But Natalie, a divorced graphic designer and food photographer who lives in Baltimore, isn’t sweating it. “The older I get the less I care,” she said about the prospect of romance. “The closer you get to 40 you’re just like ... whatever. I don’t have enough time to waste worrying about this.”

Andrew, 45 and in external relations at a university, is also divorced; he’s been single for about a year and a half after a 15-year marriage. Despite the “big-time culture shock” of entering a dating world fueled by apps, Andrew has had fun on his dating journey and has met many “cool and interesting women.”

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This date was no exception for Andrew and a welcome change of pace for Natalie. When I spoke to her the morning after, she told me she had a headache from all the laughing she’d done. And then she laughed again.

What had them rolling was, funny enough, an extended conversation about the trials and tribulations of dating at their ages. “It felt really good to be able to talk about those things and laugh about them,” said Andrew.

They met at the Fainting Goat, a gastropub on U Street NW. On sight, Andrew said, Natalie was “pretty and nice-looking.” Natalie thought Andrew’s glasses made him look like a nerd, but a hot, Clark Kent-type nerd. And then he took them off and transformed, not unlike Superman.

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“He was very nice and polite,” she said. “From what I’ve experienced so far, he was over-the-top: opened the door, was courteous. He was just a really nice gentleman, actually.”

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They split apps of duck wings and fondue; for their mains, he ordered a mussel and shrimp stew, and she got the lobster mac and cheese. She drank Hendrick’s and soda, while he sipped a martini.

They discovered that they both grew up in the wilds of their respective states (he in Virginia, she in Pennsylvania) and bonded over their rural youths, which included, according to Natalie, “doing dumb stuff in the woods, like building fires and getting drunk.”

Natalie said Andrew surprised her when he revealed that he’s a father of two boys, because he didn’t have a dad vibe. She meant this as a compliment. She is decreasingly interested in having kids, she said, but stopped short of saying Andrew’s kids were a dealbreaker.

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Still, she did notice that Andrew talked about his ex-wife a lot. “It wasn’t necessarily a turnoff; it just seemed to keep coming up in conversation,” she explained.

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“It is what it is,” said Andrew. “[My past relationship is] a huge part of my life. I can’t erase it, and I wouldn’t choose to erase it. I got two beautiful boys out of it, and their mother and I are doing a good job of raising the kids together. I wouldn’t want to date or have a relationship with anybody that would get tripped up on something like that.”

Andrew had his own apprehensions, starting with Natalie living some 40 miles away, making dating a challenge. Since he shares custody with his ex, he’s pretty time-strapped. And there was no catalyst to motivate Andrew, anyway: He said the date lacked a romantic spark. While there was chemistry, it was more of a “friend connection,” he explained. “I was feeling a lot of things, a lot of positive things, but I wasn’t feeling that extra pitter-patter in my heart.”

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He felt enough, though, to stick around for about three hours. They capped their meal with some goat-cheese cheesecake and exchanged numbers. He walked her to her car, but before she could get in, a police car pulled someone over, blocking her from leaving. It was the night’s sole moment of awkwardness. “We were just standing there [waiting],” Natalie recalled, “and I was like, ‘Oh, okay, I’ll just go now. ...’ ”

Rate the date

Natalie: 4.5 [out of 5]. I never give anything a 5. There’s always room for improvement.

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Andrew: 5. I found her to be a really nice person, and we had a good conversation. I couldn’t have asked for more.

Update

No further contact.

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