Chapter 2: First Date With the Ice Princesses

A week after the evening with Alice, Matt, Bob, and Jim congregated at the town commons in the evening, commandeering their favorite picnic table. It was again Friday night after a busy workweek.

Bob started off their evening discussion, "I have three more 'secrets' to happiness, success, and life, in case anyone is interested. I've been doing a lot of reading."

Matt and Jim encouraged him. Matt said, "Lay some philosophy on me."

Bob said, "I boiled a lot of stuff down into this one – 'Be a role model.' We need to be authentic, honest, dependable, loyal, genuine, childlike, loving and kind. We need to do what we say we'll do, without fail. We live life with no apologies. One translation is that we are the ultimate examples of the perfect boyfriends when it comes to our ice princesses."

Matt said, "That's a tall order. We were all boy scouts too, and your list reminds me of that fact. As for being a perfect boyfriend, the girls will each be the ones defining perfection, not us."

Bob said, "Well, I was reading lots of studies about success and all. Many tried to distill the personality traits you had to have to succeed – sort of like that list I just gave you. Few of the studies agreed, so I looked a little higher and saw what they wanted you do be was a role model – to live an exemplar life. So, not only do you believe in yourself, as we talked about last week, but also you are a role model or, in the case of our ice princesses, a perfect boyfriend."

Jim teased, "You left horny off the list." He could even feel his shorts get tight as he thought of the night with Alice, and the promise of any one of the three girls the three of them were going after.

Bob rolled his eyes.

Matt allowed, "Horny is just a normal state of male existence. It's not deserving of being a focused personality trait we work on improving."

Bob went ahead, "My next key for success was 'Be creative.' We need to express ourselves in multiple outlets – left and right brain. We shouldn't be afraid to be different, or to stand out. We must always quest for more knowledge and higher planes of life, and use our wits to get us there. Remember the Apple slogan, 'Here's to the different ones.' We shouldn't be afraid to be different, and to be our creative selves."

Bob paused for effect, and said, "In terms of our ice princesses, we need to have creative approaches to being with them. We need to come up with unusual dates that play to what they like. We want to say creative things to them to stimulate their thinking. We need to be witty, and attentive to them. We need to do things that pleasantly surprise them. We need to make them feel included in our thinking too."

Jim commented, "I finished reading two books about romance and seduction, getting ready for our big goals. They said much of what Bob just said only in different words. We have to be ourselves and be genuine. We shouldn't be afraid to show our weaknesses and vulnerabilities to our dates either; they'll like that openness. They also said to be confident."

Bob looked vindicated. He said, "Let me give you number six on our list – 'Worry the details.' There's two parts to this one. First, in taking steps to reach our goal, we need to be sure we worry the little stuff that might end up as problems as we act. Second, we need to realize that small steps in the right direction can also make us happy."

Jim swooned, "So a simple kiss from Sheila should send me into ecstasy, the same way fucking Alice did?" I clasped my hands over my heart in mock swooning.

"Exactly."

Matt said, "I'll never think of Alice as my Dutch aunt again. She's a cougar, and I love her for it. Alice aside, do we have any plans for our girlfriend goal?"

Bob said, "I have several things to remind us of from our night with Alice – before all the sex. Remember, our first date with them will be a group date during the day. This will allow them the feel of safety in numbers, and being in the daytime suggests that we have no plans to take them to the lake for a big make out session after a dinner. Our goal is to have them home before sunset, and this time of year that's about eight thirty to nine o'clock."

Matt said, "Sounds smart. Is that all?"

"No. I prepared on these three-by-five cards a list of the topics we must be prepared to discuss. We will hold a dry run among just us guys a day or so before the big date. Alice said that we had to be smart about a lot of the contemporary scene, as well as show interest in their lives."

Bob passed Jim and Matt small white cards. On each was a handwritten list of fifty discussion topics starting with 'Since we've graduated, where are you headed?' Others included personal questions about their values around work: free time, benefit packages, team spirit, the ideal boss, being green, and so on.

Matt looked up, "Benefit plans? You've got to be kidding? We're twenty-four. They just got out of their undergrad."

"No. No. We're trying to learn about our potential soul mates. The question around benefit plans will reveal how they view security in their lives – do they want a lot of it, where does it rank with regard to other things. You could pursue that for hours. Are they worried about their health? Finances? Student loans? Power in your position? Are they risk takers? Would they fly without a net? On and on."

Jim asked, "What's the 'power in your position' mean?"

Bob explained, "That's a veiled attempt to try to see if they're power hungry or control freaks or OCD. Again, you could pursue that for a while. Suppose they brush that off, you might ask your date, 'Oh, you don't need to be in control of the things around you?' and see how she responds. As a potential boyfriend, you want to know just how assertive she's going to be once you make that first level of commitment to her. It's not that we want to be the dominants in their lives, but we certainly don't want to end up as submissives."

Some of the other questions made sense, family life, hobbies, most fun while at college, favorite things to do on dates, and so more.

Jim said, "This is good. I'll memorize the list. If I'm lost in terms of conversation, I'll fall back on this stuff."

Bob said, "Don't bring the cards with you when you see them. I did still more, but you have to work with me on the next one. I researched Monica, and in that alone learned a lot. I went back through all our high school yearbooks, and I studied her Facebook pages. I was not surprised to find that she's probably BFFs with Sheila and Zoey, thus, we are making good picks as three friends. They've been together a long time. We should never try to break that apart in any way, plus figure that they share everything we say to one another. No secrets."

"Moreover, Monica was into field hockey, track and field, gymnastics, and girl's basketball – ergo, she's athletic – but we knew that. I'd think about some strenuous activity in a date to take her on: hike, bungee jumping, zip line, sports games if you can afford tickets. She was also head of the math club, so she has geek leanings just like we do, and I bet she knows one helluvah lot about analytical things."

Bob continued, "Monica is going to start work at Barkley Systems in September, apparently after taking the summer off. She also wants to travel to Europe and Canada eventually, and beyond that I learned much about her family life – parents Don and Michelle, and older sister living in New England, mostly. She has lots of photos up, but none of them suggest she dated much or that she has or had a steady guy. She is an ice princess, apparently blowing off dates with males, or at least any that would yield photographs or be worthy of comment."

Matt said, "You should friend her on Facebook."

Bob nodded, "First, I need to tune up my own FB pages to somewhat align with hers – and the other women. More about my family and my interests in sports, kayaking, and so on. I'll put in there pics with you guys too, so we're use to each other when we triple date or whatever. After I do that, I'll friend her the same day I ask her for a date. In the meantime, if she agrees to the group date, my life is an open book."

Jim asked, "What about Caroline, that girl you dated on and off for two years?" He was genuinely concerned that his friend would reveal too much about his past.

Bob smiled at the memory, "She stays visible on my Facebook stuff and my other pictures online. It's obvious I'm not attached now, but that I had a hot girlfriend for a while during college. That'll show I'm boyfriend material, and by the halo effect because we hang around together, that you are too."

Jim asked, "What else do we need to do?"

Bob said, "On your Facebook and other social media pages, be sure to 'Like' some stuff that would demonstrate that you're not the total twit-dork-nerd-fuckoff that I know lies just below the surface. Do something to show you're well rounded and have other interests besides getting deep into their little panties. Go home tonight and study up on your potential girlfriends, and we'll compare notes in a couple of days."

Zoey answered her phone and heard Monica scream at her, "Emergency. Emergency. We're meeting at my house in ten minutes. Get your sweet little virgin ass over here right now. Sheila's coming too." Click! Before she could ask any questions, Monica had hung up.

Sheila's car was already in the driveway when she arrived at Monica's house. Zoey rushed inside without knocking just as she'd been doing for years – Sheila too. They almost lived at each other's houses, so much so that each set of parents thought nothing of them coming and going freely at all hours of the day and night.

"What's gives? What's the emergency?" Zoey said, bursting into Monica's room.

Monica excitedly exclaimed, "Jim Wilson called me about fifteen minutes ago. He and his friends Matt and Bob are planning a beach outing up on the lake on Saturday and invited me – no, I mean us – you, Sheila, and me – to go. They wanted to know if we were interested. He said he was speaking for all the other guys, and picked me to call."

"And you said... ?"

"I tentatively accepted pending talking to you two," Monica said.

Sheila said with sarcasm and irritation, "They'll keep us out all day, ply us with booze, and then try to fuck us that night."

Monica protested, "No. No. Jim promised that we'd be home before sunset, plus he apologized that they don't allow booze on the beach we're going to. He said we could have an early dinner, but it sounded like they didn't want to be out with us after dark. I didn't ask why the early curfew."

Zoey adopted a mean posture and a Transylvanian accent befitting of a Frankenstein monster, "Ah, the humans know of my taste for blood after dark." Despite her humor, Sheila and Monica ignored her.

Monica talked fast, "Should we go? What do you want to do?" She sounded truly perplexed.

Zoey went back to normal voice, "Oh, we should go. This invitation addresses just what I was talking about the other day. We have to take risks. Besides, from what I remember of them from high school and seeing them around town since, they were nice guys, maybe a little nerdy but nice. Besides we're not going to do anything 'serious' with them, just go to the lake for the afternoon and grab some burgers or something. It sounds like fun. Come on, no more ice princesses."

Sheila asked, "But whose going with whom? Are you going with Jim because he called you? Do I end up with Matt or Bob? I don't know what any of them are really like."

"End up with? You don't sound too excited to be going. I'll call him back and tell him to forget it." She teased, "Maybe I'll just go with the three of them myself."

Sheila rose up, "No! I want to go. I just don't know much about any of the men."

Zoey said with great sarcasm, "You spent four years in high school with them, and before that two in junior high. They graduated from the same college and got a masters, so you've seen them around campus and town here and there during that time. You know them better than any other guy that might ask you out. Let's look online and see what we can find out about them."

Monica nodded, "Good idea. I'll take Jim, since he called. Sheila you study up on Bob, and Zoey you take Matt. Let's meet back here tomorrow night. In the meanwhile, I'll tell Jim the group date is on."

"Is it a date?"

"Well ... not really. I mean it's a date with the three of them and three of us. There was no obvious pairing suggested. I'll ask about that some way."

The next night at Monica's the three girls sat with their notes about each guy. Monica started, "Jim is a handsome guy, and he's somewhat athletic – loves to run, kayak, take long bike trips, camp out, and he played varsity soccer in college. He had a steady girlfriend for his sophomore and junior years in college, but he's flying solo now with no obvious attachments. She was gorgeous too. He's thinking of volunteering at the Boy's and Girl's Club downtown to help underprivileged youths, and he contributes some money to them. He also was an assistant Little League coach in college. Oh, he majored in electrical engineering and computer science, and just started working full time at Evans Electronics."

Sheila smirked, "You just described Mr. Wonderful. He's perfect. He obviously doctored up his Facebook pages. What's his downside?"

Monica pondered the question, "Well, some days he works too many hours and his boss has to send him home – so he can be a workaholic. He also said he's had a spate of injuries from over indulgence in some of his sport endeavors. He complains about having put on ten extra pounds since last season too because he put on a push to finish his master's degree. He doesn't like being pudgy. He also complained about his student loans."

Sheila nodded, "Yep. Mr. Wonderful. I studied Bob, and he's a fair-haired knight too. Intellectual. Working on a book – fiction, his first endeavor. Longest previous girlfriend I could detect lasted one semester; they'd usually break up to go home to others over the holidays or summers; thus, he's never been really attached. He writes beautiful poetry too, and just started a new job putting real estate deals together for land development. He wants to do social work because he was a psych major, but jobs in that field don't pay as well as the land development ones so he thinks he might volunteer in some way."

Zoey whispered, "Wow. What a catch." She paused and said, "Matt finished up college a whole semester early, and then did grad school. He finished last December and went to work in the R&D department for Glidden Pharma as a biochemist. He already has a patent in his name for the production of some molecule with a name as long as your arm that's used in curing river blindness in Africa. He likes art and photography, and has some magnificent shots up on his Instagram pages. One downside, maybe, he's actually taken some pictures of a nude model, but they're very tasteful and suggestive, without being pornographic."

Sheila kept nodding. "We've got three Mr. Wonderfuls taking us out. Their flaws are minor, and they're well read, artistic, creative, sporty, and everything in the right places to appeal to us. Surprise, surprise."