dinner baking girl who will suppress her intellect and passions for him. It won’t be me, though. I’m obviously still looking for Mr. Right.