{"id":166709,"date":"2026-02-06T13:19:21","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T13:19:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/166709\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T13:19:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T13:19:21","slug":"shes-beautiful-intelligent-and-compassionate-but-was-she-into-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/166709\/","title":{"rendered":"She’s beautiful, intelligent and compassionate. But was she into me?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It was Sunday morning. I shivered from the rain and entered John O\u2019Groats<\/a> on Pico Boulevard. The owner greeted me as I headed for a seat at the crowded counter. A few of the regulars nodded in my direction.<\/p>\n

I was four months past the bruising crash of a long-distance romance, armed with a new vow: No more cross-country heartbreak. While the ex-love of my life was back with her ex-beau in Michigan enjoying Mackinac Island fudge, I was ready to bury all regret and rethink my vow over a fruitless bowl of steel-cut oats.<\/p>\n

I had met Ren\u00e9e the previous month during a three-week consulting project in Washington, D.C. The all-consuming emotion of being swept away by a beautiful, intelligent and compassionate person collided with my self-inflicted vow. In the throes of cognitive dissonance, I ignored the vow and fell in love with Ren\u00e9e. I returned to L.A. but only after securing a promise she would visit soon.<\/p>\n

Thankfully Ren\u00e9e came to L.A. for a week-long work assignment. Our plan was simple: After breakfast, I would meet her at her hotel, and together we would spend the day exploring the sights and experiences that L.A. had to offer.<\/p>\n

I scanned nearby tables for friends but was distracted by a woman quickening her pace toward the only available stool at the counter. Ren\u00e9e? What is she doing here? A man with a cane, a few steps ahead of her, tapped a steady claim to the prize. She slowed her walk, resigned to a second-place finish and nowhere to sit. Her lips pressed in a rueful grin.<\/p>\n

The man next to me dropped a $5 tip on the counter and walked away. I waved to get Ren\u00e9e\u2019s attention and gestured to the empty seat. We exchanged surprised smiles as she approached, hugged me, and said, \u201cI missed you. The concierge recommended O\u2019Groats. I\u2019m ready to explore L.A.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI missed you too. What\u2019s on your must-see list?\u201d I replied.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d like to see Malibu, the Sunset Strip and \u2026 here, the concierge gave me this.\u201d I examined the handwritten sightseeing list. I said it was a good list, but it missed a few of my favorite places. Our final list included the Petersen Automotive Museum<\/a> \u2014 we both had fathers who passed on to us their love of classic cars \u2014 Los Angeles County Museum of Art<\/a>, Malibu and dinner at Geoffrey\u2019s<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you can still put up with me,\u201d I said, \u201cwe can cruise the Sunset Strip and Hollywood Boulevard tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

We finished breakfast and drove to the Petersen. Upon entering, we were met by a fleet of vintage Corvettes and a row of charcuterie boards. We barely touched the hors d\u2019oeuvres while drooling over the cars. When we walked across the street toward LACMA, it was nearly 3 p.m.<\/p>\n

Amid intermittent raindrops, we were talking about cars from the \u201960s when Ren\u00e9e stopped walking. Standing 10 yards in front of us on a corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue was a shivering elderly woman who looked lost. Ren\u00e9e quickened her pace and approached the woman. \u201cAre you all right?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t \u2026 I\u2019m not sure this is … \u201d Her speech was hesitant, halting. Ren\u00e9e coaxed a complete sentence. \u201cI want to go home.\u201d She whispered an address. <\/p>\n

Ren\u00e9e looked at me and said, \u201cLet\u2019s bring her home.\u201d<\/p>\n

We drove a short distance to the address, where an anxious man guided the confused woman through the front door. \u201cMom, where did you go?\u201d He thanked us profusely, and Ren\u00e9e and I walked back to my car. <\/p>\n

I drove east on Wilshire toward LACMA. We found parking on Fairfax and walked toward the corner where we had approached the lost woman.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a beautiful thing you did,\u201d I said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe did,\u201d she replied.<\/p>\n

\u201cStill, it was you who \u2026 \u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWell, once I saw her, I knew we weren\u2019t here just to eat canap\u00e9s and see Corvettes. We had to help her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Until this moment, standing at the corner of one of the busiest intersections in the city, falling in love had always been for me an arduous process.<\/p>\n

This, however, was fireworks with dazzling explosions. Time to be bold, I thought. \u201cLet\u2019s skip the art exhibits and drive to Malibu,\u201d I said. \u201cI want to be with you, the ocean and the setting sun. I know the perfect place.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was nearly 5 p.m. when we parked at El Matador State Beach. As we hiked the short distance from Pacific Coast Highway on the rocky switchback trail, she caught glimpses of the sculpted sea stacks rising 50 meters from the sand and shallow waters.<\/p>\n

When we reached the beach, Ren\u00e9e was silent. \u201cThese towers always take my breath away too,\u201d I said. <\/p>\n

She took off her shoes, rolled up her pants and waded into the water. I joined her. The wind and waves whipped around us. At my urging, she closed her eyes. Uneven sandbars lifted and then dropped us in a slow-motion, repetitive dance on the sediment floor. The salty seawater splashed our faces beneath a salmon-colored sky.<\/p>\n

We skipped Geoffrey\u2019s, Hollywood and the Sunset Strip. I drove back to her hotel. We kissed goodnight and made plans to visit those places the next evening without the ocean-soaked clothes.<\/p>\n

Confession: All of this happened more than 30 years ago. Ren\u00e9e and I are happily married and live in L.A. The iconic landmarks we visited all those years ago are, thankfully, still here. We have done our best to revisit them each year on our wedding anniversary with one modification \u2014 we bring bathing suits and towels.<\/p>\n

The author, who was born and raised in L.A., is a retired HR consultant and executive coach. His debut novel, \u201cCoyote Time<\/a>,\u201d published by Guernica Editions, will be available in April.<\/p>\n

L.A. Affairs<\/a> chronicles the search for romantic love in all its glorious expressions in the L.A. area, and we want to hear your true story. We pay $400 for a published essay. Email LAAffairs@latimes.com<\/a>. You can find submission guidelines here. You can find past columns here<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s note: Have a dating story to tell about starting fresh? Share it at L.A. Affairs Live, our new competition show featuring real dating stories from people living in the Greater Los Angeles area. Find audition details here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was Sunday morning. I shivered from the rain and entered John O\u2019Groats on Pico Boulevard. The owner…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":166710,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[80338,10120,80340,80342,2303,38339,48,52,51,47,50,49,4284,9282,1555,80339,80337,16328,80341,1557,72],"class_list":{"0":"post-166709","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-classic-car","9":"tag-corner","10":"tag-crowded-counter","11":"tag-geoffrey","12":"tag-l-a","13":"tag-l-a-affairs","14":"tag-la","15":"tag-la-headlines","16":"tag-la-news","17":"tag-los-angeles","18":"tag-los-angeles-headlines","19":"tag-los-angeles-news","20":"tag-love","21":"tag-malibu","22":"tag-man","23":"tag-new-vow","24":"tag-renee","25":"tag-sunset-strip","26":"tag-true-story","27":"tag-woman","28":"tag-year"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=166709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166709\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/166710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=166709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=166709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=166709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}