Magazine

Dinner With Cupid

Blind date: ‘The Orange Line was down and I knew I was going to be late’

Will a delayed arrival derail this date?

Ali Waithe and Andres Pinedo.
Ali Waithe and Andres Pinedo.

Andres Pinedo: 22 / content developer

What makes him a catch: He’s laid-back, easygoing, and fun

Who plays him in the movie: Lin-Manuel Miranda

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Ali Waithe: 23 / nonprofit outreach associate

When she is happiest: Floating in a kayak in a pond with a book

What makes her a catch: She’s quirky, funny, and sweet, and loves to laugh

6 P.M. BANYAN BAR + REFUGE, SOUTH END

SCHEDULE DELAY

Ali The Orange Line was down and I knew I was going to be late. I felt so bad — I have never been late for a date in my life. He was extremely understanding.

Andres She was about 20 minutes late, which felt like an hour.

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Ali I noticed warm, beautiful brown eyes and a cute smile — very attractive. Clearly a fit guy. I thought he was way out of my league, looks wise.

Andres The first thing I noticed was her friendly smile.

Ali He is originally from Mexico City and has a huge family. He works for a software startup and loves the energy and culture. He runs cross-country — he had a race the morning after.

Andres We covered the usual: job, school, family. We had a long conversation about politics, which was nice because we both seemed to care about it a lot. Other than that, it was small talk.

Ali We aligned well on tough topics. We are both open-minded, and willing to talk things through.

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Andres We talked about our big families and how important they were to us.

Ali We shared pork belly baos and dragon noodles, which were good but spicy.

Andres Food was amazing.

Ali There were times where conversation slowed down — I did most of the question asking and was hoping he would start leading the conversation.

Andres As the date went by, I got less comfortable. I kept asking questions and she would talk about her job or her hobbies but not reciprocate to learn about mine. I mentioned that my parents were divorced, and her response was, “I can’t relate, my parents are together and love each other,” which to me felt cold.

Ali There was no romantic spark. He didn’t ask questions about me, which was disappointing.

Andres Halfway through, I knew this was not going to happen, I just didn’t feel heard. I could’ve done a better job about communicating that to her, though.

LEAVING THE STATION

Ali When conversation started to lag, I figured that was a good time to call it. I knew he had a 5 a.m. wake-up call, so I suggested we head out. We hugged twice, and exchanged numbers. We agreed that it was fun but did not explicitly say, “Hey, let’s do this again.”

Andres She had plans to meet friends at a bar, which to me was a signal the date was over.

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SECOND DATE?

Ali Yes, I would, but maybe just for a calm, quiet coffee.

Andres Probably not, we don’t have a lot in common.

POST-MORTEM

Ali / A-

Andres / B-

Go on a blind date. We’ll pick up the tab. Fill out an application at bostonglobe.com/cupid. Follow us on Twitter @dinnerwithcupid