Dating Around the World: About That Time I Hooked Up With a Silver Fox

"Well, do you want to come with us?" Fiona asks. "We've heard of the best jazz bar, and we were going to go there after drinks here anyway."

In the States, it seems like the Fox would have needed another friend, and the eight-ish-year age difference would probably have been off-putting, and two young women should never leave a bar with a man they just met. But it's Barcelona, and his eyes say he's trustworthy, and so all of this is completely fine and comparatively normal.

The three of us take the well-lit elevator downstairs. The Fox turns out to be a Silver Fox! Though he definitely is around 30, he's an early grayer, with peppery curls breaking up the rest. Fiona sees what I'm seeing.

He steps outside for a cigarette, and Fiona and I head into the palace of the lobby ladies' room for some quick strategy.

"He's coming with us?! I bet he won't be there when we go back outside," I say. "Also, did you —"

"Nah, he will be! Did you see his hair? It's definitely not blonde."

"No. Definitely not. But, I mean…" I say.

"I kind of like it."

"I KNOW."

*Krystin and Fiona climb into a hybrid taxi with Silver Fox. As they speed off into the Barcelona night, is it possible the girls have found their Juan Antonio? Fiona decides to run through her repertoire of impressions. The driver is distracted and gets lost.

Silver Fox switches flawlessly from chatting with us in English to redirecting him in Spanish, then goes back to a brief chat in French with Fiona. The driver turns off the meter, finds the club and Silver Fox pays.

We exit the taxi and go to find an ATM on La Rambla. His hand finds the small of my back, and we chat together while Fi takes her turn getting money. We return to the club, where Silver Fox pays our covers, and we go down a hallway, to pass through a curtain, where we find…

Nothing.

Our much-hyped jazz club is empty.

I remember the Guardian article was from 2006.

We stay anyway—we're the only ones there, we're enjoying each others' company and our cover is paid, so why not? I'm better at chatting now than I was at the W, and he and I are having a great conversation. A man who looks like a well-dressed Tortuga pirate comes over and begins speaking with Fiona. We have another eye conversation, and I ask if she needs to be saved. She's a martyr.

I excuse myself to use the restroom, thinking Silver Fox might be able to swoop in and rescue Fiona from the Pirate. I spend an inordinate amount of time trying to salvage my hair situation. But when I walk out into the hallway between bathroom and bar, I run into the Silver Fox coming out into the hallway as well.

We exchange jokingly polite hellos, and then, somehow, we wind up rather close to each other.