my first kiss down under

I know it's been a while, but moving to a new country is a big deal, especially with all the shenanigans I've put up with in the last month. But the storm is finally starting to settle and I did have a slightly romantic escapade yesterday.

I was having a splendid night out on the town, scantily clad, in a busy bar overlooking the harbour where the champagne (I use that term loosely) flowed cheaper than domestic beer. In full party mode we are dancing to the music, taking a million candid shots and toasting to the glories of this strange down under. One of my friends, seizes a guy for a cigarette, noticing her manners were less than becoming and drunkenly devoted to protecting our diplomatic reputation, I apologize.

Mid "sorry" I realize that this guy is dreamy. His friend says, "Ah, your mate is crazy, but you seem sweet. Ain't she a sweet one?" And the tall, dark and handsome one I'm eyeing says, "she must be an angel." Cheesy, I know! But if you knew how unbelievably SHY Australian guys are, you would also realize that this is the equivalent to putting a dime in a slot machine and winning the jackpot.

Before I know it, this (half-Italian) Aussie is wooing me in my grandparents' language with the one line he knows and making me laugh. "I want your number so I can take you out, but you have to wait nine days because I'm starting a new job, can you wait nine days?" I pretend this may be a problem, "hmmmm," I say turning to his friend, "is he worth the wait?" I have a feeling he might be, even if he is a penniless pauper, he looks like a prince!

As one of my friends said, he looks a smidge like my london boy and my knight-and-shining-disguise rolled into one, but apparently when this was brought to my attention with a raised eyebrow, I enthusiastically replied, "I don't care! I luuuuv him!" He was adorable, especially when he teased, toyed and tempted me, all the while holding my hand (who does that?).

We slip away for a moment and as he kisses me the crowded confusion disappears. And what a kiss! It makes the scene in the Notebook look like a peck on the cheek! In fact, my giddy inability to stop blushing is further evidence to this point. When we return, his friend says, "oh look at you kids! I can't wait for the big Italian wedding, it won't be long until you have all those Italian babies." "Four," my princely pauper announces and I give him a surprised glance, "okay two," he says. I concede, "no, four is fine by me."

It takes a while to tear myself away from him, but the threat of not securing a cab and sleeping in the streets eventually persuades me to reason. So with a peck goodbye, I scrambled into a cab for the long (and expensive) journey to my bed.