Listen close, maydays echo everywhere. Will we respond or let our silence grow? Wakey wakey, the cost of our collective inaction may read:will be This article examines the battles, alliances, and human costs defining a Dec 31, columns features news opinion team Issue This article contains explicit language. Seeking Arrangement is, more than a dating service, an endurance test. No ex-wives, no page-long love letters. His profile painted him as a witty, multi-talented young guy who had sold a company at a young age, allowing him to spend most of the year traveling and learning languages.
This already looked promising β and then I saw his photos. And his bank balance, a feature of every sugar daddy profile. He was young, loaded and very handsome. There were traces of messy hair, motorbikes and leather β very much my type β but the way they were put together was more Hedi Slimane than Sid Vicious. He was worth more than my entire inbox of sugar daddies combined.
Ethan was a unicorn in a compost heap. I waited a day to reply, and briefly mentioned my love of Southeast Asia and cinema, subtly testing to see where he would take the conversation. He replied almost immediately with stories of favorite places in Luang Prabang and asked me if I had seen the latest Errol Morris documentary. Truly, a unicorn. We talked for another few days, and finally decided to meet for drinks on Tuesday night.
Instead of the usual leather pants or ripped jeans, I dressed tamely for the occasion: a navy cashmere sweater, tapered burgundy pants, a long, burgundy coat, plum lipstick, light eyeliner and my hair in a loose ponytail.
An hour before we were supposed to meet, Ethan texted me to meet him at Republic on Union Square. I took a while to find the bar, walking twice around the Square before noticing the small entrance. As I reached the door, I realized the bar was closed and the street was virtually empty. I was about to text him and give him a piece of my mind when he rushed over to me from around the corner, his Burberry trench flying behind him. He must be an idiot or have a car worth showing off, or both.
