Although I guess it wasn’t technically a date till later that evening, because before the first kiss it could have just meant hanging out.

It must have been summer, because we sat at an outside table, he said something about ‘civilised countries have ashtrays’ when I commented on him flicking his cigarette butt into the gutter and I replied (or perhaps thought of much later, I forget which) ‘civilised countries don’t let you smoke in bars’. Apart from that, he was actually a great guy at that point, we had lots of fascinating conversations, and he had lots of respect for women and open-minded views. The only problem was later, when I faced up to the reality he had already told me that he didn’t want anything serious, that he suddenly didn’t seem like such a good guy.

I don’t remember too much of the bar, but it was a nice summer hangout.